Saving You (Love in June Springs Book 1)

Saving You -25-

           

Chapter 25

                The knowledge that Katelyn was feeling anything at all woke her up more than the actual pain.

I'm alive?

She opened her eyes slowly, relieved that the lights in the room she was in weren't too bright anymore. She wasn't sat up anymore, wasn't confined to a chair. There was a beeping somewhere off to the side, and she knew from the mild bleach smell she was in a hospital.

She was safe.

Tension she hadn't even realized she carried fell off of her shoulders, and she squeezed her eyes tight in an effort to withhold the tears.

"Katelyn? Are you awake?"

Her head snapped up to find the source of the voice.

Declan was sat at her side, his hand holding hers. He dropped his phone on the little nightstand at the side of her bed.

"You're here," she whispered. She hadn't meant to, but her voice didn't seem to want to work properly.

He smiled at her, and she felt her heart speed up a little. He glanced to her left and she followed his gaze. The heart monitor beeped innocently away, but when she saw Declan grin again, the sound jumped just a little.

"If that's how you react to a smile, I'm almost scared to think about what trying to kiss you would do," he teased.

At the thought of it, the monitor beeped a little faster. Katelyn glared at it.

"This is getting embarrassing," she muttered, moving to pull the heartbeat detector off of her finger.

Declan grabbed her left hand, stopping her. "Hey, look at me." He waited until she did, then pressed a soft kiss on her lips. "Mine does the same thing."

Katelyn ran her tongue over her lips, noticing she could taste where his own had been. His eyes darkened as they traced the motion.

"You're really here," Katelyn repeated.

Still smiling, Declan backed away. "And not going anywhere. How are you feeling?"

She shifted slightly, winced. "I don't think I'll be moving any time soon."

Declan ran his hand over her arm. "From what we were told, you're lucky to be alive." He looked down, cleared his throat. "Jesus, Katelyn. You almost died. Five and a half hours of surgery, you had damage to your stomach lining and they were worried you'd bleed out before they could fix anything."

When he met her eyes, she was shocked to see them glistening.

"I messed this up. I was supposed to tell you I loved you before I said anything else. Because you could have died, and I would have been left to know the last conversation we had was a stupid fight." He lifted her hand, kissed the back of it. "I need you to know that I love you."

Katelyn bit her lip, felt the tears fall. But for the first time in months, they were from happiness.

"Declan," she paused to give him time to look up. "I have never in my life said this to someone who wasn't family or Laney. So before I do, you need to understand that this means you're stuck with me, even when I do stupid shit like yell at you for good ideas because I'm not used to being cared for."

He grinned. "I'll just have to start a new rule. Whenever you start yelling, I'll lock the door until you calm down enough to lower the volume."

That earned a soft laugh. "I can work with that." She took a deep breath, looked him in the eyes, and saw everything she'd never known she wanted. "I love you, Declan."