A Furious Chick

All Is Well

Brian

I paced back and forth in the waiting room. The team sits quietly as they see me begin to lose my shit. Alina is rocking Ruby to sleep, the last one to go under. Kaleb's leg bounces. Mrs. Howard showed up a little after Katherine went in for surgery.

"I need a drink." Kaleb balled his fist.

"Why?" Alina frowned.

"My sister could die."

"She's not going to die."

"Patients do die on the operation table."

"Katherine will be fine. She's strong." Dom jumped in.

"I'm going to take girls home, put to bed." Alina stood. "Someone call me when Katherine is okay."

Alina left and about thirty minutes later, Chad comes out.

"The surgery went beyond well." Chad informed us. "As she was going under, she was talking about some sort of dinner reservations. I'm guessing it's connected to you, Mr. O'Connor."

"Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. She's in her room, groggy. I would take it easy tonight. Come back in the morning. But, Mr. O'Connor, she's been asking for you ever since she woke up."

I nodded slowly. He walked out and I turned to the team.

"I really need to see her."

"Understood. We'll come back first thing tomorrow morning." Dom patted my shoulder. "I need to speak with Brian for a moment."

"I'll wait by the car." Letty kissed his cheek.

We waited until everyone left.

"I saw the files in her office, Brian. She's picking the team apart isn't she?" Dom asked.

I nodded again.

"She's depressed and she feels unheard not just by the team and her mother but also by you. Hear her Brian. Ask her what's wrong. Ever since she came back from London..."

"He physically and sexually assaulted her." I blurted out.

"That gives you even more reason to be by her side. Marriage isn't just about the sex and the utilities...It's about building each other. Go in there and build your wife and keep doing that and I guarantee you she would recover a lot quicker."

I nodded again. Dom gave me a hug.

"I've seen you go one hundred and twenty miles per hour, I've seen you go head to head with a dude bigger than you but today was the first time I ever saw fear in your eyes."

I nodded once more. Dom left and I went to Katherine's room. She was sleeping, her vitals stable. Thank God. I pulled up a chair next to her bed. I thought long and hard about what Dom said. I moved past what Katherine told me about London as if it didn't happen and she has too. And she may not know it, but it did scar her. She was hiding from it. And I do need to show her my support. She needs to know I'm one hundred percent behind her. Now and always. So I took her hand.

"Katherine, when I met you, I was assigned to protect you. And when you walked into that office with your hair all crazy, blood all over you, a black eye...I fell in love. Being with you...it's amazing. We argue, we fight, we tease each other but what we have is real, it's pure. I would run through rain, through hail and snow to be with you. I want to grow with you. Have kids with you. Guide you through life because you are the one for me. I can't see how I survived all these years without you and I can't imagine a world without Katherine fucking Howard. You're a legend but most important, you're my legend. I love the fuck out of you." I told her.

Her heart rate went up. I got a little worried.

"I'm mean, paranoid and sometimes selfish. But when I'm with you, Brian, I am nothing but happy. You make me want to live my life again, not just kicking people's asses but truly live. You've seen me at my worse and now you're seeing me at my best. I am damaged and you are slowly building me up again. I know spending the rest of my life with you is right. You're my person. And I'm going to get angry and scream and maybe even threaten you but I don't want you to push me away like everyone else because I really don't mean it. You don't view me as a monster, you view me as a person and I'm scared I'm going to lose you one day. It terrifies me. I love you more than I love myself, Brian. You make life seem easy. You care about people, you care about me and I know that this is right. We belong together."

I looked at her. She opened her eyes.

"It was Nobody that made the FBI recruit you. They saw potential. They were going to wait until the perfect moment to give you an offer about the company. And then you went AWOL. And then Shaw happened and you sort of came on your own. That's why I was looking so hard in your file. I really wanted to know what made the FBI recruit you." She touched my face. "I'm not gonna pick the team apart."

I smiled softly.

"Stop looking at me like that before I kick you in the trachea." She whispered, slipping under again.

I laughed and kissed her cheek. She fell asleep and I sat there, watching her monitors, making sure she was okay. That was my main focus at that very second.

-

It's 10:19 a.m where I live and I'm on my fourth cup of coffee. 🤦🏽‍♀️

-Chicken Soup 🍜