John was standing outside Kayce's door when Oakley and Jamie walked up. Oakley paused, not sure why John wasn't inside with Kayce.
"He's groggy," John told her. "The nurses gave him a sedative though to keep him calm so he wouldn't damage his shoulder more."
"Why aren't you in there?" Oakley asked.
"He told me to get out," John sighed. "Figured it'd be best right now to follow him."
Oakley looked at Jamie for a second.
"Okay...I'll come get you if I can reason with him," Oakley said.
"We'll go see Beth," John nodded to Jamie. "Take your time, Oakley."
The two of them walked down the hallway as Oakley pushed open the door. Kayce's golden orbs looked at her when she stepped in. Before the door could shut behind her, Oakley was over to Kayce's bed. He reached up with his good arm as Oakley sat down by his side.
"Hi..." Oakley breathed out.
She looked over him, letting Kayce rest his arm over her thighs. One of her hands rested against his waist while the other moved some of his hair back from his forehead.
"Do you hurt?" Oakley asked him. "Do you need anything?"
Kayce swallowed hard, his eyes blinking slowly up at Oakley.
"What..." Kayce cleared his throat. "What happened?"
Oakley frowned.
"You got shot, Kayce," She told him. "You've been in the hospital for two days now...but you're recovering nicely."
Kayce nodded his head, his eyes shutting while he did so. He opened his eyes again and looked up at Oakley. His hand on her thigh reached up and used his thumb to wipe away a tear rolling down her cheek.
"I don't know what your dad told you," Oakley said.
"Not much before I told him to get out and get you," Kayce coughed, wincing from the movement.
"Do you want some water?" Oakley asked, trying to stand up.
"No," Kayce held onto her as best he could.
Oakley settled back in her seat on the bed. Kayce's arm dropped back down to where it had been on her thigh. She softly rubbed her hand up and down his arm.
"Beth's awake too," Oakley decided to start with that.
"Good," Kayce nodded, but his eyes held questions about the other part of their lives.
"Marcus is dead," Oakley lowered her voice. "Honestly...everything around him is dead now. Along with his reason's why and motives."
Kayce didn't say anything.
"Jamie's here," Oakley took a deep breath. "He and I had a long talk earlier."
"Jamie's here?" Kayce asked.
"Yeah," Oakley nodded. "You can see him later."
Kayce nodded his head slowly.
"What about the kids?" He asked.
"They're at the house," Oakley said. "My mom is with them...they miss you like crazy, but they're all okay."
"Tate?" Kayce blinked up at her.
"He's...he's been amazing," Oakley felt her eyes water at the thought of Tate. "Really stepped up for us."
"And you?" Kayce asked.
Oakley took a shaky breath as she leaned down. Her lips brushed against Kayce's not caring they were chapped. She kissed him again, longer and deeper.
"M'sorry," Oakley pressed her lips to Kayce's cheek before pulling back so she could look down at him. "I'm so sorry for fighting you...and yelling at you...I'm sorry for everything I said to you..."
"Oaks..." Kayce breathed out.
"All of this was just so awful," Oakley shook her head. "I just didn't know what else to do...and then you got shot...and seeing you in here and having complications...I'm so sorry, Kayce."
"I'm sorry for lying to you," Kayce took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for putting you through this."
Oakley shook her head as she sniffed hard. She maneuvered her way to where she was lying down next to Kayce like before. This time, he was able to wrap his arm around her and hold her against him. Kayce was warmer this time too. Oakley tucked her head under his chin as she listened to his heartbeat.
Not only did she thank God for this moment, but she made a promise right then and there to never let something come between her and Kayce like this again.
**
Four days later
"Okay," Oakley walked back over to Kayce's side of their bed. "Do you need anything?"
"To not be in bed," Kayce grumbled.
"Well, you're stuck here for a few more days of rest," Oakley's hands were on her hips. "You got shot...and had emergency surgery. You need to heal up and not do more damage to yourself. Think you can do this for me?"
"It's not that I can't do it," Kayce looked up at her. "I just feel useless."
"That's okay," Oakley leaned down and pressed her lips to Kayce's. "Stay here in bed...let me take care of you."
The front door opened up.
"Incoming," Oakley mumbled against Kayce's lips before she pulled away.
