Hagen, Lynn - Hawk's Pretty Baby [Brac Pack 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (12 page)

“Yes. We are all his family,” Maverick informed her.

“I need to know which one, in particular, has rights over him.” The nurse waited for one of the giants to step forward. She actually turned a shade whiter when a man stepped forward with the blackest hair she had ever seen. It actually had a tinge of blue. “And how are you related to the patient?”

“I’m his husband. I want to see him now.” Hawk growled at her. Maverick placed his hand on Hawk’s forearm, warning him to calm down. Hawk nodded then added, “Please.”

“Follow me, sir.”

Hawk was led to the back. He passed room after room until the nurse finally stopped at the second to last one, pushing the door open and taking Hawk in.

Hawk skidded to a stop. No. His pretty baby had a breathing tube in and IVs sticking out everywhere. His face wasn’t even recognizable. Hawk placed his palm on the wall, dizzy and nauseated.

He had to stop his teeth from descending and the howl that wanted to rip from his chest. He shook his head back and forth, clearing the fog that was trying to permeate his brain.

“What…what’s wrong with him?” That’s all that Hawk could manage to get out. A lump had formed in his throat, burning as he fought the tears. He couldn’t hold it. A sob broke free then the tears fell.

The nurse hesitated and then patted his arm, “He was pretty bad. The police found his wrists bound, and he was hanging from a meat hook. His brother”—the nurse screwed her face up to show her disgust—“worked him over pretty good.” She grabbed his chart from the table next to Johnny. “In laymen’s terms, he has a fractured cheek, two broken ribs, and we had to do surgery to stop the internal bleeding. He’s pretty critical right now. He crashed on the operating table. His lack of weight wasn’t in his favor.”

Hawk dropped to his knees, covering his face with his hands. He had failed his mate. How was his pretty baby ever going to forgive him? The sight in front of him made Hawk want to tear the world apart. Not his pretty baby.

Hawk pulled himself up and dropped in the chair next to Johnny’s bed. The nurse left him to his privacy.

Hawk just sat there staring at his mate. His precious man was fighting for his life. Hawk pushed a stray hair from his forehead, running the silky strand through his fingers. Tears silently fell as Hawk hummed the nursery rhyme Johnny had been singing in the shower his first morning there.

Hawk continued to hum, stroking his hair gently.

* * * *

Johnny hurt. He hurt everywhere. He wanted the pain to go away. He wanted Hawk. Opening his mouth to call out to his mate, a tube in his throat prevented the action. He tried to open his eyes, struggled to, but they wouldn’t open. Johnny stilled when he heard a beautiful song humming away. The song was familiar. He liked to sing it in the shower. The song ended then began again.

Something was brushing against his hair, and it felt comforting. He didn’t want it to stop. It didn’t. His hair was being brushed, and his favorite song was being hummed. Johnny sighed inwardly as he started to drift back to sleep.

No.
He had to wake up.
Try, Johnny
. Struggling again to open his eyes, he saw a little light, just barely. It was bright. He closed his eyes again.

An angel spoke to him. “Come on, pretty baby. I saw you trying to open your eyes. Come back to me.” The voice sounded so far away. Like an echo in a tunnel. He tried again to open his eyes but squished them shut. The light was too bright.

The angel spoke again, “I turned the lights down. Try again.” It still sounded far away.

An echo.

He was drifting off again.

* * * *

Hawk had been humming and rubbing his baby’s hair when he saw Johnny’s eyes flutter. He thought he was seeing things, wanting it so bad that he conjured the image up.

Maybe his mate was trying to open them. “Come on, pretty baby. I saw you trying to open your eyes. Come back to me.” There, he saw it again. He noticed his mate’s eyes smashing together like the light was too bright. Hawk ran and turned them down, going back to his mate. “I turned the lights down. Try again.” Johnny’s features were relaxing too much. He was losing him again. Hawk had to reach him.

“Come on, baby. I know it hurts, but you have to come back to me. Please.” Hawk’s voice broke on the last word. “Fight it, pretty baby. Fight for Daddy.”

Johnny’s eyes open slightly again. Hawk could tell he was struggling. He brushed his hair back, needing the contact. Johnny opened them again and stared at Hawk. A single tear rolled down the side of his face, disappearing into his hairline.

“Hi, pretty baby. Will you stay with me?” Johnny gave a slight nod, and another tear rolled. Hawk wiped it away very carefully, barely touching his skin. He put the finger in his mouth and tasted his mate’s salty tear. Hawk’s eyes brimmed over as he smiled down at his pretty baby. “I love you, Johnny.” The tears began to fall now, Johnny’s body shaking.

“Shh, don’t cry. I’m here. I’ll stop crying if you do, deal?” Johnny gave him a slight nod again. Hawk wiped his face clean, sniffing back any more tears that threatened to escape. He gently dabbed his mate’s face with a soft tissue, clearing away the moisture.

Johnny lay there staring at him. Hawk began to hum again as he brushed his hair, smiling down at him.

* * * *

Cecil lay curled up in Maverick’s arms, softly crying. He couldn’t believe his little buddy was lying in an intensive care unit. They had just been running around the mall having a good time.

