Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
By the sounds of it, Odin’s infection has made him feverish.
Lily is sitting with her back to the door, and I watch as she gently takes his hand in hers. “You’re doing just fine, son.”
Odin turns his damp-sheeted face toward Lily. “Mama, is that you?”
Lily speaks gently, “Yes, son, it’s your mama.”
Odin starts to cry. The abrasive tough biker is gone, replaced by the delirium of a dying man. “I’m scared. I’m really scared.”
“You hush yourself now, baby, there’s nothing to be afraid of. This will all be over soon, and you’ll be at peace.”
“But I’ve fucked up, Mama. I’ve been a bad man, done bad things.”
Lily’s voice is soft and soothing, “It’s okay, my boy.”
“Am I going to hell?”
Lily shakes her head. “There ain’t no such place.”
I watch from the doorway with mixed feelings as Lily shows him great compassion in his last hours, and I feel my emotions for her gather inside me. Maybe it’s because I’m so goddamn tired, and I can’t think straight, or maybe it’s because we’re both caught up in the same storm. I don’t know. Whatever it is, I can’t deny the effect she has on me. It’s like every time she looks at me, something inside lights up.
It’s getting harder to ignore.
But I haven’t given up trying.
“You sleep now. Rest your mind.” She lets go of Odin’s hand to administer more morphine, and when she’s certain he’s out, she stands.
“That was really kind,” I say.
She jumps at the sound of my voice.
“Hey, sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. But I mean it, what you just did…”
She shrugs. “He’s dying. He probably doesn’t deserve it, but that’s not really for me to decide.” Lily looks away as she brushes past me. Things between us are strained, but I’m beginning to think I may have been wrong about her.
“Hey…”
She stops and looks back at me. “What?”
I suck at apologies, but I came across as a jerk earlier, so I owe her one. “You’re a good nurse.”
The moment is awkward, and I can tell she’s wary of the compliment, but then a hint of a smile crosses her beautiful face. She doesn’t say anything, but I think the frostiness between us is beginning to thaw.
Turning away, she walks toward the door. That’s when I notice her bracelet slip off her wrist and onto the floor. I bend down and pick it up. It’s a silver chain with three little charms—a dog, a cat, and a coin with a faded red cross stamped into the metal.
“Hey, you dropped this,” I say, holding it up.
Her eyes round when she sees it dangling between my fingers, but she quickly composes herself.
“Thank you. The dang safety clasp gets loose. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I try to fix it.” She takes it from my fingers and rewinds the bracelet around her wrist. “I should probably stop wearing it, but it’s the only thing I’ve got—” She stops and looks at me. Lily was about to share something personal but decided against it. Probably because I’m a stranger who’s been giving her shit for the last couple of days, and I’m not worthy of any sort of personal information.
I don’t blame her.
But she’s piqued my interest now, and I can’t help but want to know more. “Someone special give it to you?”
She searches my eyes to see if she can trust me, and I instantly want to kiss that indecision out of her mind.
Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me?
“My mom,” she says softly. “She gave it to me for my thirteenth birthday.”
“It’s beautiful,” I say, loving the softness in her honey-rich voice. “I like the Red Cross charm.”
She smiles again, this time broader. “Even back then, I wanted to be a nurse. Mom bought it so I’d always have my dreams close by. She said to me, Tiger Lily, there’ll always be tough times in your life, but if you keep sight of your goals, they’ll help you weather every storm.” She laughs softly, and I decide I really like the sound of it. “Turns out she was right.”
“Sounds like a smart lady.”
“She was.”
Was?
I want to ask her what happened, but things between us are shaky to say the least, and I don’t want to risk upsetting her again. For reasons beyond my understanding, I want her to like me. Which is confusing as fuck because I don’t usually care if people like me or not.
Especially people who are partly responsible for my abduction.
Sensing my curiosity, she looks up from the bracelet now firmly back on her wrist. “She died a few weeks after my thirteenth birthday.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, and because I don’t know what else to say, I let the next words tumble out of my mouth. Words I’ve never told anyone in my adult years because this is the weird effect she has on me. Either that or my concussion is worse than I thought. “I never knew my mom. She was gone before I was out of diapers. Apparently, a kid, a trailer, and an out-of-work plumber for a husband wasn’t interesting enough for a seventeen-year-old high school girl.”