In an instant, two flashes passed by Oakley and were kneeling on the bed next to Kayce. Oakley tried to hold onto the twins' shirts so they wouldn't wound Kayce, but the smile on his face was something that Oakley felt would cure all of them.
"Daddy!" Evelyn cried, tears in her eyes.
"What happened, Dad?" Lee asked.
"Are you hurt?"
"Did you shoot the bad guys?"
"We were worried about you!"
"Grandma said you were shot."
"Did you escape?"
"Alright!" Oakley called out, silencing the twins' questions. "Okay...let your daddy breathe."
"I'm alright," Kayce looked between the twins. "Everything's okay now...just a little banged up is all."
"Does it hurt?" Lee asked, looking at Kayce's arm.
"Not the best feeling," Kayce said. "But it's getting better.
"We have to be careful around him for a while, okay?" Oakley said to the twins. "We can't have him tearing up what the doctor fixed."
"We'll take care of you, Daddy," Evelyn smiled.
"Thanks, baby," Kayce chuckled. "Where's Tate?"
"Here."
Oakley looked behind her as Tate walked slowly into the room. She picked up Lee so Tate could sit on Kayce's side where his shoulder was still bandgaged up nicely.
"Seems like I owe you a thanks," Kayce looked at Tate.
"What for?" Tate asked.
"You took care of things here while I was gone," Kayce said. "Watched over our family."
"Wasn't hard," Tate shrugged. "Grandma was here too."
Oakley smiled at the mention of her mom.
"Still," Kayce smiled. "Thank you for being the man of the house around here."
"Just glad you're back," Tate smiled.
"Alright...let's let him sleep for a little while," Oakley started to shoo the kids away.
Their groans were long as they made their way out of the bedroom. Oakley smiled as she tucked the blankets back up around Kayce. She sat down next to Kayce and sighed.
"You sure you don't need anything?" Oakley asked him.
"Come lay with me," Kayce said and Oakley could see how tired his eyes were.
"How about you take a good long nap first?" Oakley smiled at him. "Then we can have supper and I'll come lay with you after that."
"You said you'd take care of me," Kayce smirked.
"Indeed," Oakley rolled her eyes, standing up. "Letting you rest is me taking care of you."
"Alright," Kayce's eyes were slowly closing.
"I'll see you a little bit later," Oakley turned and by the time she was closing the door, Kayce was asleep.
She made her way downstairs, finding John in the kitchen.
"There's still some coffee left," John nodded with his mug.
"I'm good, but thank you," Oakley said.
"Kayce alright?" John asked.
"He's talking a good game," Oakley rolled her eyes. "But he still needs rest. The walk up the stairs and into bed just about wiped him out."
"We're not built for resting," John chuckled.
"No, y'all ain't," Oakley walked around the island. "He'll be better in a few days."
"How are you?" John asked.
"I'm..." Oakley trailed off and looked over at John.
"Stupid question, maybe," John nodded.
"Not stupid," Oakley shook her head and thought about something. "Is it over?"
John looked back at her, seeming to mull over her question for a minute.
"There's some blank spaces, is all," Oakley shrugged. "When I think about things...I see them."
"Blank spaces?" John asked.
"Who fired the gun off when we were up at camp? How did Marcus get back in good with Doyle? Or did Doyle even know he was on his farm?" Oakley asked. "How did he get into the prison with May to cut her? Why did Marcus do what he did?"
"We can't always find all the answers," John said with a sigh.
"Or we remove them," Oakley said, looking at John.
"Right," John nodded. "For this purpose, I removed them, Oakley."
"I hope so," Oakley made her way over to the entrance to the kitchen.
"Why's that?" John looked over his shoulder at her.
Oakley stopped and turned around to face him.
"Because I told you not to use Kayce," Oakley said, narrowing her eyes. "And look what happened to him."
John leaned up in his seat.
"What happened to Kayce was an accident," John said. "He wasn't the target."
"No, I was...and I'll come to terms with that here soon I'm sure. My husband taking a bullet that was meant for me, I haven't been able to process that but I need my husband better before I crumble down about that because we can't both fall apart at the same time...but he shouldn't have been an accident to begin with. We shouldn't have had a situation like that to begin with." Oakley took a breath. "You came up with that plan though...and I know I went along with it, but I did that for Kayce, not you...but you put him in that position, regardless of what Marcus' plan was."
