Redemption

Chapter Seventy- Seven

The future in-laws returned to the room, smiles on their lips and laughter in their hearts. Both of them had been telling amusing stories about Danni: Nicholas when she was a little girl and Bobby of the time she met his parents. Nicholas couldn't believe his daughter had been so nervous to the point of spilling hot tea in his stepfather's lap, while Bobby couldn't believe she had wanted to be a singer when she was eight-years-old.

"She has an amazing voice; one of the attributes she actually accredits to her mother," the father said with a proud smile on his lips.

"So, I've heard," Bobby agreed. Danni really did have a beautiful singing voice and he hoped she would put her pipes to use when she lulled their little baby girl to sleep. He'd had to pause at that thought. They weren't even married yet and he was already imagining their future children; a girl no less! He'd always pictured him with a troop of his sons around him, yet the prospect of a little girl he could love unconditionally was a perk he would be looking forward to. He grinned as he pictured it: she would have crystal-blue eyes filled with wonder and blonde hair that matched her mother's natural color with every in-between shade and she would look up at him with a huge smile of admiration. That was a picture he couldn't wait to come true.

Obviously, their man-to-man conversation had benefited the both of them; Bobby getting rid of his fears of somehow treating Danni wrong to the point of losing her, and Nicholas getting his fatherly-stresses out in the open. The Aussie was a good man and would make his little girl very happy, he was sure of it. He was also sure of the fact that a grandbaby was on the horizon; something he'd been imagining since he'd first heard about the man who'd captured his spunky little girl's heart.

Everything was right between the two men; now, they only had to worry about the warring women in their lives… and the fact that Dr. Speller was exiting Danni's room. The father- and son-in-law looked at one another and hoped that nothing had gone wrong while they were out, trying to connect. Picking up their pace, they hurried to meet the doctor.

"Is Danni all right?" There was no sign of stress on Dr. Speller's face, which told them that everything was probably okay, but there was still something in the pit of Bobby's stomach that told him she wasn't out of the woods, yet.

"Everything is fine, Agent Manning," he said with a bit of irritation straining his voice. He understood the man's anxiousness, but he'd been receiving questions like that all week from the Aussie and his patience was running this with the man. "I was just checking up on her." He gave the most heartfelt smile he could, which seemed to be believable.

"And?" Nicholas asked, feeling like there was something more that they hadn't been told.

Geez, there are two of them; the doctor rolled his eyes before sighing. He shouldn't have expected a quick escape. "The wound is healing nicely and she'll still be in a bit of pain for the next few days. I gave her a sedative that should quickly take affect and help her sleep," he paused, taking in a breath and letting it out slowly. "All in all, I feel she'll be ready to go home by the end of the week." Giving into his urges—he really was a very friendly man at heart—he patted Bobby on the shoulder and gave a friendly nod to his companion before excusing himself to tend to his other patients and letting them talk to Miss Talbot before she drifted off again.

As soon as Bobby entered the room, Charlene's icy-cold demeanor seemed to increase—making it feel at least ten degrees colder inside than it had been before—as she stood on one side of her daughter's bed, smoothing the dark hair out of her face. She'd been wondering what had possessed her to color her straw-colored tendrils so dark, but felt like she would be alienating her more if she asked, so she continued her silent wondering of that topic. She would admit that it fit her; she'd always been so beautiful, but her gorgeous blue eyes—the ones that resembled her own—stood out so much more with the contrasting darkness.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, she turned her frustrated gaze toward Bobby, not really sure if she should say anything to him or not. There was so much on the tip of her tongue—so many things she wanted to get off her chest—but her talk with Danni made her second-guess half of the insults that resided within her. She might have thought Bobby was no good before, but now she wasn't so sure. Danni had spoken so many kind words about him that she'd almost forgotten what it was she despised about him.

Clearing her throat and looking back at her daughter's drooping eyes, she smiled a real smile—something she'd refrained from doing since she'd arrived. "I think we'll leave you to get some rest. We'll stop by tomorrow and see you." She placed a light kiss on Danni's forehead and looked to her husband to ask if he was ready.

