The Passage (h.s)

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Oh my god, I love you so much Angel. Let's get you ready to go home."

***

"Before we leave, I want to give you a heads up. The paps caught wind of you being in the hospital. My security arranged for us to get out of here safely. We're gonna leave separately."

"Baby, no I don't want to be separated from you. Please don't leave me alone."

"Slow down Princess. I just want to make sure no one follows us, then we'll stop and I'll take you the rest of the way home. I know it sounds complicated, but I don't want anyone harassing you. You don't need that right now. I promise, everything will be fine. Do you trust me?"

"With my life."

"Okay, I'm going to leave first to distract anyone waiting outside. This is Bill, my bodyguard, he'll be taking you about 15 minutes later. I love you and I don't want you to worry. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you and neither will he. I promise, he's better than the Secret Service."

Bill nods to me with a straightforward grin. He doesn't talk, but I guess I'm not sure what to expect a bodyguard to be like. I'm assuming they don't speak much, just continually keeping an eye on their surroundings. To keep the situation comfortable, I offer him a genuine smile. If Harry trusts him, then so do I.

Harry stands before me and stares into my eyes. It's like he's waiting until he knows for sure I'm ok with the arrangement. When he's fully convinced, a smile graces his beautiful lips, then he kisses me quietly on his way out of the room.

***

The plan to escape the hospital works perfectly. There aren't any issues and Harry is back in the car driving me home.

"See, I told you everything would be fine. We're almost home."

The moment we make it through the gate at the house my tension eases enough for me to feel safe again. In the short amount of time I've spent here, I've always felt peaceful and without worry.

"Welcome home Beautiful..." He grins infectiously. "Can I tell you how excited I am to say that? This is your new home."

I smile while caressing his cheek.

"You're the most adorable man I've ever met. I'm happy to be home and I'm dying to see my girls...and Sam."

"I called Sam when I left the hospital. The girls are so excited to see you. She hasn't told them about what happened, so we'll have to ease into that conversation. As of now, the only thing they know is that there was an accident. I'll be here with you through all of it. We'll get through this together."

"How is it that you manage to make me feel completely confident with all of your plans?"

"I'm just that good." He giggles. "Let's get you inside Love."

***

The moment I step inside the front door, you can hear young footsteps running towards me. Harry stays outside in the garage tinkering about, giving the girls some time alone with me before the big introduction.

"Mama, we missed you!"

They both wrap themselves around me. Sam slowly follows them into the room, her eyes threatening to shed a few tears. She mouths the words I love you and I do the same. We haven't seen each other since I was laying on my bedroom floor. She's been here taking care of the girls while Harry has been at the hospital taking care of me.

"Oh, my babies I missed you too." I lean down and kiss them both atop their heads.

"Mama, what happened? How did you get hurt? We were so scared."