~ Madison's POV ~

My eyes remained closed when I heard the distant voices around me.

All I could say was the first voice was pure perfection.

"Let her sleep."

"She'd want to know."

Someone else spoke and then, it fell silent for a moment before the husky, hoarse voice sounded again.

"She's tired. Let her sleep."

That's all I heard before I fell back into a deeper sleep, giving into the total exhaustion my body was feeling.

It felt like hours could have passed when voices sounded around me again.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like someone rearranged all my insides...and my hand feels like it's about to fall off any second."

His voice...it was so soft and velvety. So soothing.

I ached to hear it again, I ached to hear him speak one more time but all I did was fall back to sleep.

That was until he spoke again, this time bringing me further out of my sleep.

"What time is it?"

"Almost 12pm."

Finally, when I felt something move under where I was resting my head, my eyes began to open.

At first I thought I was dreaming when I saw what looked like a hospital room in front of me, but when that same thing moved under my head, I slowly lifted my head as the memories came back to me.

Turning my attention to what I thought was my pillow, my eyes landed on the tattooed hand which I was still holding onto.

Slowly my eyes followed the tattoos up the arm, past his shoulders and to his face.

He was smiling.

Smiling.

This bitch actually had the nerve to smile at me.

"You're awake?"

My voice came out groggy and he nodded his head a little before he glanced down at his hand that I'd been holding onto ever since I sat down next to him.

"I was starting to think I was going to lose my hand."

I glanced down at his hand, his words bringing me back to my senses as I quickly let go of it and sat up properly.

I can't believe all that time I was holding onto his hand and sleeping on top of it.

"Sorry."

He still continued to smile as he watched me sit there awkwardly while I just continued to wake up, becoming more and more aware of my surroundings.

Santiago looked so much better than he did last night, which is probably because he didn't have that breathing tube in his mouth anymore and his skin had a lot more colour to it.

Still, he looked extremely weak and tired but that was probably because he'd only just come out of surgery a few hours ago.

"I'll just give you some time alone." At the sound of a voice next to me, I turned my head to look at Arturo who was watching me with amusement in his eyes.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I watched as he left the room, glancing back at me when he let out a chuckle.

When it was finally just Santiago and I alone, I turned back to the man who was lying in the hospital bed watching me with the same smile.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?"

All he did was raise an eyebrow at me, his smile not even faltering the slightest bit.

"I'm not allowed to smile?"

"No, you're not." I shook my head, giving him a glare which just amused him even further. "Why not Maddie?"

"Don't you dare call me that! You didn't call me for five weeks and now you're in the ICU, of course you're not allowed to smile at me."

"Okay, I understand why you maybe upset that I didn't call you, but come on, it's not like I want to be here." When he just continued to smile at me, I shook my head in frustration.

"Santiago stop it, I'm being serious, don't mess around. You scared me..." As soon as my eyes began to fill with tears, the smile on his face suddenly faded.

"I thought you were going to die."

When my voice broke, he reached out and brushed his hand against my cheek, wiping away the tears that had already started falling.

"I'm fine now, please don't cry. I hate it when you cry Maddie." He murmured lowly next to me as I leaned forward, resting my head against his shoulder. A sob escaped my lips as he held my head against his shoulder since that was the only way he could give me any comfort.

We just sat there in silence as he stroked the back of my head while I cried into his shoulder, realising just how close I was to never being able to speak to him again - never being able to see him again.

Eventually I pulled away from him although my tears were still falling steadily down my cheeks.

"When did you wake up? Why didn't you wake me up?" I wiped my tears as I faced him with a glare as I spoke.

"You were sleeping."

"So? What kind of stupid response is that?" This time when I spoke in a harsh tone, his lips tugged up into a smile again.

"You just flew here from LA. Judging by my suitcase in the corner of the room, you're welcome by the way, I'm guessing you came straight from the airport. So, yes I let you sleep because there was no need to disturb you because I'm fine, thanks for asking by the way."