He shuddered as he remembered his own kidnapping. The pitch black tunnels he had been left in, the bruises and nearly severed wrists. Cecil touched his wrist, looking at the thin scar that traced around the entire circumference. He still couldn’t bend either index finger. Snuggling closer, needing Maverick’s strength right now, his mate hugged him tight.

Hawk walked through the doors, looking like the devil himself had kicked his ass. His eyes were swollen, and his hair was sticking out everywhere. He looked as though he had just lost his best friend.

Cecil’s heart raced. Did something happen to Johnny? Did he…no. He wasn’t dead. Hawk would be a maniac right now if he was.

Maverick stood with Cecil still curled in his arms. “How is he?” Cecil felt Maverick pull him closer to his chest.

“He—” Hawk cleared his throat and tried again. “He died on the operating table, but they brought him back. He, uh, he…” Hawk began to cry, trying his hardest to wipe away the raging river of tears. Maverick handed Cecil off to Kota and grabbed Hawk, holding on to him. Hawk collapsed against him, letting it go. It was a sobering sight to witness.

Hawk stood up straight, clearing his throat as he wiped his face. “I’m good. Thanks.” He walked over to one of the hard plastic waiting room chairs and fell into it. “His face is swollen beyond recognition. His cheek bone is cracked and two of his ribs. They had to do surgery to stop internal bleeding.” Hawk growled loudly, and the nurse took a file and walked away quickly, leaving the wolves by themselves. “His brother had bound his wrists together and hung him on a meat hook, worked him over like he was a fucking punching bag.”

Growls erupted throughout the entire waiting room.

“He opened his eyes, though. That’s good, right?” Hawk wiped another runaway tear.

“It’s very good.” Maverick squeezed his shoulder.

“I’m gonna get back to him. Thank you guys for being here.” Hawk stood, looking around the room, and gave a weak smile then disappeared back through the door.

* * * *

Johnny had been home for two weeks now. His body had healed quicker than normal, thanks to Hawk’s wolf spit in him. That’s how his mate explained it. When he bit Johnny, his spit went into his shoulder. Yuck.

A scar remained on his right cheek from Sean’s beating. He tried to hide it, but Hawk told him he was beautiful and to stop hiding his face. Johnny hated it.

He had refused to come out of his room for a week until, one morning, Hawk picked him up and took him downstairs, sitting him on the couch and letting everyone see his ugly face. Jasper kept kissing his scar when Hawk wasn’t looking. It made Johnny laugh.

Now he sat on the edge of their bed, his finger tracing the jagged line from Sean’s fist, forever reminding him of what his life had been like.

“Don’t, pretty baby. Even if you had a thousand scars littering your body, I would still think you are the most stunning man ever born.” Hawk cupped Johnny’s face, laying butterfly kisses over both cheeks. “You are my pretty baby, no matter how you look.”

Johnny tried to turn his head but Hawk kept a firm grasp. “I’m ugly.”

“Only a blind person would think so.” Hawk pulled Johnny into his arms, running his hands over his back. “You’re a strong man that survived a hell that still hurts my heart. I love you, pretty baby.”

Johnny wiped the tears running down his face. “You don’t want to get rid of me now?”

Hawk growled, “To do so would be the equivalent of getting rid of the heart that beats in my chest, the air that fills my lungs, and the soul that is intertwined with yours.”

Johnny smiled up at Hawk. “Yeah, I love you, too.”

* * * *

Johnny thought back to the argument Hawk and Remi had the first day he was home. It was weird.

“What the fuck are you doing, man?” Hawk smacked Remi away from him.

“What’s that smell on you?” Remi sniffed again.

“Will you stop? You’re creeping me out.” Hawk swatted at him again.

“Seriously, hold still.” Remi inhaled deeply.

Hawk stood still with a disgusted look on his face. “You done sniffing me? I got a pair of underwear in my hamper if you need a fix that bad.”

“Fuck you. Who’s that smell on you?” Remi asked with a rare serious look. Johnny stared at them from his bed.

“What the hell do you mean, who? What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t start any shit, man. You trying to make my mate think I was cheating on him?” Hawk growled at Remi.

“No, whose damn smell is on you?” Remi growled back.

“I don’t know, man. Here, take my shirt. It’s yours. Go sniff it in your room or something. Weirdo.” Hawk pulled his shirt off. It was the same shirt he had on the day Johnny was kidnapped. Hawk hadn’t left his mate’s side, and this was his first day home. He hadn’t had a chance to shower before Remi got all sniffing crazy.

“I don’t want your damn shirt.” Remi threw it down. “I want to know why
my
mate’s
smell is on
you
.”

Hawk stopped. What the hell was Remi talking about?

Mate?

Hawk thought hard about who he had been around. Knowledge dawned on him. The teenager in the mall.
Shit.
That niggling came from the back of his mind to the forefront. He gasped as he realized what that rubbing arm meant. The kid was hurting. But not from a physical blow.

Hawk had given Remi’s mate fifty bucks to go get high.

THE END

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