John just stared at her.
"Anything remotely like this happens again?" Oakley raised her eyebrow. "You'll have a bullet put through you, because, with all the terrible things that happen due to this place, there's always, always one common denominator."
John leaned up some in his seat.
"And I'll be the one to do it."
John stared back at her but didn't say anything. Oakley turned around and made her way into the living room where the kids were.
**
Oakley turned off the tap in the bathtub, running her hand around in the water to stir up some of the bubbles and salts. The doctors had given her a bath-mix to help soothe Kayce's muscles and she decided the strength to take a bath would tire Kayce out enough for him to sleep well through the night. She walked back into the bedroom where Kayce was sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Ready?" Oakley asked with a smile.
"Yeah," Kayce took a deep breath before standing up.
Oakley reached for his good arm, helping him walk into the bathroom. They made it to the tub and Oakley helped Kayce remove his loose shirt, being careful of his bandages. She walked around to his front and looked at the tapes.
"Might be better if we remove some of them?" Oakley looked at Kayce. "As long as you don't get it wet."
"You know I'm thirty-seven, right?" Kayce mumbled.
"Sit," Oakley let Kayce sit down on the edge of the tub before she carefully started to pull back the tapes around the bandage.
She got enough off before she lifted the fabric slowly. Kayce's incision was clean looking, slightly pink and bruised, but healthy. Oakley sat the used materials on the sink's counter and then leaned closer.
"This is looking good," Her eyes looked up at Kayce's face.
She helped Kayce get into the water slowly, letting him sink back but kept the arm of the wounded shoulder outside the tub to help keep the water away from it. Kayce's eyes fluttered at the warm water which Oakley knew had to feel good to him.
"How's that?" Oakley asked him.
"Damn," Kayce breathed out. "That feels good."
"Good," Oakley smiled, pushing Kayce's hair away from his face as she sat on the edge. "Soak in that for a little while...the salts will help your muscles."
"Might need that trip to the springs finally," Kayce looked at her.
"When you're cleared to ride we can go there first thing," Oakley nodded.
"Thank you," Kayce blinked slowly up at Oakley. "Thank you for everything."
Oakley tilted her head with a larger smile on her lips.
"It's what you and I do," She said.
"You and me..." Kayce leaned his head back against the tub and sighed deeply. "Damn."
Oakley giggled as she stood up, picked up Kayce's clothes, and walked out of the bathroom. She placed his clothes in the hamper and walked over to the bed, turning the covers down more for when Kayce was done. Her conversation with John earlier popped into her mind. Oakley glanced back at the bathroom and sighed.
"Hey," Oakley walked back in and over to sit on the tub's edge. "I need to tell you something."
"What?" Kayce opened his eyes and looked up at her.
"Earlier today...I asked your father if all this was done," Oakley said.
"All what?" Kayce asked.
"The...Marcus situation," Oakley licked her lips. "I said there were some blanks and unanswered questions but your father said sometimes we don't find all the answers."
"Sometimes we don't, baby, "Kaye mumbled.
"Yeah..." Oakley took a breath. "But I then said that sometimes we get rid of the answers."
Kayce didn't say anything but stared back at Oakley.
"I then...maybe...sort of...threatened your father," Oakley bit her lip. "Yeah, no, no sort of...I definitively threatened him."
Kayce's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean, threatened?" He asked her.
Oakley shifted where she sat.
"I said," Oakley cleared her throat. "That if this happened again...if he used you again or you were hurt like this again...that it would be him with a bullet inside him."
"Oakley..." Kayce shook his head slowly.
"Because I'd put it there," Oakley finished. "The bullet in him."
A look of surprise crossed Kayce's face. Oakley waited for him to say something. Leaning up more, Kayce adjusted how he was lying in the tub. His golden eyes found Oakley's eyes again and he sighed.
"You threatened to shoot, Dad?" Kayce asked and a smirk appeared on his lips.
"No," Oakley shook her head. "That part I promised."
Kayce let out a short chuckle, shaking his head but then wincing when he pulled his shoulder muscle too much. His other hand pressed against his left peck, right over the brand.