I narrowed my eyes at him when he spoke the last sentence in a sarcastic tone while he gave me a teasing smirk, causing me to let out a scoff.

Was this all a joke to him?

"You're such a jerk."

I shook my head at his words, wiping the tears away from my cheeks, placing my hands on the arms of the chair to get up. Just as I was about to stand up, his hand shot out to stop me.

"Wait, don't go, I'm sorry." He gave me his smile again and although it just annoyed me, after a moment I eventually sat back down.

"Where are the twins?" I didn't miss the way his eyes shone with hope when he mentioned them, as if he hoped I'd brought them with me.

We both knew I didn't though, there was no way I would ever bring them here and he knew that.

"They're with my mom in LA."

"Oh. How are they?" I managed to give him a small smile despite the fact I still wanted to cry like a little girl.

"They're good. They've missed you a lot Santiago."

"I'm sorry. I had a lot going on and I know that's not a good excuse for ignoring you, I just..."
His words trailed off as he ran a hand over his face, causing me to let out a sigh.

"Let's just not think about that right now. How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

The change in topic caused him to glance down at the hand I'd been holding for the last few hours while I slept, with a playful frown.

"I'm fine but...I don't know if you'd believe me if I told you that the pins and needles in my hand are worse than the pain in my abdomen after that operation."

As relief washed over me, I couldn't help but let out a laugh at his words, causing him to narrow his eyes at me, although he was clearly amused.

"This is your fault Madison."

Nodding my head through my laughter I reached out and took his hand in mine, beginning to massage it between my hands to get his blood flowing again.

It was only when my laughter died down as I massaged his hand that I realised Santiago was just watching me in silence, causing me to lift my head to meet his eyes.

In that moment I held his hand between mine as we stared at each other, his eyes holding an intense emotion in them that I couldn't quite decipher.

From the close proximity between us, I could make out every single detail of his beautiful face. His high cheekbones and sharp jawline, his perfectly tanned skin, the way his long eyelashes framed his brown eyes which were staring at me and how his tongue swept across his soft, plump lips.

Somehow I found myself captivated by his stare as I slowly began to lean forward, bringing my face closer to his. Within moments my lips were inches from his as the thoughts of how his soft lips would feel against mine plagued my mind.

Just as I began to close the last part of the gap, the sound of the door opening caused us to pull apart almost instantly.

"Bro, we got you some food."

I quickly sat back into the chair, turning away from Santiago as I took a deep breath, all of a sudden in need to catch my breath and steady my racing heart.

What the hell was I doing?

This was the man who disappeared from my life without a word, didn't bother coming back when he heard I tried to kill myself, slept with me and then left again, let his girlfriend call me fat when I was pregnant and then four years later held a gun to my head. Not to mention the fact he also disappeared again for five weeks.

He's also the man who stole your heart without you even knowing it.

And I never even saw it coming.

"What?" I glanced over at Santiago in surprise when he spoke in a harsh tone, glaring at Noah who came into the room holding a McDonald's bag along with Nicolas and Arturo.

"Hospital food is nasty, so we got you this. The last thing you need is your last meal being some kind of sludge from the hospital - you're welcome."

I watched for a moment as he put the bag down on the table next to Santiago, before his words finally registered with me.

"What?"

Both Noah and Santiago turned to look at me, one of them looking furious and the other looking confused.

"Nothing." Santiago shook his head before turning to face Noah, sending him a not-so-subtle glare.

"No, wait, what do you mean?"

This time all four of them avoided my gaze as I waited for someone to finally answer my question. Of course when no one did, I focused my attention on Santiago instead.

"Your last meal?"

"Madison..." I narrowed my eyes at him when he didn't answer and instead I turned my attention to Arturo.

"Tell me. Now."

Arturo glanced between Santiago and I before he eventually let out a sigh and shook his head.

