Nick's POV

Heaven. That's what it felt like to have her wrapped in my arms again. Three days without her to talk to, to smile at me, to blush when I say something inappropriate. It was pure torture.

The ache in my chest has lessened since she woke up, but it still claws at me occasionally, reminding me I could have lost her.

It's early morning. My dad had messaged me to make sure he still knew the feeding routine and I messaged mom to let her know to bring Jayden.

Spencer still sleeps nestled in my arms. Every so often she will move in her sleep and let out a quiet groan. She's obviously still in pain, though I know she tries to hide it. Her strength never ceases to amaze me. I know grown men who would be whimpering. Broken ribs hurt like a bitch, then add on a broken leg that had surgery and a skull fracture? She's damn strong.

My phone beeps.

Mom- Hey sweetie. I'll bring Jayden over when he is finished breakfast. I have a surprise for you guys. :)

Me- It better not be big. Spence is still in a lot of pain.

Mom- Don't worry 😏

Me- when did you start using emojis? It doesn't make you hip.... trust me.

Mom- your sister taught me. And I'm a cool mom! 😎

Me-🙄

I shake my head at my mother's antics. She can be a weird woman.

Spencer groans as she stretches a bit, turning to blink up at me wearily. She had difficulty sleeping last night.

"Morning beautiful." I murmur softly as my lips brush her forehead.

"Hey. What time is it?" She grumbles groggily.

"Early. 7:30."

I carry Spencer to the bathroom so she can relieve herself before carrying her back to her bed. She's been dying for a shower, but we have to wait for the doctor's instructions before she can.

I brought us breakfast from the cafeteria while we waited for the doctor to do his rounds.

My eyes stayed on Spencer the entire time. Every time she moved, she would wince, her breathing would quicken in short pants and she was having difficulty staying in a sitting position. Her eyes would squint whenever her head hurt.

A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. The doctor entered and smiled at us.

"Morning folks. So, how are we feeling?"

"I'm fine. I want to shower." I glared at Spencer before speaking up. She's not fine.

"She's in pain. She's also having difficulty catching her breath." Spencer's shoulders sag in defeat. I know she just wants to leave but she needs to be honest. What if this means something bad?

"Hmm. Okay. Spencer, you need to let us know these things. We have other medications if the pain becomes too great and it's extremely important for us to know if you're having shortness of breath. Broken ribs can be dangerous because they could puncture your lung." The doctor speaks firmly while gazing intently at Spencer, trying to tell her the situation is serious.

She sighs and nods. "Sorry." She mumbles.

"I want to take another X-ray of your chest. The shortness of breath is probably just from pain, but I want to be positive. After the X-ray is clear you can shower but you will need a nurse to assist you." Spencer glanced at me with pleading eyes.

"I can help her." The doctor nods and leaves the room after telling us that someone would be by with a portable X-ray.

Her films came back normal. Her ribs hadn't shifted position so as long as she took it easy, she should be fine. The hard part will be keeping her from moving around too much.

The nurse explains how to shower with a bag over her cast and a wrap over her IV. So now Spencer could shower. I had texted my mom with a better time to bring Jayden over, so I had asked her to bring Spencer comfortable clothes she could wear since they want her here for another few days. For now, she gets the crappy hospital gown.

I carry her into the bathroom before setting her down on the toilet seat. I turn on the shower water, so it warms up before turning back and sliding the bag on Spencer's cast. The nurse already wrapped her IV for us.

"Are you sure you're comfortable? I'll need to be in there with you, so you don't fall." I need to make sure she's okay with this. Obviously, we've seen each other naked before but this seems more intimate, even though I'm just taking care of her.

She smiles and cups my cheek. "I'm fine, babe." She leans forward to kiss my lips.

Shit. This is not going to be easy on me.

I untie her hospital gown and slip it from her delicate shoulders.

I gulp seeing how bruised she was. Large purple areas mark her beautiful skin. Her whole left side of her chest, abdomen, and hip is completely bruised. I didn't realize I'd been staring, wide eyed, at her until she spoke.

"Nick, I'm fine. I'll be okay, I promise." I release a shaky breath, resting my forehead in the crook of her neck. She rubs my back gently, trying to calm me.

"I was so scared baby. I've never been that scared in my life. I thought you were leaving me." A tear rolls from my eye. "And what would happen to Jayden? I would die if he was taken from me too." I would. If I lost Spencer, the only thing that would keep me together would be that little guy.

"Shh. You won't lose me. And you would never lose Jayden. I have a will and in it, he would go to your parents or your sister if anything happened. As soon as I am out of this hell hole, I will change it so that he would be yours." I pulled her tighter against me.

She trusts me that much? How did I get so lucky?

I pull back and she wipes a tear from my eye with her thumb. "I would never let Jayden lose his father." She smiles. I huff out a laugh as I feel a new wave of tears threatening to fall. I pull her in for a desperate kiss. She's my lifeline.

I sigh before pulling away and helping her stand. I do my best not to ogle her amazing body as I help her to the shower. Even bruised, she's still sexy as hell. It hurts my heart seeing her beat up like this.

As soon as she is standing under the stream of warm water, I quickly undress to join her. I pull her back against my chest, wrapping my arms around her breasts so they are hopefully high enough not to hurt her ribs, so I can hold her. She sighs in content and leans her head back on my shoulder as we stand under the spray.

I gently massage shampoo in her head, trying to be careful around her fracture. She winces as I get close to her hairline.

"Sorry, baby." She hums in response.

Once her hair was done and I had rubbed down her body with soap, I quickly did myself trying to ignore my throbbing erection that started the minute I undressed her.

I turned the water off and grabbed a towel, gently rubbing her body dry. It took everything in me, as I dried her legs, not to lean forward to lick her sweet pussy. Now was not the right time. But that didn't stop me from imagining it.

