Chapter 36
“Ma am, you can’t be in here! This is a restricted areal”
A munte tried to block my path as I showed through i
h the ICU doors, but I barely heard her.
“Charging to Mall
Caspian’s body arched violently as electricity surged through him.
The flatline continord–that merciless, endless tone dulling into my skull like a death sentence.
My longs refused to work, throat closing as if invisible hands were strangling me. This couldn’t be happening. Not him. Not now.
“Corse on, Drake,” Helena muttered, sweat beading on her forehead, her eyes firrer with determination. “You stubborn bastard, don’t you dare give up now,
The monitors suddenly sparked to life wi
wrak, shattering thythm.
The sound crashed through me like a wave, my knees nearly y buckling with relief.
The room collectively exhaled
Wwwe got h him back. Helena announced, her voice raw as she examined his IV, ruge darkening her features.
This was deliberate, Someone tampered with his medication. The substance was potassium chloride–untraceable in normal amounts, This wasn’t an amateur job.”
Blake burst in, face drained of color. “Sage, what happened? They said his heart—”
fatal in high doses.
“She almost killed him,” I whispered, my voice cracking as I stared at Caspian’s ashem face, the man whord risked everything to protect me now fighting for his life because of it. “Rachel almost fucking won.”
Three days passed in a blur of FI interviews and terrible hospital coffee.
I barely left Caspian’s side, catching fragments of sleep in an uncomfortable chair beside him.
His finger suddenly tightened around mine, jolting me awake.
His green eyes found mine, clouded with medication but burning with an intensity that stole my breath.
“She nearly killed me, he rasped, each word an effort that made my chest ache. “When I felt my heart stopping… all I could think about was you, Sage. That Id never get to tell you-
“Dont.” I begged, my
voice breaking as tears spilled down my checks. “Please don’t say things like that. You’re alive. You’re here. That’s all that matters.”
hand with surprising strength, I’m done wasting time. Life can fucking end in an instant, and I won’t go with
“No,” he insisted, grip tightening on my
His eyes held mine, refusing to
look away.
I know what I did six years ago was unforgivable. But you need to know I never stopped thinking about you, looking for you, Sage. That stupid ber started everything, but what happened between or was real. It was always real,”
Every word sent ocks splintering through the walls I spent six years building.
The new honesty in his voice threatened to demolish everything I thought I know about us, about that night, about the boy who had broken my heart.
move closer.
| can’t do this, Caspian,” I pulled fuck, panic tising in my throat even as my body yearned in move
Nest numa. Kachela still hunting us, Palmer x influence is everywhere. I’m your lawyer, for God’s sake. I need to keep it together.”
Tuck professional boundaries! He struggled to sit up, pain flashing across his face as he fought against his own weakness.
|
Rachel put a bullet in me and then stopped my
don’t know what she’ll do next. All I know in I’m tired of pretending my feelings for you are just
cked away, arm wrapped protectively around myself.
“Every time I even think about trusting someone… especially you… I remember that night in vivid detail. You and your friends laughing, that goddamn bet, then Robert waiting for me at home….
My voice dropped to a whisper. “I can’t go back there. I can’t be that vulnerable again.”
Something shifted in his eyes then–the fire dimming to understanding, frustration giving way to acceptance.
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