Everything hurts and I'm dying. Or was I already dead?

No, there was no way I could be dead. There was no way I would be in this much pain if I was in Heaven.

I tried to shift my weight a little bit, but my body was heavy. What the hell had happened to me? My eyes were still closed but I could see lights and shadows in the room, and I could hear the steady beeping of a machine. I kept trying to move my body, but it wasn't working. I had to think consciously about each breath I took, and it took me four tries before I could even get my eyes to flutter open.

When I did, I was even more disoriented. It was completely dark in the room except for the screens of the monitors I was hooked up to. Why was I in a hospital? Slowly, piece by piece, I started to remember the last few days. Herrera had kidnapped me, tried to bury me alive just before Brandon and his men got there. Was this the next step in his plan?

Panic washed over me, and the pain seemed to disappear.

I started ripping at the tubes on my arms, but as soon as I got it detached, it set off an alarm. The light shot on and for the first time I saw Brandon was in the room with me.

"Sadie." He looked absolutely exhausted and about as disoriented as I was. "Oh my god. You're awake."

He threw his arms around me tightly and buried his head into my shoulder. I was so relieved to see him I nearly burst into tears. "Brandon."

"Sorry." He loosened up, backing off a little bit. "Did I hurt you?"

"Not at all." I choked out, holding on to him like my life depended on it.

Tears pooled in Brandon's eyes. "Jesus, I thought I was never going to see you again."

"You're real right? I'm not dreaming this?" I said with a slight smile.

"I'm real." His smile was enormous. "I'm right here, babe. Everything is okay."

"Oh Brandon." I left out a heavy sigh, tears welling up in my eyes. "I thought I was still with Herrera. I thought I was going to die."

"It's okay, Sadie." He whispered, kissing my forehead. "I've got you, you're safe."

"What... how long..." I didn't even know where to start. I had so many questions.

"You've been here for four days. Herrera had you at a cabin out in the middle of nowhere. We pulled you out of the ground just a few minutes after Herrera buried you, but you were completely unconscious, and they didn't know if you were..."

Brandon couldn't even bring himself to finish the thought he was so overcome with emotion. I tried to picture myself if our situations were reversed and I knew finding me like that had to be gut wrenching for him.

"I'm sorry." He composed himself, biting back the tears in his eyes. "When I found you like that...I thought you were gone. That I'd lost you forever. These last few days have been absolute hell just waiting to see if you were going to wake up. It's hard for me believe it's real too."

"Don't be sorry." I squeezed his hand. "I thought I lost you, too."

"How are you feeling?" He asked. "I should get Dr. Bennett."

"I'm okay, Brandon." I assured him. "I just want it to be us for a little bit longer. Can we wait to call him?"

"Whatever you want." He climbed into bed next to and wrapped me in his strong, safe embrace. We laid there for a few minutes in silence, just holding on to each other as tight as we possibly could.

Suddenly, I remembered the other person who had been at the cabin with us. "Dante." I whispered. "It was Dante, Brandon. He's the one who..."

"Shhh." He tried to calm me. "I know it was him, and neither Dante or Herrera are going to be an issue for us anymore."

"Is Herrera dead?" I asked, my voice wavering a little bit as I did. Normally, I would be completely against Brandon killing someone, but with Herrera, it was different. Herrera deserved to die, and I knew that there was no way we'd be completely rid of him unless he was dead.

"He will be soon ." Brandon stiffened. "But can we not talk about that right now? I promise I will tell you all about it, but tonight, the only thing that matters is that you're okay, and the baby is okay."

I had completely forgotten I was pregnant until he mentioned the baby. It had been a source of strength for me while I was being held captive, knowing I had to keep going to protect the little life growing inside of me. When I thought that neither one of us would make it, and all the experiences Brandon and I would miss out on, it nearly broke me. I didn't have to think about that anymore though. It was honestly a miracle and I was overcome with emotion and gratitude.

"You're sure?" My eyes filled up with tears.

Brandon nodded. "Dr. Bennett has been checking every day that you've been here and it looks healthy as can be. He'll keep a close eye on you since you lost oxygen for so long, but right now, our baby is absolutely perfect. We should be able to find out if it's a boy or girl in a few weeks. If you want to, that is."

A giant weight lifted off of my shoulders and I listened to him, and I felt myself completely relax. Brandon had saved us, and we were all okay, and we were going to get through it. "I'm so proud of you."

"Me?" Brandon arched his eyebrow. "I can't even imagine what that must have been like for you, and yet you were so incredibly strong. You're the one that saved our baby, Sadie. You kept her safe and sound, and if you hadn't fought like you did, I wouldn't have gotten either of you back."

I smiled, glancing up at him. "You said she."

Brandon got a sheepish grin on his face. "I just have a feeling. I think it's going to be a girl."

"That's funny, "I said. "Because I have had a feeling it's a boy the whole time."

Brandon and I talked some more about the baby and after a while, Dr. Bennett came in to see me. Overall, he thought I was doing well, but made sure we were both very clear on how I needed to take it easy the next few weeks. He assured us both he'd be by regularly to make sure I was improving and to keep an eye on how the baby was growing. I'd never been so thankful that Brandon had the reach that he did, because the idea of going weeks between prenatal appointments didn't sit right with me. It would be so nice to know that everything was going as it should, especially after everything our poor little one had already been through.

I stayed in the hospital for two more days for observation before they finally released me. Brandon hadn't left my side since I got to the hospital, but I had somehow managed to convince him to go home for a few hours this morning. He needed a real shower and I needed some clothes to go home in, and he wouldn't admit it, but we both needed just a little bit of time apart.

"I brought bagels!" Brandon grinned, sauntering into the hospital room with a brown paper bag and a cup of coffee in his hand. He had hardly been gone two hours. He was beaming, that goofy smirk on his face seriously degrading his tough as nails mafia reputation.

"Thank goodness." I grimaced, dropping the piece of toast I was eating onto the plate. "I think they're trying to poison me." All I had had the last few days was hospital food and it was getting hideously old. At this point he could have brought in tofu and I would have been happy.

"I think that's a little dramatic but I figured you could use a break." He chuckled, sitting down in the chair next to me and opening the bag. "I have raisin, asiago cheese, plain, whole wheat, cinnamon sugar..."

"Did you buy out the entire store?" I arched my eyebrow at him, latching on to the asiago cheese.

"I had a feeling you'd pick that one." He smirked. "But once Mrs. Patterson knew they were for you, she insisted I bring options."

"She knows me so well."

"And she made me insist that I would bring you in as soon as you were feeling up to it. I'm afraid you've got a long list of people waiting to see you."

"That's okay." I smiled. I really didn't mind. Brandon was right, I did have all kinds of people in this funny little town who cared about me, and it was nice to know I had their support.

"What do you say we get you home?" He grinned.

"That sounds like Heaven."