Coming Home

“You’ve been sleeping on the floor for two nights? How long have I been asleep?” I asked, suddenly worried I had lost more of my life than I had originally thought.

“Today is the fourth day since you were brought here,” Talon answered, reaching down to softly hug me. I had to smile as he did so because he was treating me like I was made of glass and was about to break.

“You know you can actually hug me Tal. I’m not going to break. I’m a big girl,” I said with a grin.

“Says the girl with the broken ribs,” Eli, one of the police officers and an old friend of my brothers’, said with a grin from the foot of my bed.

“Shut up Eli,” I retorted, making everyone laugh.

The next few minutes were spent talking and joking with them. The doctor came in to examine me and determined that I was doing really well and I could probably go home the next day. He looked at Cayden, who shook his head. They shared another look before the doctor left, leaving me confused. I couldn’t question it, however, because my sons chose that moment to wake up and start crying.

“Lay down Makenzi,” Cannon ordered as I tried to get up to go to my babies.

“But-,” I started to protest, but Cannon put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me back down.

A moment later, Cayden appeared back at my side with Cain and Asher in his arms.

“Mommy!” they yelled in unison, stretching their little arms out towards me.

“Mommy’s hurt so we have to be careful. We don’t want to hurt Mommy, do we?” Cayden asked, pulling them closer to him.

“Mommy’s hurt?” Cain asked, looking from Cayden to me.

“Yes, so we have to be careful, okay?” Cayden asked.

He waited until they nodded before carefully setting them on the side of my bed. Instantly, I was leaning up to gather them in my arms. I clutched them to me, ignoring the pain. I was so glad that they were safe. I didn’t have to worry anymore about anybody being after them and trying to kill them. They were safe and happy and I couldn’t be more thankful.

“Let me have them Kenzi. You’re hurting yourself,” Liam instructed, appearing at my side.

“I don’t care,” I said, but loosened my grip on them anyways.

“You might not but the rest of us do,” Tegan said, taking Asher and passing him to Tristan as Liam took Cain.

“Hey guys, do you think you could give Kenzi and me a minute? There’s something I need to talk to her about,” Cayden requested, looking around at all the faces in the room.

Everyone slowly trickled out of my hospital room, placing kisses on my face or giving me light hugs on their way out. Tegan gave me a little wave before waddling out. Liam, the last one to leave, stopped in the doorway before turning around and giving me a sympathetic smile. I didn’t know what was going on but my stomach was clenching with anxiety at the sudden knowledge that I was about to receive bad news. I’m not sure how I knew; there was just something in the air that told me that whatever Cayden had to talk to me about wasn’t going to be pleasant.

When the door closed behind Liam, Cayden leaned forward, resting his elbows on the side of my bed. He grasped my hands and held on to them, staring at our intertwined hands as he played with my fingers. He was staring at our hands as though they were going to start talking. Pain was etched on his face, making me worried. My heart was clenching in my chest and I was finding it hard to breathe.

“Cayden, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. You’re scaring me,” I pleaded, reaching my fingers out to tilt his chin up to face me.

“I don’t know if I can do this baby girl,” he said, his eyes piercing mine.

“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice high and squeaky.

Millions of thoughts were going through my head, trying to figure out what he meant by that statement. My first thought was he was talking about our relationship. My heart clenched even tighter at the thought of him leaving me. I clutched onto his hands tighter, trying to fight back tears. I soon learned I was fighting a losing battle as the tears streamed down my face.

“Baby girl, why are you crying? What’s wrong? Do you hurt?” Cayden asked, removing his hands from mine to cup my face.

“I don’t want to lose you,” I blubbered through the tears.