Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
“Where’s my phone? Bring it to me.”
“No, I’m sorry. Everything that was brought in with you has been quarantined.”
“Why? What the hell do I have?”
“I just told you. We don’t know what you caught, but it seems to get worse with time, not better.” It was only then I realized why she and the others were wearing those weird-looking suits. In my befuddled mind, I thought it was remnants of the pandemic, but I’m afraid it was all because of me.
“Even if we get ahold of anyone, they won’t be able to visit. Hasn’t anyone told you? No one is allowed in here because we don’t know what you have.”
“That’s for common people. People like me don’t have to play by those rules. I’m sure this room is costing me thousands.”
“So you don’t care if you infect innocent people?”
“No, no, I don’t. I want my husband.” Since I couldn’t pound my hands into the mattress, I stomped my heels into it and pulled at my restrained hands.
“You should calm down before you hurt yourself. The breakouts have spread to your hands. That’s why they’ve been bandaged. They might break open if you keep doing that.” I could be mistaken, but her voice sounded way too cheerful for a hospital room.
I decided to ignore her as she moved around the room because talking to her was only making me feel worse. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I don’t have the first clue what to do now. My face was destroyed, and my hair was gone. For sure, Ryder is going to leave me now. I need to talk to Mom and tell her to get started on a new spell before it’s too late. Is that bitch still back in L.A.? That thought worried me more than my own situation.
The nurse left while I was lost in thought, and I never felt so alone. It hurt to cry, the tears burning a track down my ruined cheeks. I felt such misery my body almost buckled with it. Why was everything going wrong? Where was the happiness I was promised? Where was Ryder?
***
*Ryder*
I hadn’t felt this excited about anything in a very long time, but as soon as I saw those gates, my heart came alive. I could imagine coming home to her here every day, and the thought filled me with so much joy it was hard to contain.
And when I saw her standing on the balcony looking out over the gardens, with the light of the setting sun framing her, the filth of the day seemed to drift away. “Let the car come to a stop, kid.” Lyon stopped me from jumping out of the moving car, and the few seconds it took for the car to come to a stop was too much.
He’d followed us here because, as he said, he needed to see for himself that this place was secure. I’ve noticed that these guys are almost obsessive when it comes to security, but I think it was more that now that I knew some of what they were working on, he wasn’t about to let me out of his sight. Then again, if that was the case, I have no doubt that he would’ve said so. He’s not shy about saying much of anything.
She didn’t seem to notice my approach until I was almost on her. Then she turned to look at me, and all this love rose up inside me and filled me with a feeling of sheer happiness. The smile that broke out across my face probably made me look like an idiot, but I didn’t care.
“Elena, I’m home.” I almost fell over my own feet when she came running to me with her arms open and wrapped them around me. It took me a good minute to realize that it was real and not some joke she was playing on me. After the day I’d had, her welcome almost brought me to tears.
I wrapped my arms around her and drew her in, more in love with her at that moment than I think I have ever been. I was afraid, afraid that I hadn’t loved her enough, afraid that I didn’t deserve even this. Listening between the lines to these guys all day made me see myself in a light that was not too admirable.
I always thought I loved her like that, that deep, unwavering love that nothing and no one could touch. But obviously, I’d missed a few steps somewhere because had I done so, we wouldn’t be here in this messed up situation.
Even though we’d spent most of our time dealing with the trafficking thing and my upcoming part in exposing my manager and spiritual advisor along with the others, each moment I had to myself was spent going over all the ways I had wronged her and it was humbling to realize that even if I had three lives, I couldn’t make this up to her.