He nodded, taking a moment to kiss Danni goodbye as well. "Love you, sweetie," he whispered before turning to Bobby, shaking his hand and giving a wink.

Nodding to the older man, Bobby smiled before releasing his hand and turning toward his fiancée. "How ya feelin', Luv?" he asked softly, his hand lightly cupping her soft cheek, the tip of his thumb lightly drawing circles upon the soft flesh as it was greeted by her tired blush.

"Sleepy," she answered with a smile which made him respond in the same manner. One hand reached up to take hold of the strong hand upon her cheek, the tips of her fingers burning slightly from the contact of flesh to flesh and the look of complete adoration in his eyes. She swallowed hard, wishing he would kiss her once more like he had when she'd awoken. "Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

He shook his head, "I'm not going anywhere." There was nothing in the world that could make him leave her side. Now that she was awake and on the mend, he would dedicate every free moment he had to her to make sure she was comfortable and would never want for anything.

Sighing heavily, Danni shook her head as much as she could, the drugs beginning to take effect, therefore making the room spin before her eyes. When things settled, she moved the hand upon his hand to his cheek where her fingertips lightly grazed his still-stubbly chin. Her hand was greeted by a twitch of the flesh underneath her touch, which caused Bobby to give a half-smile to keep it from doing it again. "You need to sleep." Even though his cup of coffee had seemed to perk him up, the dark circles under his eyes still showed how exhausted he must be feeling.

"I can sleep right there," he pointed to the uncomfortable chair at her bedside. He'd slept in it for three days—a few more wouldn't hurt anything… except maybe his spine.

She let her thumb gently caress his cheek, smiling when she felt it warm underneath her touch and saw a pink tint form. "Go home," she said, sternly, but in her slightly inebriated state, it didn't sound that way.

"I can't sleep without you next to me," he admitted, his eyes filling with sadness. He was figuring that the guilt-approach would work and she would accept his offer of company. Of course, if she really wanted him to, he supposed he could, though he wasn't sure how much sleep he would actually get. The first night she was here, he tried to go home and rest, yet her scent lingered heavily on her pillow and it caused him to have a restless night filled with heartbreak and tears and without her lying beside him. He never expected to be so dependant on her body next to his, but he'd never been in love like this before.

He had been in love with Darcy, yes, but not like he was in love with Danni. The thought of being without her for the rest of his life had shaken him to the core and caused him to vow to himself to never forsake her or make her feel unwanted. He would dedicate the rest of his life to that cause and he knew he would succeed.

Danni rolled her eyes at the stubborn determination she witnessed in the Aussie's eyes and couldn't help but chuckle. She was supposed to be the stubborn one in this relationship and yet he'd been managing to top her lately. Understandably, he was doing it to protect her, but he should have known that she didn't need to be protected. Of course, Bobby's brand of protection was one that no one else could give her and that warmed her heart. His was a certain kind of protection that only a man in love could give and the only kind she would be willing to accept.

Rolling her eyes again, she gave up her attempt to get him to get proper rest and just settled on having him beside her until she fell asleep. Usually, she wouldn't have given up, but arguing would be too strenuous and she'd been without Bobby's conscious presence for days; she wanted to be surrounded in his love before she drifted off to sleep again. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." With her other hand, she playfully poked him in the chest, startled when his other hand captured it and brought it to his lips. She felt her breath catch in her throat as he placed soft, caressing kisses upon each of her knuckles, thought couldn't help but giggle at the same time.

Bobby smiled at the jovial sound, thinking Danni was always so cute when she was tipsy. "What?" He raised a single eyebrow in question as he took her other hand from his cheek and did the same with the other hand.

Her nose wrinkled slightly as she continued to giggle. "You're scratchy," she said, though enjoying the feeling of his unshaved beard on her smooth skin. Any contact with Bobby was better than none.