"Careful," Oakley frowned.
Kayce sighed, looking up at her.
"Let me fight my father," Kayce said, but it wasn't a warning or condescending tone.
"I can stick up for both of us though," Oakley said.
"I ain't doubting you, baby," Kayce smiled. "But if anyone's putting a bullet in him if he deserves it...it's me."
Oakley giggled, her arms crossing in front of her. Kayce let out a few chuckles himself as they both realized how ridiculous this conversation was...but this was the Dutton family.
"Come in here with me," Kayce said after a few minutes.
"You can't get that wet," Oakley pointed to his shoulder.
"You're no fun," Kayce joked.
"I know," Oakley smiled. "I invited Jamie over for lunch tomorrow...thought maybe we could all have a meal together without your father?"
"He agree?" Kayce asked.
"Yeah," Oakley nodded.
"Alright," Kayce sighed and then looked back up at Oakley. "Feel you went through a lot while I was out."
"I may or may not have had a few breakdowns," Oakley shrugged. "I don't know...a lot of things seem silly when your husband is fighting for his life. The things I cared about became a very small list."
"I'm sorry," Kayce sighed. "That you went through that."
"It's done," Oakley shook her head. "You're here and getting better every day."
Kayce gave her a sad look.
"I'm sorry I said you were like Monica," Kayce swallowed. "I think...in that moment I was desperate for you to stay that I didn't care about hurting you more...I figured maybe you'd not want to be that and in some fucked up way, that would make you stay."
"Think that backfired on you," Oakley told him gently. "In doing that only made me...understand her actions more all those years ago."
"Yeah," Kayce leaned his head back. "Add it to my list of fuck ups."
"You don't have a list," Oakley shook her head. "We were both raw and hurt...you said it to hurt me into staying. Can't say I've never said something to hurt you before."
"I'm sorry," Kayce looked at her. "You ain't...you know you ain't anything like anyone I've ever known before."
"I'm sorry for not being okay with trusting that you did what you did to protect us," Oakley nodded her head. "I let my fear get in the way of seeing your side of things."
Oakley leaned down and pressed her lips gently to Kayce's.
"We'll be okay," Oakley told him, leaning back up.
"Come in here with me," Kayce said with a tired smile.
Oakley rolled her eyes.
"No, baby," Oakley stood up slowly and smiled down at Kayce. "Stay here for another twenty minutes and I'll see you in bed soon."
**
"Hey," Jamie walked into the dining room the next day for lunch.
"Hey," Oakley smiled. "Tate's helping Kayce come down here and I've just almost got everything laid out for lunch."
Jamie followed her into the kitchen where a variety of sandwich items were across the counter with chips and veggies on the end. Oakley pulled down plates and sat them at the start of the line.
"James not with you?" Oakley asked.
"Saw the twins on the way here and he stayed with them," Jamie said. "Teeter's teaching 'em a new rope trick I think."
"Good," Oakley nodded. "How are you?"
"Fine," Jamie said. "You?"
"Fine," Oakley crossed her arms and a few seconds of silence passed between them.
"Maybe we should stop asking each other that?" Jamie asked with a smirk.
"Seems stupid every time I say it," Oakley laughed.
Footsteps made them look up and see Tate and Kayce walk in. Oakley smiled as Tate let go of Kayce's good arm and walked over to her. Oakley handed him a plate.
"He's in a mood," Tate told her and started to fix his sandwich.
"I can hear you," Kayce snapped.
"You could go watch the twins and bring them and James lunch?" Oakley offered with a smirk.
"Deal," Tate chuckled as he made a few sandwiches on his plate to take.
"No respect," Kayce sighed, nodding at Jamie. "Hey."
"How ya feeling?" Jamie asked, pointing to Kayce's shoulder.
"Better," Kayce nodded and Oakley rolled her eyes.
Kayce didn't have a good sleep the night before despite the bath. He couldn't get comfortable and tossed all night, which kept Oakley up for most of the night before she finally went to the guestroom and got about an hour's sleep before the twins got up.
After Tate was done and left, Oakley started to make Kayce his sandwich. He noticed and she saw him relax slightly. He was grouchy, but Oakley was tired and didn't want to rock that boat anymore today. No telling what the twins would do later, and she needed all the strength she could get at the moment.
