Page 92 of Lick | AllFreeNovel

“Yeah, that’s what I hear.” His voice is still scratchy from having the tubes shoved down it.

“Hey,” Jenni whispers in my ear. “I’m gonna go grab a snack. Do you want anything?”

“I’ll go with you,” I murmur.

“No, stay. I want to stretch my legs.” She kisses my cheek, before leaving the room.

“Look, I need to thank you for being there when I couldn’t,” I hear Sin say.

“Don’t mention it. It’s how it was supposed to be. I should’ve always been there for you and yours, and there was a time when I wasn’t. Shit went down that I shouldn’t have allowed, and because of that, you almost lost your family. Not gonna let that shit happen again.” His voice comes out in rasps.

“You’re right, shit went down that wasn’t supposed to happen, but it ended the right way and my family’s safe.”

“They never should’ve been in danger. That was my fault, and I’ll never be able to apologize enough for allowing that piece of shit to get his hands on her.”

“Don’t keep beating yourself up over it,” Savannah says as she lays her hand on his chest. “I’ve forgiven you. You need to forgive yourself.”

“Yeah, man,” Sin continues. “It took almost losing you to realize that shit happens. Families fuck up, but one thing never changes, and that’s the fact that blood or not, you’re my fucking brother. I should have been there for you. I should have seen that you were struggling. If I had only noticed, then you wouldn’t have fallen into old habits.”

Standing, I let myself out of the room. I’ve made my peace with Bubba, and once he gets outta the hospital, we’ll continue to build what was broken.

I lean my head against the wall, and I close my eyes, taking a much-needed deep breath. Fuck. This has been a long fucking week. A long fucking couple of months. The weight on my shoulders starts to lift. I’m ready to fucking relax. Build some shit. Get the shop out into the mainstream. Spend some quality time with my fucking wife. My wife. I love the fucking sound of that.

Shit is finally falling into place.

Hawk walks up. “You good?”

Looking over to him, I finally feel that I can speak the truth. “Yeah, man, I’m good. Just giving him and Sin some time. Where the fuck have you been?” Hawk’s been MIA again. I thought from what he said back in Vegas that he was done with the LA trips, but I guess not.

He ignores my question. “Fuck, that’s good to hear. You think they’ll work it out?”

“I think so. I think all this what-ifs and walks with death has opened Sin’s eyes to a lot of shit. We all fuck up, man–”

A high-pitched squeal of an alarm blares from Bubba’s room. “Code Blue… Code Blue room 236… Code Blue room 236.” An automated voice comes on over the speakers. “Code Blue… Code Blue room 236… Code Blue room 236.” Hospital staff rushes by, pushing a cart into Bubba’s room.

Fuck no. Lifting myself off the wall, I take a few steps towards the commotion.

“You need to get those people out of here!” the doctor yells as he slices the gown from Bubba’s chest. The nurse uses her arms to usher Savannah and an unwilling Sin out of the way.