"Yeah, I could stand a shave, huh?" he asked, teasing her slightly by running the backs of her hands against the stubble, which caused her to giggle more and him to stop suddenly. Her laughter was always contagious, but there was something about this girlish giggle that made the collar of his shirt seem two sizes too small as he tried to swallow the invisible lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat. Leaning down slowly, he captured her lips with his, only wanting the kiss to last for a few seconds, but at the sound of her pleasurable sigh, it was instantly deepened.

Dropping her hands back to the bed, he let his own slide through her hair, pulling her mouth closer to his. She gave another sigh, her lips parting and allowing him access to the recesses beyond. Their tongues danced together, though hers not as arduous as it normally would, yet where her mouth was unable to keep up he managed to fill the void with attention of his own special brand.

At every moan and every eager sigh, his heart began to race faster and faster until he thought it would burst from his chest. Using one hand as a crutch to keep him above her, he used the other to trail lightly down her body and over her soft curves. The alarms in his head telling him to stop and pull away were ignored as his wants and needs were pushed to the front of the line in his mind. Being devoid of the nymph lying before him was no longer an option and he wanted more than he knew he could get, but would try to succeed.

His hand trailed down her stomach, the tips of his fingers leaving a trail of fire in their wake, causing her moans to grow louder which, in turn, caused his hand movements to grow bolder and trail lower. He'd been too focused on her lips and the touch of her body that he'd forgotten where they were and what was to happen if someone walking in on them at the wrong moment, yet he didn't have to worry about that. His hand trailed lower, brushing over the fresh bandages the doctor had placed on her abdomen. He hadn't realized how eager his hand had been until he heard her elicit a loud cry of pain which caused him to pull away suddenly and look down at her in awe.

Their chests heaved in tune, both sets of lungs craving the oxygen they sorely needed. Closing his eyes under the pretense of trying to catch his breath, Bobby turned away and cursed under his breath, feeling anger of himself and his actions rising within him. He couldn't believe he'd lost himself to his passion so quickly to the point of forgetting where they were and why. Tears sprang to his eyes as he felt so small. He'd never meant for that first simple kiss to spiral out of control to the point of hurting her.

"I'm sorry," he apologized as he turned back around, though trying not to look at her for fear of seeing disappointment in her eyes. Of course, curiosity got the better of him and he had to look into her eyes. Yet, he didn't see disappointment within those sparkling-blue depths. He continued to see the love and devotion he'd always seen in those depths. Her own chest was still heaving from his kisses and her lips were swollen, and though she should have been angry at him, her eyes were looking at him as if asking why he'd stopped.

Taking in a deep breath and letting her tongue flick across her kiss-swollen lips (the action eliciting a small groan from deep within Bobby); she shook her head with a soft chuckle. "Don't be." She took the ravaged lip into her mouth, letting her taste the coffee on his breath and that one element that was all Bobby.

"It's just, I though I'd lost you and it pains me to think that you're the one lying there and not me. It should be me." He watched her shake her head again, knowing that she was thinking just the opposite of what he was. The fact that he was all right was an answered prayer to her; they were both safe, one just had a little worse luck than the other. "I love you, Danni," he continued, not letting her explain her actions. There was something that he needed to say and he wouldn't let her interrupt what was in his heart, "and my heart feels like it's been ripped in two because of what happened." He paused as he tried to collect his bearings, tears brimmed his eyes, on the verge of spilling over. "I… I haven't frozen in the field for a long time, but the one time that your life is at stake my whole body refuses to react. If Jack hadn't been there…" he didn't want to think what would have happened in that case.

By this time, he'd pulled up his chair as close to the bed as possible, taking her hand in his. He placed a kiss upon her supple skin every time he felt that his heart would begin to crumble. He'd resorted to just holding the back of her hand against his lips, because that feeling was ever present.

"I know how you feel," she replied, her voice sounding tired as the sedative officially took effect. She would only be awake for a few more moments and Bobby didn't want her to waste them talking about bad memories. "I do," she urged when she saw him open his mouth to protest. "We've all been in a situation like that. That's the way I felt when… when Jessup was holding me down. I'd promised myself that if I'd ever come face-to-face with him again that I would do everything it took to take him down. As hard as I tried to fight through my inner demons, though, my body just froze and let him." She sighed softly, her brow creasing in thought as if she was trying to remember something about that day one year ago.

