Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 119476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 597(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 597(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Wait…
No… that’s not right. Is it?
Am I sleeping?
Where am I?
I try to open my eyes, only to get hit with a tidal wave of déjà vu so strong it steals the air from my lungs.
Scarlet.
Lunch.
Rand.
Dead.
Atlas.
Safe. I’m safe.
I try again, but it’s too bright. Too loud. Too hard.
Too everything.
Someone somewhere murmurs my name—Atlas. He’s here.
But before I can try for a third time, the darkness claims me again.
CHAPTER 44
ATLAS
Ihaven’t left Nora’s side since they finally allowed me into her room. Hell, I couldn’t even tell what else is in the room with us, because my eyes haven’t looked anywhere except for at her.
I may have lied and said she was my fiancée in order to get back here, but it’s hardly a lie when in reality she’s so much more than that. She’s my light, my air, my happiness. The tiny little spitfire of a woman is my entire reason for existing.
She’s bruised and beat to hell and back, with a concussion, her arm in a splint and a few stitches in her belly. But she’s going to make a full recovery, and our little jellybean is as healthy as ever.
The relief I felt when I heard those words nearly brought me to my knees. They’re words I know I’ll treasure until the end of time. Maybe longer.
Now, it’s just a waiting game to see when she’ll wake up. The doctor said something about her brain needing to recover from the trauma.
A knock sounds outside of her door, most likely a nurse coming to check her stats.
“Come in!” I holler, never once taking my eyes off Nora.
“How’s she doing?” Ellis asks, moving into my line of sight.
I flick my eyes his way; he’s still in uniform and looks damn near as wrung out as I feel.
“The doctor says she and the baby are both fine.”
He drags a spare chair over so it’s next to mine. “Any idea when she’ll wake up?”
“I wish I knew.” The uncertainty of it all has me on edge. They’ve told me over and over that she’s fine—because God knows I’ve asked every single person who’s walked into her room. But seeing is believing, and I know I’ll be a damn mess until I see her pretty hazel eyes and hear her sweet voice.
“Not to be that guy, but…” I can already tell from the tone of his voice I’m not going to like what he has to say. “…have you heard anything else from Scarlet?”
My shoulders tense at the mention of her name. “She hasn’t stopped blowing up my phone. I had to turn the damn thing off.”
He sighs and leans back in his seat, the hard plastic creaking under his weight. “You gonna talk to her?”
“Fuck,” I groan, running my hands through my hair and tugging on the ends. “I don’t know, man.”
“Talk about a rock and a hard place.”
“I—I just… the rational part of my brain knows it’s not her fault, but at the same time, I…” Tears burn the back of my eyes as I look over at Nora lying on the bed in front of me. She looks so small and fragile. “I could’ve lost them both.”
“I know.” He reaches over and squeezes my shoulder. “No matter what you decide there, I’m with you.”
“Appreciate it.” Those two words aren’t nearly enough to convey how much his support means to me. Not just in dealing with Scarlet, but in how he’s had my back from the start.
He never once gave me shit over her diary. He didn’t balk at the idea of moving her into our house. He didn’t say shit when things went from friendly to more. Hell, I put his entire job on the line today when I went after Nora, and he. Didn’t. Say. Shit.
Ellis-fucking-Wilder is the living embodiment of loyalty, and if it takes the rest of my life to repay him in kind, then so be it.
“I mean it,” I say, my voice a rough whisper. “I fucking appreciate you.”
Ellis huffs, and I know that, like me, he’s trying to keep his emotions at bay. “I know, man. I know.”
Silence settles back over us as we both go back to watching Nora.
It feels like days have passed, even though according to the clock on the wall, it’s only been an hour, when I feel the slightest twitch of her fingers against mine.
“Pip?” I jolt out of my chair as her fingers spasm again. “Open those pretty eyes, baby.”
I wait with my heart in my throat, hope surging violently inside of me, but nothing happens.
“Come on, Nora,” I whisper brokenly, desperate for her to wake up. “Come back to me.”
The room falls silent once again, save for the steady beep of her heart monitor.
“Man, are you sure—” Ellis starts to say.
I cut him off. “Positive.” I felt her move. She wants to wake up. She’s trying. I know she is. My girl may look tiny, but she’s a fighter. Hell, she’s easily the toughest person I know.