Eloise

My eyes slowly blink open, white light blinding my vision temporarily before I'm able to adjust to it. I'm faced with a white ceiling and what appears to be fluorescent bulbs.

"Eloise?" A voice somewhere nearby speaks.

I turn my head in the direction I'd heard the voice to see my handsome Dominic seated next to the bed I'm lying in. "Dominic." I whisper, my voice sounding hoarse.

He returns my smile with a small one of his own, his captivating green eyes searching my face. "Hello, princess. Would you like some water?"

I nod. "Please." I whisper.

"I'm just going to sit your bed up a bit, alright?" I give another nod. Dominic grabs a remote off the side of the bed before pressing a button that gradually raises the head of the bed till I'm half sitting up. He grabs a jug of water off the side table and pours some into a cup before handing it to me.

I thank him before taking a tentative sip, when I feel the relief it brings my dry throat I down the rest of the cup. "Where am I?" I ask, looking around the somewhat stark room.

Dominic sighs and his hand squeezes mine. "You're in the hospital." He starts out. "What do you remember, Eloise?"

Remember? "I..." I shake my head to indicate I don't remember anything that would bring me here.

Dominic nods. "You've been groggy and in and out of it for a few hours. You had a small accident, you're ok but you did have to have surgery." He informs me.

"Surgery?" I croak with wide eyes.

Nodding Dominic takes my empty cup from me and places it back on the table. "It all went ok and you're going to be just fine." He tells me softly. His hand raises to my face as he strokes my cheek softly.

"What happened?"

Dominic shakes his head. "You need more rest, close your eyes and go back to sleep."

"Dominic." I say as sternly as I can muster. "What..."

He shushes me softly. "Go to sleep, the details aren't important right now."

As much as I wanted to fight him and demand he tell me, I could feel a wave of fatigue hitting me. I could feel my eyes fluttering. "Dominic." I whisper.

"I'm right here princess, I'm not going anywhere." He tells me. "I'll still be here when you wake up again." He promises.

I force my eyes open. "Hold me?" My eyes plead with him.

Dominic shakes his head, his green eyes are now looking anywhere but at my own eyeline. "You need rest."

I let out a heavy sigh. "Dom, please."

"Don't call me that." He snaps, his eyes finally meeting mine with a hard look.

My face crinkles in confusion. I'm about to ask why I cannot call him by his nickname that everyone else for him when a chuckle comes from the other side of my bed to Dominic. I twist my head against the pillow.

Max sits in a chair beside my bed too, an amused look on his face as he shakes his head at his friend. He eventually must feel my gaze on him as he turns his gaze on me instead of Dominic and smiles at me. "As arrogant as he is, he is right Ellie. You do need rest, you've only been out of surgery a few hours. We'll still be here when you wake up."

"Max." I smile dopily at him.

"Ellie." He chuckles, seeming amused.

My eyelids grow heavier and heavier until I'm unable to keep them open any more, I feel my head wiggling against the pillow in order to try to get more comfortable. I sigh. "I love you both." I whisper before sleep overcomes me.

****

"I'm just going to get some food, when she wakes up she'll likely be hungry and I will not submit her to that horrible hospital food she tried to make me suffer through." Max's voice says quietly somewhere in the dark distance.

"Only healthy food, she needs to get better and stay healthy, bad foods won't help her right now." The stern voice of my favourite mafia man comes.

I can hear Max scoffing. "Healthy food." He mutters.

"I'm serious Maxwell. I will not lose her because you refuse to follow proper post surgery care." Authority rolls off him like a tsunami. "I agree hospital food is fucken shit. If you have to get her anything, get her the fruits she's always eating, something from that salad bar I know you charged to my card while I was away, and some healthy snacks."

"What she sees in you I will never know. You're a bossy wanker."

Dominic chuckles lowly. "Well I am your boss, am I not. But I am not like that with her, I am not her Dom as I am yours."

"Her calling you that was quite amusing. You looked like you were ready to throw a tantrum." Max laughs.

"Why would she want to call me that? Honestly, I am not her Dom, not her boss. I am her boyfriend, her lover. I have no power over her, if anything it's the other way around." He says somewhat quietly.

Max quietened at the mention of Dominic being my lover. "She probably doesn't understand the mafia meaning of Dom to be boss. Dom isn't as common a leader nickname, I mean your Pops was Don when he was in charge. My sister is a very smart girl, but you may need to explain to her that Dom is also a honorific title given to you because of your ranking in the Mafia, and you chose Dom over Don title because of your name." Max explains to him. "Dom to Eloise might just be a nickname since it's shortened from Dominic or, shoot me dead for even talking about this in relation to my sister, Dom is also a sexual Dominant."

"I'm not her Dominant, Maxwell." Dominic says and I can hear Maxwell let out a breath of relief. "And yeah I know Don is more common, I didn't even think of having to explain it to her that Dom is my ranking everyone calls me out of respect instead of some nickname." His tone is quiet and he sounds somewhat guilty.

****

My eyes shoot open as my body shoots forward in the bed. My nightmare is still clinging to me with a vice grip. My body feels as if it's drenched in sweat, my throat feels raw.

A firm hand comes to my shoulder, trying to guide me back to laying on the bed. "You're ok. You're safe."

I look around the room to find myself in a dimly lit hospital room. To my right stands Dominic, his arm outstretched to me as he holds my shoulder. I can see the worry plastered on his face clear as day.

"Princess, you need to lay back down before you hurt yourself." Dominic tells me in a soft tone.

I allow him to guide me back to the partially raised bed. "I..." The nightmare is still clouding my mind. "He was..."

"I know." Dominic nods once. His hand stays on my shoulder, keeping me in place as if he's afraid I'll bolt, while his other hand raises to caress my face. His thumb drags softly under my eye, and it is now I realise I'd been crying. "He can't hurt you anymore." Dominic's voice was heavy with promise.

My eyes search his green ones. It wasn't a nightmare at all, it had really happened. "I thought..." I shake my head. "I was so sure he'd gotten you." My eyes now rake over his body as much as I can, but I cannot see any indication he'd been hurt. "I thought I'd lost you." My eyes well at the memory.

Dominic shakes his head. His hand leaves my shoulder as he cups my face with both his hands now. "I thought I lost you too." He confesses in a pained whisper. "He got my shoulder, it was a through and through, but when it left me it got your chest and shattered inside you." He informs me.

"I was..." I shake my head. It couldn't be true. "No." I shake my head again.

Sorrow fills his eyes. "I'm sorry princess." Dominic whispers. "I should have protected you better, this should have never happened." He tells me with determination.

My hand raises to my chest and I can feel a large bandage running lengthwise down my chest. I had a vague memory of him telling me I'd been in surgery, but I felt so groggy I couldn't be sure if that was real or not. "I had surgery?" I ask.

"You did." Dominic nods once.

"Am I..."

"You're ok now." Dominic cuts in quickly. "You're going to have to take it easy for a few weeks. The bullet shattered inside you and you had to have open heart surgery as one of the bullet fragments made a small tear on your heart. They've gotten all the parts out and patched everything up, but you will have a long scar down your sternum." Dominic tells me gently. His face is plastered with sorrow and guilt.

I reach my hand up from my chest to cup his face. "I'm ok." I told him.

Dominic nods. "You're ok." He agrees and presses his lips lightly to my forehead in a feather-like kiss.