He looked like he was sleeping, and if it wasn’t for the machines and constant stream of nurses I would think he was. The chair in the corner became my resting place. I looked and felt disgusting, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t risk not being here when he woke up. He would wake up, and if I began to believe otherwise, I would be destroyed. I needed to be strong for him.

“Ash, you need to get some sleep and have a shower,” Ky begged for what was probably the hundredth time.

Through tired eyes, I looked at him and saw a similar level of exhaustion plastered on his face. He had been staying with me during the day and into the night, but he went back to his old apartment to sleep, whereas I refused to leave. “I’ll come and stay with you. You won’t be alone,” he said, pushing further.

I shook my head. “I can’t leave him. I need to be here when he wakes up.”

His eyes landed on the bed where Josh lay, and I witnessed defeat wash over his face. “Ash, we don—”

“No, Ky. I am not giving up on him. He will wake up, and I will be with him when he does.”

The door slowly crept open, and I assumed it would be yet another nurse coming to check whatever the hell they checked. My eyes shot wide and my legs turned to jelly as my gaze fell on my brother and his best friend, who both held worry on their faces. Ever since the accident, Austin would call me and talk to me through the night. I had no clue how long we spoke, but he never said anything about it. Other nights Ben would do the same thing. My bottom lip started to tremble, and I knew I was moments away from emotional collapse.

“Come here, Ducky,” Austin said in the softest of tones, and his eyes showed me every ounce of love I needed. I crossed the room and fell into his embrace, and fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. I didn’t know how long I stood in my brother’s arms, but it was exactly what I needed. When I finally pulled away, Ky and Ben were in quiet conversation, and I knew they would be talking about my reluctance to leave.

Just as I felt myself shaking my head in dismissal, Ben crossed the room to me, and his large hands cupped my face. I looked up into his shockingly-blue eyes, and knew that I was about to get the Ben Hunt treatment.

“I’m not leaving,” I whispered. “I can’t.”

He wiped away my tears with his thumbs. “Sweetheart, you need to come with me and Dash,” he said, using the horrendous nickname my brother had got from his love of fucking and dashing. “We are going to get some food in you. You need to shower and sleep, and we will bring you back first thing tomorrow.”

“But what if he . . .”

“It’s going to take a while for him to wake, sweetheart. He’s had serious trauma. His body is repairing itself. Even when he shows signs of waking, you will have at least an hour to get here. The nurse’s station has all of our numbers. You aren’t going to miss it, and he won’t wake without you here.”

I turned to look at Ky, and I knew I had to do this. He looked on the brink of collapse, and he needed this as much as me. His eyes begged and pleaded with me to listen to what Ben was saying. Then I turned my attention to Josh. He hadn’t moved once. He hadn’t opened his eyes, and when I held his hand I never received one squeeze. It was like he was just a body, but everything I needed had floated away. I needed to be strong for him, though. It was my time to fight and comfort him.

“Someone needs to stay here. I will not leave Josh alone,” I stated firmly.

A flash of hope flickered through Ky’s eyes, and a knowing grin covered Ben’s face.

“Ducky, I’ll stay. I can spend the night telling him embarrassing stories of you when you were younger. He also needs to receive the big brother talk, so this will be the perfect time to inform him that I’ll rip his balls off if he hurts my little sister.”

For the first time in days, I laughed softly.

“Don’t be too hard on him. And remember, there will come a day when I get to share your stories with your great love,” I said with a smirk.

“Seriously . . . my great love? Those books you read have turned you into mush,” he said and rolled his eyes. “I didn’t get my nickname for no reason.”

“Your nickname is disgusting.”

“Just because a man likes to fuck doesn’t make him disgusting.”

“No, it doesn’t, but being called Dash because of it disturbs me.”

“Will you two stop fuckin’ arguing? I am starving, and I need to take Ashlyn home,” Ben stated, instantly ceasing my conversation with Austin. “So, come on sweetheart, get your shit, because we are heading out.”

“Just give me a minute with Josh, okay?” I asked, and looked to the bed.

“I’ll meet you outside. Ky, do you need a lift?”

Ben and Ky left the room, and Austin took a seat in the visitor’s chair that had been my bed for the past five or six days. God, I was losing track of time.

I gently sat on the edge of the bed beside Josh’s hip and linked my fingers with his. After kissing each of his knuckles, I rested our joined hands on my lap and allowed my eyes to roam over his angelic face.

“Joshy, I’m going to your apartment to have a little sleep because I have Ky, Austin, and Ben ganging up on me, but I will be back as soon as I can. I love you so much, and I need you to wake up soon. We have a future to start living. I need you here.” I leaned over and kissed his lips lightly. Every touch was now so delicate, like he would shatter if I pressed too hard. My strong, determined, cocky man was now like fragile glass.

“Come back to me, Josh.”

For the past two nights, I stayed at Josh’s place. The need to feel close to him resulted in me sleeping in his bed and wearing his T-shirts whenever I could. I was literally surrounding myself with the comfort of his scent. With Austin and Ben by my side, I had reluctantly been leaving the hospital at midnight, only to return by seven in the morning, and I would resume my vigil by his bedside, waiting for him to wake up.

Three A.M. rolled around, and I pushed back the covers and climbed out of his bed. Sleep would yet again evade me, and there was no point waiting for it to arrive. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants, opened his bedroom, and headed to the kitchen.

I knew I was exhausted, because watching the coffee percolate was holding my attention. Mind numbing distraction was all that I wanted these days, because it saved me focusing on the reality I was living. A reality I chose not to believe.

“Can’t sleep, sweetheart?”

I jumped at the low rumblings of Ben’s voice, and turned to face him. Ben Hunt was Austin’s partner and best friend, and he had been in my life since I was ten years old. I wasn’t afraid to admit that I had the biggest crush on him growing up. He was like one of those guys that I would read about in my favorite books. He was all man. He had the voice, the hair, the body, and the charisma—the alphaness, as I liked to call it. He had a sense of danger about him and an I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude, and I knew that was what got the ladies in his bed. Now that I had the high school and . . . okay, I’ll admit it, the college crush out of the way, he was like a second big brother, and he treated me like his little sister. Now as he looked at me, I saw that he had the big brother cap on and concern flashed in front of me.

“I need to be with him.”

Ben walked into the kitchen and hurled himself up on the counter. His eyes burned into me, and suddenly I felt nervous under his watchful gaze. I didn’t know what else to do, so I quickly made him a coffee, handed it to him, and received a smirk.

“He is going to wake up soon, and he is going to need his woman rested and healthy. He is going to count on you for so much, sweetheart. Do you understand that? You need to take care of you as well as taking care of him.” His deep voice rumbled in the stillness of the apartment.