"There was one thing that told me that I had to continue fighting though and not let him win. I wasn't sure what it was at the time, but after thinking back on it, I know what it was." She felt her cheeks warm severely under his puzzled gaze and she knew he was trying to figure out for himself what it was that had built up her confidence.

"And what was that, Luv?" He remembered that day all too well and he remembered seeing Danni bent over a table with her assailant standing above her. The rage he'd felt had been too much to bear and he would have pulled the trigger on his gun if the possibility of hitting Danni hadn't been in the equation.

She smiled, moving her hand from his grasp so she could cup his chin and have him look into her eyes. "You. Your love for me." A huge yawn escaped her as he released his face and rested her hand upon her torso, her other rising up to rest right beside it. Her eyes drooped more, making them look like they were closed, which could have been the signal for Bobby to leave, but there was one more thing he needed to do before she completely fell asleep.

Gently nudging her, he waited until her eyes connected with his once more. They were slightly glazed over and she was blinking furiously as she forced herself to stay awake just a little bit longer. "You mean the world to me, you know that, right?" He smiled when he saw her give a weak nod. "Good. I don't want you to ever forget that." He heard her mumble the words "I won't," on a sigh as she snuggled closer into her pillow. He nudged her again, greeted by her brows creasing in aggravation. "One more thing," he said before reaching into the pocket of his pants. The white-gold of the band shimmered in the fluorescent lights of the room, making the diamond sparkle more brilliantly than it had when he'd originally purchased it. "I think you're going to want this." He didn't wait for a response as he lifted her left hand from her torso and slipped the ring onto her finger before placing a light kiss upon her knuckle.

He heard her sigh again, but when he looked at her, she could see that exhaustion had finally set it and she was sound asleep. Whether or not she'd been awake when he put the ring on, he wasn't sure, yet the sound of her content sigh knew that his message of love had been accepted whole-heartedly. Chuckling softly, he placed a kiss upon her forehead and stood up from the chair. He walked over to the window where a small gym bag sat, filled with a change of close and a few bathroom provisions. Suddenly, going home sounded like a good idea.

He collected a few items that had been scattered about the room: a newspaper with an article telling about the FBI's capture of a terror cell and the death of the Prince of Terror, himself; a book that he'd been meaning to read, yet hadn't had the inspiration to pick it up and still didn't; and his cell phone, which probably held numerous messages from his mother—he still hadn't called her. He looked at the phone expectantly and thought about calling her back now, but she'd waited for this long, a little while longer wouldn't hurt.

When he was sure he'd gathered all of his things, he stood over Danni's sleeping form one last time, placing one more kiss upon her lips and whispering, "I love you," into her hair. Sighing heavily, he picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder before turning away from her and coming face-to-face with a pair of similar blue eyes.

"Sorry," she apologized, her eyes wide from him turning to face her so quickly. She'd figured she could just sneak in and out without his noticing, but he'd turned too quickly, startling her in the process. She pointed to the tray where she'd set the flowers and her purse, "I forgot my purse." Trying to avoid his gaze and nibbling on her lower lip—a trademark of the women of this family, obviously, Bobby mused—she sneaked by him, reaching for the handbag.

The reason why she didn't want to look at him was because she'd heard everything of what he and Danni had been talking about and she wasn't looking forward to eating crow. Bobby really was a wonderful man and he did love her daughter with the same amount of passion as Danni loved him. She was sure that an apology would have to cross her lips soon, but she wanted to make sure that today was not going to be that day.

Charlene spared one last look at Danni's sleeping form before she flicked off the lights and smiled. Her daughter was going to have a very happy life with Bobby by her side, she could see it now. Letting out a content sigh, she closed the door behind her, surprised when Bobby stood out in the hall, waiting for her.

"Mind if I walk you out?" he asked, noticing the severe change in her demeanor toward him. He smiled when he received a slight nod and held out his arm for her to link hers through. Together, they walked toward the elevator in companionable silence.