"The operation was successful and he's stable for now but there's still...there's a high chance he might have some complications."

As soon as Arturo finished his sentence I turned to look at Santiago who was now glaring at his bestfriend. He refused to meet my gaze as I stared at him with an incredulous expression.

"But...you said..." I shook my head as I processed what Arturo had just said. "You lied to me, you told me you were fine!"

"I am."

"No you aren't Santiago!" Finally he turned to look at me as, once again, tears began to well up in my eyes.

"I'll be okay." When he spoke in a reassuring tone and reached out to take my hand, I shook my head at him, pushing his hand away as I stood up.

"No, why should I believe that? You're a liar." I angrily wiped the tears away from my cheeks, deciding it was better for me to just get out of that room for a while to calm down instead of arguing in front of all his friends.

"Maddison don't leave, please." On the way to the door, at the sound of his strained voice I turned around to see him trying to sit up, although Arturo was trying to push him back down.

"Don't Arturo." A frown formed on my face as I watched Santiago trying to sit up, ignoring the pain he was clearly feeling.

"I just didn't want you to worry, I hate seeing you cry." As he spoke in a soft tone, I held eye contact with him, knowing that I should have just walked out.

I should have left.

But my heart just felt drawn to him, like there was no way I could bring myself to walk away from him when he looked so vulnerable.

I slowly took a few steps back towards him before I eventually reached him again.

"You're going to hurt yourself, stop it." My words came out just above a whisper as I placed my hand on his shoulder, causing him to instantly relax.

"You're not leaving?" I stood there weighing up my options, but the longer I stared at him lying in his hospital bed looking so weak while giving me his hopeful eyes, I eventually shook my head.

"No, I'm not."

Taking my seat again, I watched as Santiago glared at Arturo one more time clearly annoyed at him for telling me the truth. Then, he started rummaging through the McDonald's bag on the table next to him, looking at the fries and cheeseburger in distaste.

"You guys know I don't eat this crap."

"Yeah, but we do." Noah gave him a grin before taking the fries out of the bag, popping one in his mouth. Santiago just let out a sigh before pushing the table away, relaxing back into the pillows on his bed.

"Shall I get you something else to eat?"

"I'm not really hungry, thank you though." He gave me a small smile which soon turned into a glare when Arturo laughed next to him, quickly covering it up with a cough.

"What's so funny?"

"You're so whipped bro." This time I narrowed my eyes at Arturo who was still laughing to himself quietly. His words also caused Noah and Nicolas to laugh too.

After that, Nicolas and Noah left a while later, to go and get some rest at the hotel and then deal with some business.

It was clear that the little bit of energy and humour Santiago had from when I first woke up was gone as he became increasingly tired. I was even starting to think he was previously faking it when he could now hardly keep his eyes open.

After that, I just sat quietly with Santiago and also Arturo who had managed to get another chair brought into the room.

Santiago and I both said he wouldn't be able to do it since it was against the rules to have more than one chair in an ICU room. But, then when he came in carrying another chair, claiming to be a smooth talker, we soon realised he'd just flirted with the blushing nurse who came in behind him.

These men were all the same - shamelessly using their good looks to get whatever they want.

Disgusting.

Of course if I was as good looking as them I would do it too, but that's not the point.

"Where are you staying?"

Santiago broke the silence around us as I looked up from my phone and over at him when he spoke.

"I don't know, I was actually just looking on my phone to book a room somewhere."

As soon as I said this, he shook his head.

"Stay in my hotel room. You can order whatever food you want to the room." As soon as he said this, I began to shake my head but of course, arguing with him would never get me anywhere.

"Go now, you look exhausted Maddie. Go and take a shower and get some sleep."

"No, I'm fine."

"Really? Because your eyes are drooping and I've been listening to your stomach rumble for the last hour." Santiago's words caused Arturo to let out a small laugh before he eventually stood to his feet on the opposite side of the bed.

He also looked extremely exhausted from being awake all night at the hospital.

