Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92668 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92668 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“It’s all right,” he whispered, softly running his hand over my hair. “You’re safe. It’s over. I’ve got you, Lots.” He pressed his lips to my forehead and just held them there.
“I… I…”
“Shh. It’s okay.”
His voice was the most beautiful sound.
Soft. Warm. Soothing. Like a warm breeze and a fluffy blanket all at once, wrapping itself around me, sinking into my pores, slowly settling me into something on the calmer side of my hysteria.
And his touch…
Safe.
It was safe.
Noah was safe.
Terror lived in my veins, but I knew nothing would happen as long as he was here. Nothing could happen. He wouldn’t let it.
He was safe.
He was… home.
That one thing, that one calming point in the entire universe.
That was Noah.
“There,” he whispered, lips moving against my hair. “It’s fine. The ambulance is here.”
“No. No.”
“I’m sorry, Lots.”
Lots.
Not that one.
Anything but that name.
“No.” The word broke out of me on a sob, and I buried my face in his neck again, grabbing his shirt in my fist.
“You again,” a familiar voice said.
I looked up through tears. “Charlie.”
She smiled warmly. “Hey, darling. We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
I smiled, but then I broke.
Whoosh.
Everything.
Like a dam bursting.
I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear, I could feel nothing but the warmth of Noah’s touch leaving me as I was lowered onto a bed.
I was cold. So cold.
Something was put over my nose and mouth, and Charlie’s voice was a wobbly whisper in my ear, but all I cared about was Noah. I was looking, searching, letting my gaze desperately dart around in the hopes I could find him.
Dark green.
I found him.
Through it all, I found his eyes. As they wheeled me further away from him and into the ambulance, there was his eyes.
Beautiful.
Tortured.
But his eyes.
They were his.
They were the last thing I saw.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
It was amazing how slowly time passed in a hospital.
I’d swear it’d been a thousand days since I’d woken up to the silent tears of my mum leaning over me, but it’d only been twenty-four hours.
Dad had sent her home not long ago to shower. And get me clean knickers, Mum had said.
Apparently, they didn’t provide those with the gowns here.
It was still visiting hours, and they’d swapped places with an angry Ash who’d made me quickly facetime Gwen as proof of life.
Gwen had insisted I was a body double, and Ash had hung up on her and glared at me before bursting into tears.
As for me, I was still trying to piece everything together.
There were a few small gaps in my memory, but apparently, getting your head smashed onto the edge of a kitchen counter was a surefire way to give you concussion. The doctor who was seeing me had said some memory loss was perfectly normal with what I’d just been through, but that it should return in time.
I would be okay if it didn’t.
“Knock knock.” Jamie pushed the door open and poked his head through the gap. “Can I come in?”
“Depends,” I said. “Is it just you?”
He held up two fingers. “Scout’s honour.”
“You were never a scout,” Ash said.
Jamie laughed softly and crept in, pushing the door to my room closed behind him. “How are you, Lottie?”
“Tired. Miserable. Everything and its mother hurts. So pretty good, considering,” I replied. “I suppose you need to talk to me, don’t you?”
He held up his hands. “I’m just here to see how you are. Your doctor said it’s up to you, but that you’ve got some gaps in your memory, and she shouted at my boss once already. I just thought that maybe I can help you fill those gaps a bit.”
“Okay. Um. I guess I have some questions.”
He pulled over the other visitor chair and sat down. “I can answer anything you need me to.”
“Did you get Shane?” I tightened my grip on Ash’s hand.
“We did.”
I relaxed my fingers. “Okay. This isn’t about what happened, but I have to know. Why the bed and breakfast? How did that happen?”
“Coincidence, it seems,” he answered. “Shane has a bit of a drinking problem he’s kept well hidden from Steph, for the most part. He happened to be at the pub the night of the wake, and saw the whole thing go down between you and Declan. We think he planned to confront Declan about letting Steph get whatever she wanted in the divorce and followed him to wherever he ended up, which was the bed and breakfast for some reason. I doubt we’ll ever know why Declan headed there, much less how he got inside, but Shane followed him, confronted him, and the rest is history.”
“So, you really were wrong place, wrong time then, huh?” Ash asked, pouring some water into the little cup, then handing it to me.
I sipped through the straw, then passed it back to her. “Thank you. How did you know where I was?” I asked Jamie.