Fuse's Hold by E.C. Land (books for students to read TXT) 📕

stand by him and have his back as he takes care of his ol’ lady and helps her heal.

Chapter Four

Lyrica

“Is she going to be okay?” a voice so familiar I swear I’m dreaming still as I wake up.

“She will, but it’s going to take some time for her to heal fully, Fuse. Her wrist was broken, her leg also in two places. Three of her ribs were fractured and that’s not even the extent of it all. We had to put her in an induced coma to help her heal some a week ago when Mountain got her here. Her brain had swelling that concerned us all. But she’s getting better. You know this.” That voice, I know it too. And the woman said, Fuse.

Meaning I was right. I heard Fuse’s voice and I’m still dreaming a wonderfully torturous dream as I wait for Leonard to reap more of his pain on me.

“Yeah, but you all started to bring her out of it yesterday and she’s still not waking up,” Fuse says, sounding miserable.

“I promise she will, Fuse. Lyrica’s in the best place she can be right now. I know Mountain and his men didn’t want to take her to the hospital up there, but she’d needed immediate attention months ago, it looks like,” the woman says. She sounds like Angelina.

God, I seriously must be out of it. Normally their voices are more at a distance and I’m looking in on them in my dreams.

My heart stills when I feel a hand wrap around mine. That touch feels all too real for this to be me dreaming.

“I know, Angelina, I know,” Fuse breathes, also confirming the voice belongs to my friend.

“Try to rest, Fuse. I won’t tell you to go home and rest since we both know that won’t happen. Now just try to do so while we wait for her to wake,” Angelina mutters. Footsteps can be heard moving away. “I’ll be back to check on her in a bit.”

“Thanks, Angelina. But remember, Pit will flip his shit if you don’t slow down some. He’s already told you a few times this week,” Fuse mutters, his voice still close and I assume his hand is the one holding mine.

I wish I could open my eyes to see him, but I can’t they’re too heavy for me to open.

As I hear Angelina go to answer him, I fall back into the darkness.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The annoying sound of beeping draws me awake and I open my eyes slowly. Glancing around the room, I stop at the sight of Fuse’s head lying on the edge of the bed. One arm draped carefully over my legs while his hand on the other side holds mine in his.

Oh. Shit. It hadn’t been a dream. It was real.

Fuse is here.

Tears sting my eyes at the sight of him sleeping. He seems to be tortured by his dreams as he sleeps, causing me to wonder what he’s dreaming of.

How did I get here?

Where are we?

It can’t be home. The last place I remember hearing the men talk about is up in Montana near the border into Canada.

I suck in a breath as everything slams into me at once. The last beating I’d received. Men coming and taking me out of there. A brute of a man holding me in his arms, another speaking soothing words as he took care of me. The trip where I’d stayed out of it only waking to find my head pressed into a lap. Bumps in the road causing me to whimper.

Now here I am, staring at a sleeping Fuse. The one man who’s been a constant thought in my head for I don’t know how long.

Why is he here?

He hates me.

There’s so much going on in my head, I can’t think of anything else as I stare at him.

Fuse must sense he is being watched. Opening his eyes, he meets mine and immediately lifts his head off my lap, releases my hand, and stands to his feet.

“Fuck, you’re awake,” he utters, reaching out and tenderly cupping my face in both his hands.

I don’t say anything as he does this. Instead, I close my eyes and soak in the feel of him touching me. I’ve been through hell and this touch right here is all I’ve ever wanted to feel while I’d been there.

“I’ve fuckin’ missed you, ma douce. So fuckin’ much,” he rasps.

Um.

Tears I’d been holding back spill down my cheek only to have him wipe them away.

“You’re safe now, Ly. I’m not ever lettin’ another motherfuckin’ thing happen to you. I know you’re not ready for anything, but I’m tellin’ you now, you’re mine,” he declares soothingly.

Oh. My. God.

Those words I’ve wanted to hear for years, but this shit can’t be true now. Not after everything I’ve been through. I’m damaged now and not worth him wanting.

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out but a croak.

“Here, ma douce,” he murmurs, pulling a hand back enough to reach out and grab a cup off the table next to the bed. Fuse holds the cup with the straw pointed toward my mouth for me to take a drink.

I do but do it slowly as this is the first time I’d had anything cold in such a long time. I want to savor the coldness of it.

Fuse pulls the cup away and sets it back on the table and completely releases my face. He sits back in his chair, reaches out, and takes my hand in his. I don’t miss the gentle way he takes my hand in his. Or the harsh breath he lets out.

Diverting my eyes from him, I finally find my voice. “I wanted to die,” I whisper, telling him the truth.

“I know you did, Ly. I’m fuckin’ grateful you didn’t. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he whispers just as quietly.

“You don’t mean that,” I say, staring down at the cast on my other hand. Remembering the