I can see Spencer smirk from the corner of my eye, shaking her head.

"Stop thinking about it." She chides.

"I've no idea what you're talking about." I say innocently. She just rolls her eyes and eyes my hard cock.

"Mmhm."

I take her out of the shower and tie a new gown around her. It's almost 10 so my mom should be here soon with Jay.

Spencer's been both excited and nervous to see him. She hates that he went through seeing her like that alone, and she's afraid of what his reaction will be. She still had bruises and superficial cuts on her face. She's prepared for him to be scared even though it will break her heart.

We were lying in bed watching tv together when the door slides open. My mom pokes her head in and smiles seeing Spencer awake. Walking in, we eye her curiously when we don't see Jay.

"He's with his auntie." She grins as I groan in annoyance.

Suddenly, a screech sounds from the hallway. Jayden runs into the room followed by an out of breath Sadie.

"Momma! Daddy!" My mom and sister gasp at that final word and watch with gaping mouths as I bend down to pick him up.

"Hey, buddy! Momma's been excited to see you. We have to be careful though okay? She is still sore." He nods his head, and I can see tears beginning to form.

"Come here, baby." I place Jay into Spencer's outstretched arms. He snuggles immediately into her neck.

"Momma." His shoulder start shaking, and he begins to cry. I stand beside the bed rubbing his back as Spencer murmurs softly to him. I hate seeing him like this. Well...both of them. This whole accident has beaten us all down and we are emotionally and physically exhausted.

On the days Spencer was still unconscious, I had to leave her to go back and forth to the house to calm Jay. He didn't really talk other than screaming for his momma. He would sob uncontrollably for a while until he calmed down and fell asleep and then I could leave again. He saw Spencer once while she was asleep but had a break down, so we figured it was better to wait until she woke up. It was heartbreaking to see him like that. He was confused and scared and sad. He was a little boy wanting his mother who wouldn't wake up.

"It's okay baby. Did you have fun with Judy and auntie Sadie?" My sister perks up at the mention of her being aunt. I'm not sure if she ever had the title when meeting Jay before, but she certainly has it now. I could see her eyes mist over as she looked at her bruised and beaten friend hugging the crying child.

Jay mumbles into her neck.

"Thank you, guys, for watching him when I couldn't be there." Spencer looks to us all. I smile and kiss her forehead as my mom and Sadie awe. I roll my eyes at them resulting in my annoying sister sticking her tongue out at me.

"It wasn't a problem at all. We want you on the mend." My mom smiles.

"How's the farm? No one tried to mess with that bull, right?" Spencer worries.

"I hired some men to do the chores and my dad helped them put the bull in a pen. He said we should sell him as soon as possible. He's too dangerous." Spencer eyed me, glaring slightly.

"You hired people?" Of course, she'd worry about that. Not about her almost dying but about me using my own money. I huff.

"Spence, I wasn't about to leave you. Someone had to do the chores. And of course, I'm going to pay them."

"Tell me what the total came to so I can pay you back." Now it was my turn to glare.

"You are not paying me back. We are in this together, so I won't accept it." I fume. Now was not the time to discuss this. I had plans for the future. Ones that she would be a part of, but I don't want an audience when I talk to her. I give her a warning look when she opens her mouth again, causing her to quickly shut it.

"Well, I for one, wanted to see my big brother all smitten. It's quite adorable." Sadie pipes up causing me to narrow my eyes. Spencer blushes faintly.

"Mom told me all the cute things you've been doing but I didn't believe it until I could see with my own eyes." She grins.

Man, I'm rolling my eyes a lot today.

We spent the next few hours talking and catching up before Spencer began to look exhausted. Mom and Sadie took Jay back who was much more chipper now that he saw and talked to his mom.

I nestled back into bed with Spencer and wrapped my arms around her.

"You need to let me pay you back." She mumbles softly.

"Spencer, we are a family now. Whether you like it or not I'm helping with the finances and to take some burden off of you. We can talk more when you wake up, baby. But know this...I love you more than words could ever say. And there are things I want to discuss in regard to our future."

Spencer looks up at me in worry. "Like what? Is it bad?" I shook my head.

"No, baby. Not to me anyway."

"Well then tell me. Now you have me worried!"

"Spence we can talk after you take a nap, you're exhausted. It's nothing bad I promise."

She shakes her head. "Please Nick? I won't be able to sleep. Even if you say it's nothing, I'll still have this worry eating at me. I'm afraid that...." she trails off.

My eyes soften. "Afraid of what?"

She swallows and looks down. "I'm afraid you'll wake up and realize I'm not what you want. That I'm not good enough for you. It's not like I'm the most beautiful person ever. I work nonstop. I have a child. I barely know how to be intimate. But you've shown me what it's like to be truly loved and to love in return. I can't lose you. I can't lose this; us. But one day, you might wake up and realize this." A tear slides from her eyes.

I'm at a loss for words. I never knew she thought so badly of herself. I knew she had difficulty being intimate, but I never knew she didn't think she was attractive enough or that her life would in any way deter me.

I tilt her chin up and smash my lips onto hers. Kissing her feverishly while trying to be mindful of her pain level. Our lips move in sync as though they belong together. Her lips part as I gently bite her lower lip, enabling me to slip my tongue in and taste her. She meets me part way, brushing her tongue to mine. I groan into her lips before pulling back.

Breathing heavily, I stare at her with determination.

"You will never lose me. You are the most beautiful, amazing, kind and talented person I've ever met. This connection we have...it's unlike anything I've ever experienced. I love you. Every little bit about you. I will never wake up and want something other than you and Jayden. You guys are it for me." I lean my forehead against hers. It's now or never.

"I was going to say that I wanted to move in with you guys."

A/N

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