I couldn’t remember what happened or how I ended up in the water, just that I did. But I knew Declan and I weren’t together. I left the man standing in front of the mansion he called a beach house—as if—nearly a year ago. Those few months we spent together were the happiest I’d ever been. But it was a fucking lie. He’d lied. Maybe not blatantly, but still a lie.
Then came Mara. Finding that fucking cunt at his house so entwined with his family… I’d fucking lost it.
And him.
“That’s a good sign, right?”
“Yes, sir. It’s a very good sign. He’s waking up.”
“And the pressure you spoke of?”
“It appears to be reversing itself.”
“So, the surgery? It worked?”
Surgery? What fucking surgery?
“Yes, sir. It appears the surgery worked.”
“Thank fuck.”
What the fuck? Are they talking about me?
“Whhaa?”
“Hayden?”
Warmth curled around my fingers and hand. I tried opening my eyes, but they weighed so much.
“Keep talking to him.”
“His speech…”
“It will slur a bit as he comes to, but that’s not always indicative of a long-term injury.”
Footsteps echoed in the room, followed by a swoosh and then another. Then silence.
“You’re gonna be fine, Papi. You’ve gotta be.”
What the hell’s wrong with me,vato?
A scraping sound came toward me, and Declan moved.
“At least they took you off the ventilator. With that gone, you don’t look as sick.”
A deep sigh.
“That’s a lie. I promised myself and you, even though you weren’t around to hear it, that I wouldn’t lie to you again. So, truth time. You look pretty damn bad.”
Keep talking.
“Who knew talking to someone while they slept or were in a coma or whatever the hell was going on with you would be so damn hard? I don’t know what to say.”
Tell me what happened. How did you get here?
“I wish I knew exactly what happened to you. Walker’s trying to get some more info, but the entire battalion deployed, and, as usual, the military is being fucking cunts about telling the family what happened.”
I don’t know why you messaged me back that first morning. You knew I was a Marine. You hate the military. Yet you messaged me back.