"Come on crazy, let Santi sleep for a bit while you freshen up."

"Did you just call me crazy?" Of course he just sent me a smirk as he came over to me and picked up my purse before taking my hand to help me stand up - not that I needed help.

"Are you sure you'll be okay alone?"

"Madison, I'll be fine." He managed to give me a small smile even though it was so clear to me that he wasn't feeling good at all. His eyes looked so tired and he was hardly moving as much as he was earlier. Even his smile looked forced.

It was just making me worry even more.

"I don't want to leave you."

"Please? I'll feel better once I know you've got some rest and had some food. Then you can stay with me as long as you want."

I held eye contact with him for a moment before I reluctantly nodded my head, following Arturo over to the door where he was already waiting with my suitcase.

"I promise I'm not going to leave you until you're better."

Santiago once again gave me a tired smile as his eyes began to close.

"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that."

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"Come on!"

"Go away you crazy bitch." I narrowed my eyes at Arturo after I dodged the pillow he threw in my direction.

"Hurry up Arturo!" Once again I tugged on his duvet causing him to turn and glare at me.

As soon as we got to his and Santiago's hotel suite, he went to sleep in his bed since he'd already eaten his McDonald's whereas I took a much needed shower, ordered some food and then had a one hour power nap in his bed.

His room smelled exactly like him.

That nap and the food were enough for me to survive the rest of the evening at the hospital with Santi, but this idiot was refusing to wake up.

And here I was being considerate by trying to take him with me.

"Take my car and go. I'll come later." With that he reached his hand across to his nightstand, shuffling around until he finally found his keys which he held out to me.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, I grabbed the keys from his hand, throwing the pillow back at him as I left the room.

"Screw you!"

Mature.

Grabbing my purse, I also picked up a few things for Santiago before I went down to the parking lot and got into Arturo's car which he told me he'd rented while they were here.

The drive back to the hospital didn't take long and soon I was back outside Santi's room. Opening the door quietly, I stepped inside, noticing his sleeping figure on the bed.

Making my way back over to my original seat, I dropped down on the chair before leaning over to place a kiss on his cheek.

"Do that again."

As I pulled back, my movements froze when he spoke, keeping his eyes tightly shut.

"You're awake?"

"Maybe." His lips tugged up into a smirk while I just rolled my eyes, pressing my lips to his cheek one more time.

Eventually when I moved back leaning against the chair, he opened his eyes, turning to face me with his annoying smirk, clearly enjoying the fact I'd just kissed his cheek twice.

We sat in silence for a moment before I eventually spoke to him.

"I don't like your friends." He nodded his head in agreement, glancing over at me as he did. "Me either."

"You need to find some new ones, the only nice one is Sienna and she's not even here." He nodded his head at this before giving me a smile.

"Unfortunately though, I'm kind of stuck with them now."

When it fell quiet between us again, I leaned back into the chair, getting more comfortable as I tucked one leg underneath me.

"So what happened? Arturo said you were stabbed." Santi rose an eyebrow at me for a second before he let out a sigh and nodded his head.

"Yeah. I don't know who it was. We'd just finished a mission we'd been planning since we got here and when I got out of my car in the hotel parking lot, someone stabbed me from behind. All I remember is that I looked down and the knife had gone all the way through me. After that I think I passed out pretty quickly."

A deep frown formed on his face as he thought back to the events that had led up to him being admitted into the ICU.

"Was it a dangerous mission?" Of course when I asked him this, he just flashed me that annoying smile from earlier.

"You care about me."

"Of course I care, why else would I be here then? Idiot." My words just caused him to laugh, but as soon as he did, he started coughing. I watched as his hand went to his stomach and he wheezed in pain, trying to control his coughs.

"Shall I get a nurse?"

As quickly as they started, his coughs began to calm down and he shook his head. I couldn't help but frown as I watched him struggle to breathe, resting his head back against the pillow as he