Unforgivably Broken (The Broken Series Book Two) (9 page)

I gasped and he immediately removed his hand, spinning me quickly and claiming my lips in the same moment. He lifted me easily and I wrapped my legs around him, expecting to feel the wall against my back but he moved the opposite direction. He backed
up to the bed, dropping down so I was straddling his lap without breaking our kiss. I gripped the back of his hair, my hips grinding on their own accord. His body pressed the seam of my jeans against my center and I moaned loudly into his mouth. He growled and moved both hands to my backside, pulling me tighter. I could feel the burn starting in the pit of my stomach after only a few more skillful movements between us.

His phone vibrating against the mattress broke through my quickly scattering thoughts and I pulled away from his lips, almost whimpering as I felt the approaching orgasm dissipate the moment we stopped.

“What?” he snapped into the phone after he answered. He was clearly just as frustrated as I was. He stopped breathing and the color visibly drained from his face. I scurried off his lap, his tension immediately putting me on edge as I tried to gauge what was happening from his expression. My heart was still racing but it felt like the room became colder. Zane’s eyes, his body language… dread was all I could feel.

“I’m on my way.” The phone slid from his fingers and hit the bed before bouncing off and landing on the carpet. Neither of us so much as reached for it. I held my breath, waiting for an explanation. “Lizzie was in a car accident this morning. Conner was with her.”

One thing no parent should ever have to experience is the terror of not being there when their child is hurt.

In his short life, Conner has had three trips to the hospital, this one included. All three times, the ride to the hospital and the time it
had taken to find him once there, were entirely too long and every second was spent in nearly vomit-inducing anxiety.

There
weren’t words strong enough for that kind of fear.

I didn’t hear the reassurances from
Lili as she drove but I know she was trying to keep me calm. I could vaguely recall her yelling where we were going at Tish and him saying they would be right behind us, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered aside from my need to be with my son.

“He needs to wake up,” Lizzie whimpered beside me a
s I slid my thumb over his hand, not looking at her.

“He will. He’s only been out for an hour. You should be resting.” I tried to keep the hatred I was feeling toward her from my tone, speaking softly as I silently willed Conner to open his eyes.

“Like I could lie in that fucking bed another second when my son was in surgery,” she hissed at me and I snapped.

“It wasn’t surgery, Lizzie. They had to reset his shoulder. An injury he wouldn’t have had at all if you
—” I stopped myself, grinding my teeth and turning my back to her completely as I focused on Conner. There was no solid proof of whether or not we could hear conversations when sedated and I wasn’t about to let angry words between his mother and me be the first things Conner heard as he came back.

“It was an accident,” Lizzie said and I could hear the tears in her voice.

“We’ll talk about this later. This isn’t the time or the place,” I said, still running my thumb along Conner’s hand.
Open your eyes, buddy.

I was grateful that
I’d run into Shannon and Gabe the moment I’d arrived at the Emergency Room. They were the paramedics at the scene and they filled me in on Conner’s injuries and pointed me in the right direction. A clavicle fracture and dislocated shoulder were the worst of it and that was bad enough. But it could’ve been so much worse.

The second Conner’s eyes started
fluttering, I grabbed the kidney dish beside the bed and held it up. He gagged once but didn’t vomit as the sedation wore off. I wondered if he fought it back or if he just hadn’t eaten anything today. Knowing Lizzie, the latter was more likely.

He blinked and started a whining sort of cry that I knew was part confusion and part fear. I put my hand on the side of his head carefully and he blinked
, forcing his eyes open.

“Daddy?”
he asked in a rough voice. I couldn’t help but grin.

“I’m here, little man. I’m right here,” I said, letting the relief flood through me. He was going to be fine.

“Mommy crashed the car,” he said, his voice trailing off as his eyes slipped closed.

“I know, buddy. But you’re okay. You can go back to sleep,” I said, brushing the hair back from his face. He needed a haircut. I hadn’t noticed the last time Tom and
Marna brought him to see me.

“Are you feeling okay? Does it hurt? Do you need medicine?” Lizzie asked, hovering across from me where she had moved to be closer to him. He took a deep breath but didn’t answer, his tiny hand going slack in mine as he succumbed to the sedation again. “What happened?” She directed th
e question to me.

“He’ll be in and out while it wears off, Lizzie. Damn. Calm down. You’ll just make him anxious if you hover.”

“Well, excuse me for being a concerned parent,” she snipped. I leaned down, kissing Conner on the forehead before I turned to face her. I grabbed her arm, pulled her a short distance from his bed, and looked her directly in the eyes.