The three of them made their way into the dining room once all their sandwiches were made. Oakley sat down next to Kayce after pouring everyone a glass of iced tea. He looked better than he had when she saw him earlier this morning getting ready for the day.
"You staying here long or going back up to camp?" Jamie asked Kayce.
"Ain't allowed by this one yet," Kayce nodded to Oakley.
"When he's cleared by actual medical doctors, then he can ride and we can go up," Oakley rolled her eyes and Jamie laughed. "Until then I'm sure he can get into enough trouble here."
"You going up?" Kayce asked.
"Thought I might," Jamie nodded. "Take James...and I can take the twins too if y'all want?"
Kayce looked at Oakley.
"They'd love that," Oakley said. "Tate could go with you...three kids under seven is a lot for one person."
"Except you," Jamie smirked.
"Well...you two weren't given the genes of understanding parenting skills by your father," Oakley laughed. "He gave y'all other qualities though."
"Sounds like a compliment," Kayce looked at Jamie.
"When are you thinking of leaving?" Oakley asked.
"Maybe tomorrow?" Jamie said. "Got a few things to work on at the house, but could do it."
"We could come up then in a few days," Kayce said.
"If you're-"
"Doctor said when I came home yesterday that I'd have four days..." Kayce interrupted Oakley. "Today would be day two...tomorrow when they leave would be day three...I'll even give you an extra day and we could go up on Thursday...which would make it five days."
"Suddenly you're so good at math," Oakley raised her eyebrow at Kayce.
"Or...I was thinking that way," Kayce cleared his throat. "We could take one more day and you and I go up to the hot springs for a night and then come back to camp for a while."
"You don't want everyone with us?" Oakley asked.
"Not on our anniversary," Kayce shook his head and took a bite of his sandwich.
Oakley's eyes widened and Jamie caught her look with a smirk. This Friday would be her and Kayce's wedding anniversary. She had honestly forgotten and what's worse...Kayce had remembered.
"It's alright, babe," Kayce smirked. "I won't hold that over you for too long."
"Shut it," Oakley glared while the two men laughed. "I've been a little busy this past week or so."
"I uh...wanted to say something to the two of you," Jamie cleared his throat. "Ask you something."
Kayce paused, raising his sandwich to his mouth, and looked at Oakley. She blinked, turning her head to look at Jamie.
"Is it bad?" Oakley asked. "I can't do another bad thing right now, Jamie."
"It's not bad," Jamie shook his head.
"What?" Kayce asked, setting his sandwich down.
Jamie took a breath.
"This whole...the past few months brought up something to me," Jamie said. "I'm all James has left...the last parent."
Oakley felt her throat shrink.
"And I um...when we had James, May, and I," Jamie sighed. "We never got around to naming who would take James if something were to happen to us...now me."
Oakley waited as Jamie paused.
"With our lifestyle," Jamie looked more at Kayce than at Oakley. "I just got to thinking that it would be better if I go ahead and have that in place."
"You feel something's gonna happen?" Kayce asked.
"No..." Jamie shook his head. "Just in case though."
Kayce nodded his head.
"I'd like to name the two of you if you'd allow it," Jamie said. "It's a lot, I know."
Oakley was surprised. Sure, if she thought long and hard about it, Kayce and her would probably make the most sense. But that didn't mean Oakley thought Jamie would ever actually ask them. Especially with everything that's happened, Oakley felt as though this was a small bandaid placed over all of them for the first time in months.
Kayce turned and looked at Oakley. She looked at Kayce for a few seconds, gauging where he was, but Oakley already knew what Kayce would do. A small smile crossed Oakley's lips as she looked back at Jamie who seemed slightly nervous.
"God willing we'd never have to..." Oakley said. "But we'd be honored, Jamie. And we promise we will take care of and watch over James as our own."
"Thank you," Jamie let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
Jamie looked at Kayce.
"Just sort of figured it'd be like that anyway," Kayce shrugged his good shoulder. "It's what brothers do."
Oakley felt her heartbeat against her chest as she smiled. She saw Jamie get teary as he looked down at his lunch again and started eating. As Oakley took a sip of her tea, Kayce placed his hand on her thigh under the table.