Stuck with the Bad Boy | ✔️

28. Vegas, Baby

Phoenix's P.O.V.

Weeks went by with me in recovering. The police came to the house last week to let me know that they'd found the suspect and had charged him with the murder of Cody plus more for what he did to me. They'd also connected him to other unsolved cases, so I guess my description of him really had been helpful. 

I'd finally gotten my real closure with Cody and I had a good life going for me. I couldn't be happier.

"Babe, are you sure you're feeling good enough to go?" Lucas asks, worry clouding his silvery eyes. 

"Yes, Lucas. I'm fine. I'm healing well and I don't feel much pain anymore." I rolled my eyes at him. He'd been obsessively watching over me and never leaving my side since we left the hospital. The fear he felt that night did more damage to him then the bullet did to me. I got him to talk about it once,

"Seriously, you can't just shut me out. Tell me what's going on in that handsome head of yours." The anguish was visible on his face, making me even more worried than I already was. Lucas had been acting weird for far too long. He couldn't sleep much anymore, he didn't eat a ton, and he always looked a little scared. 

"Fine, but don't make me repeat myself, I don't think I'll be able to." He sighed, looking down. I reached my hand up and tilted his face to make him look at me. I left a small kiss on his forehead which made him relax a little and lay down on the bed. I turned my body to face him, sitting criss cross applesauce. "That night, when we went into the hospital, they obviously wouldn't let me in because they were doing surgery. So I had to sit just outside the door. I tried to stay calm, but I couldn't. Panic and fear was blanketing me and suffocating the air from my lungs. I saw it happen over and over again, I saw the blood on my hands, I saw them take you from me. But worst of all, my mind was trying to think of how to live without you, all I saw was myself a mess. Destroyed, gone. I kept picturing it, I couldn't stop. I just started bawling my eyes out, rocking back and forth. I literally couldn't breathe anymore. After a while, I ran out of energy and couldn't muster any movement of facial expressions as all. Bentley told me later than I was crying without moving a muscle." My heart ached at the thought of him like that, so I snuggled up close to his side, being careful of my stitching.

He continued, "The nurse came out and said something about how hard it was to lose someone. She told me you died... and my world stopped. I watched every moment of us flash before my eyes, it was all gone. You died that night. I lost you. They brought you back, but for a split moment, I felt what it was like to live without you and I'm petrified of it. It haunts me every time I close my eyes, it's all I see. Losing you was the hardest thing I've ever gone through and it was only a few minutes." I thought back to what he'd told me of his childhood, all those bad things that happened. Yet losing me still hurt more. It murdered my very soul to have to think about that.

He sighed and hugged me tight, but not enough to hurt me, "Never leave me like that again." His voice was gruff as he spoke and that's wen I felt a tear on my shoulder. I pulled away to look at him. 

I can't remember ever having see him cry before, but I never want to see it again. The broken look on his face was enough to make a hyper puppy sad. I smashed my lips on his and he immediately kissed me back, matching my passion with his own. 

When I'd heard all of that, I didn't know what to think. I knew he loved me but I didn't know just how much. He showed me just how much when he spoke those words.

Lucas picked up my suitcase and headed out to Rayne. We had decided last week that this weekend would be the best time to go to Vegas. The excitement of finally being one with Lucas through marriage was overflowing in me. He's everything I'd ever wanted and more.