“You
really
don’t want to get into this with me right now. Stay with him. I’m going to let everyone know he’s okay.” I released her elbow, glancing back at Conner to make sure he was still sleeping before I stormed out of the room.

I pushed all thoughts of Lizzie aside as I walked down the hall. I hated this fucking hospital. It felt like I’d spent days here
, waiting to beg Lili for forgiveness after she was attacked, worrying that she wouldn’t pull through. I hated the helplessness of those memories right now.

As I rounded the corner,
Lili’s face was the first I found. She’d been pacing. As soon as she saw me, her fingers dropped from her lip where she’d no doubt been tugging at her piercing while she waited. She ran toward me and the rest of our family, Tom and Marna included, came forward to hear the news.

“He’s going to be okay. He apparently hit the front seat with his left shoulder. He’s got a broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder but just some bumps and bruises other than that,” I explained and
Lili leaned into my chest. I wrapped an arm around her and kissed her head as everyone started talking at once, relieved that he wasn’t injured further. I was relieved too, but I was still furious. He shouldn’t have been hurt at all.

“Is he awake?” Tish asked, clearly wanting to see him.

“No. Not really. He woke up once so he’s starting to come out of it but it’ll be a little bit. You guys can head home if you want.” I glanced down at Lili, who was already shaking her head. I knew she would stay as long as I did.

“We’ll hang out for a bit,”
Kas said, rubbing my arm and giving me a smile. “He’s a fighter. Like his Daddy. He’ll be up and running around before you know it.”

I nodded and glanced back at the hallway. I wanted to get back to him but that meant dealing with Lizzie.

“Go. We’ll be here,” Lili said, standing on her toes to kiss me quickly before pushing me lightly toward the hallway.

“Can I borrow your phone?” I asked
, hating that mine was dead when I needed to make a call.

“Sure,” she said, pulling it out and handing it to me without question. I kissed her again before heading down the hall. I paused in the corridor, turning toward the stairs. I needed privacy for this.

It was late afternoon when Conner finally pulled through the sedatives and woke up without falling right back to sleep. He seemed to be in a small amount of pain after the doctor left to get his release forms. He frowned at the sling on his arm.

“It’s only temporary,” I promised
. He looked up at me, disappointed.

“No cast this time?”

“No, bud. No cast this time.”

“I wanted Uncle
Teesh to draw on it again,” he pouted and I couldn’t help but laugh. The mind of a child was a wonderful thing. The horror of a day like today was pushed aside by the smallest of things.

“I bet if you ask Uncle Tish, he’ll draw on the sling for you,” I said.

“Will he take me to his work and let me sit in his chair?” His eyes brightened.

“We’ll ask him later. I promise,” I said, pacifying him for now as he relaxed back against the pillows.

“You’ve been taking him to the shop?” Lizzie asked, at least having the decency to keep her voice low enough that he couldn’t hear her.

“Go back to your room, Lizzie. I’ll be there as soon as Conner leaves with your parents,” I said, hating the look of shock on her face. I hadn’t once asked about her since I’d been here but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned. She seemed to be in pain and I was worried about the baby, as much as I hated to admit it, even to myself. I didn’t want this kid to be mine but the thought of her losing it, of never knowing, made me sick to my stomach in almost the same way I felt worrying about Conner.

She said bye to Conner and promised she’d see him later as the doctor came in with the release forms and prescription. He gave me a quick rundown of the aftercare basics before having me sign a few papers. I walked Conner out to the waiting room and he ran toward Tish when he saw him, clearly still feeling the effect of the pain relievers they had given him. I smiled until I saw Tom and Marna approaching.

“I need you to take him back to your place,” I said. I glanced over at Conner, who was describing what he wanted on his sling to an enraptured Tish and
Kas. Paige and Lili were both watching me, though. “I’m going to stay with Lizzie and make sure she gets home.”

“That’s no problem,”
Marna said, visibly relaxing at my words. They’d thought I would fight them. I hadn’t meant to give them false hope.

“Once I get her settled in at her place, I’ll be coming by to pick him up. I’d appreciate it if you had his things packed.”

“Zane, you can’t be serious,” Tom said, almost like he was scolding Conner instead of me.

“I’m dead serious. And I mean exactly that. She nearly killed my son today and I’m done giving her chances.” I realized I’d raised my voice and my eyes caught Tish’s. Conner was still talking to him but he nodded, clearly having heard me. “I spoke to my lawyer already. I’m going for full custody of Conner. If you fight me on this, I’ll just get an emergency custody order.”