The elevator doors dinged and we stepped in, the ride down was quiet. The doors dinged again and we stepped out. Lynn wheeled CC over to the front doors, “I’ll go get the car.” I said.

She nodded, “Leave him; he’ll be fine with me.” I glanced up to Lynn who nodded as well.

I walked out the doors to go get the car and pulled it up out front. I parked, got out and came around the car and my heart stopped.

12

“Awe, isn’t he a handsome looking baby?” said a man’s voice behind me. I turned to see an older guy and couldn’t help but notice how much he looked like Hunter.

“He is, isn’t he?” I replied back, looking down at Ryder sitting next to me in his car seat. He was all decked out in his Nike track suit with hat included.

“He is. Is his dad pulling the car around?” The older guy asked. That last comment was giving me a weird vibe, what the hell was taking Hunter so long? I reached down with my good arm and held onto Ryder’s car seat, needing that extra reassurance.

“Yeah,” I looked out the front door and nodded with my chin. “He’s actually right there.” Hunter came sprinting in, the second he put the car in park. Christ, I don’t even know if he put it in park, he was out so fast.

The guy started backing away when he noticed Hunter coming in our direction, “What the f**k do you think you’re doing?” he roared.

The guy smiled and kept on backing up while staring Hunter down. Well that’s just creepy. Lynn was just holding on to the back of my wheelchair the whole time, a lot of help she would be if something were to happen.

“Baby, you ok? What did he say to you?” Hunter asked. He was on his knees next to me, red faced with a vein popping out of the side of his neck. That vein proved to me just how pissed off he was, I figured he would be a little over protective but the guy had only said that Ryder was handsome.

“Relax, nothing happened, we’re both fine. He only said that Ryder was handsome, that’s it. He didn’t try to touch us or anything.” I let go of Ryder’s car seat and reached over to cup Hunter’s cheek. He covered my hand with his and leaned into it.

“Sorry.” He said gently. I could see the storm in his eyes start to clear out.

“It’s fine, we may be a little fragile right now but we aren’t going to break.” I stared into his crystal clear blue eyes, willing him to understand. “Take us home.” I winked and started to slowly pull my hand away.

Hunter looked down at the ground and shook his head and then stood, reached for Ryder and picked him up. He gave me a half smile, glanced over his shoulder and then walked to the car parked outside.

I could hear Lynn breathing harder behind me as she wheeled us out to the car. She even got a little too close to hitting my broken ankle on the door. I muttered under my breath, “Bitch!” Then I glared at Hunter so he would know to get me the hell away from her.

Hunter scooped me up and gently placed me in the car, “I’ll stop by tomorrow afternoon when I get off my shift.” Lynn said, stepping away from the car.

“Don’t hurry.” I muttered.

Hunter chuckled. “We’ll be there.” He told her while walking around the front of the car to get in.

We pulled away from the curb, and I glanced around the car. It was pretty awesome. There were so many buttons that I couldn’t even figure out what half of them were used for. We’d only made it a few blocks from the hospital but the car ride was like driving in mid-air. You barely felt any bumps. That could all have something to do with Hunter though.

I looked in the side mirror and noticed a line of cars behind us. I glanced at Hunter, who had a death grip on the steering wheel, and then to the gauges to see how fast we were going. He was going 25 mph in a 40 mph zone. “Um,” I looked in the side mirror again, then back to Hunter. “You do realize the speed limit is 40, right?”

“Yeah, I know, why?” He answered, still not removing his eyes from the road.

“Oh I don’t know, maybe because there are like ten cars behind us.” I said rolling my eyes.

“So?”

Really? “Hunter relax, nothing is going to happen. Shouldn’t I be the one that’s worried?” His knuckles started turning pink again. “Doesn’t this car have like ten air bags in it?”

“Yeah, the salesman said it was one of the safest SUV’s they make.” He glanced quickly at me then returned his eyes right back to the road.

“Good, then drive the damn car.” I said smiling at him. Big old worry wart.

He chuckled, “Yes ma’am.”

Before we even had a chance to really settle into the car we were pulling up at home. Home sweet home.

“Coop and Jay are working. Let me get Ryder inside and then I’ll come grab you.” Hunter said as he shut off the car and unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Okay.” I couldn’t wait to get settled inside, I missed being home. Being home with Hunter and Ryder made me feel complete. I would have to figure out a way to get rid of Lynn and then slowly kick Cooper and Jaylinn out as well. I’m giving my body five days, five days, that’s it.

True to CC’s word, she had Lynn removing the catheter by the end of the week and was quickly kicking her to the curb. Lynn brought CC a pair of crutches two days ago against doctors’ orders and she’s been determined to make it on her own. This is one of the things that I found so sexy about her, when she puts her mind to something, there’s no changing it. I adored her all the more for it. You can tell her she can’t do it, but she’ll prove you f**king wrong over and over again.

Before Lynn would sign off on CC’s discharge paperwork she had to prove that she could do it with no help from anyone. Like I said, you can’t tell her she can’t do something because that only makes her more determined.

We were in the bedroom and CC was lying in bed, “Ok CC,” It’s the first time Lynn had called MacKenzie that since the time in the hospital. I didn’t even have a chance to correct her before she spoke up about it, “My name is MacKenzie, not CC.” she snarled at Lynn. My little firecracker was in full force today.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t realize I called you CC.” Lynn replied. “Now, what I was about to say MacKenzie, I need you to get up from this position to the bathroom with no assistance.”

CC barely let her finish before she was swinging her legs off the bed, she reached over and grabbed the crutch that was leaning against the nightstand next to the bed. She hoisted herself up and hobbled over to the wheelchair, sat down and leaned the crutch up against the bed. Then she pushed herself down to the bathroom, stopped in front of the sink and hoisted herself out of the chair and then jumped with her good leg to the toilet and sat on the lid.