“I’m not planning on pressing charges.” My voice is shaky as I continue. “I can’t say the same for Walt, the old man you hurt, or the state, but I won’t. All I ask is that you get help. You need grief counseling. Badly. You’re a smart person, Eric. I’m sure you know this psychosis cannot continue.”
He nods, licking tears from his lips. “I want to hold my baby again. I want to hold my wife. I didn’t tell her goodbye the day she died. I left early in the morning to play golf, and she was sleeping. I didn’t know… I didn’t know…,” he sobs, chin tucked to his chest, with no way to help himself, or cover his face.
Tissues are on the counter beside the sink. Plucking a few from the box, I come up alongside his bed and hold out a hand with a tissue gathered in my fingers.
“I would like to help you,” I say tentatively. “Please don’t bite me.”
His eyes hold shock. “You think I would—” He shakes his head. He must be remembering what he did last night. “I won’t bite you.”
I reach out cautiously, the same way I would pet a wild animal. His eyes close as I gently swipe the tissue against them. He reopens them when I’m done, his gaze on me as the tissue moves to his cheeks, then on to his chin and lips.
“Would you like to blow your nose?” It’s not something I particularly want to do, but I don’t think I’d like it if I were restrained and had snot clogging my nose.
“No,” he murmurs, his face coloring. “The nurse can do that.”
I toss the used tissues in the trash and go back to the foot of the bed.
“I’m going to leave now, Eric. Good luck with everything.” I turn, but his voice stops me.
“I’m sorry Amy ruined your life. I’m sorry I made it worse. I can’t forgive you for what happened… Not yet.” His voice catches, a sob on the verge of breaking through. “I don’t even know if there is anything to forgive.”
“You’ll figure that out in counseling, Eric.” I muster a smile, but I’m certain it’s the saddest smile to ever grace my lips.
I leave.
I walk out of Eric’s hospital room and straight into Connor’s arms.
“You all right?” he asks against the side of my head.
I nod. I’ll be okay. Now that I’m no longer running, I can rebuild.
We leave the hospital and climb into Connor’s truck.
“Where to?” he asks me.
“A plane. Maybe a train. I’d like to sail on a boat and swim in a moat. We can go anywhere and everywhere between here and there.”
Grabbing my hand, he kisses it. “You’re free now. Do you want to be Elizabeth or Brynn?”
“Brynn,” I say with confidence. Elizabeth isn’t someone I want to be anymore.
Connor winks. “Brynn suits you.” The trucks roars to life as he puts it in drive and turns around, heading back to his house.
We drive through the town that somehow became my home. Connor has one hand on the steering wheel. The other holds my heart, my soul, and my whole future.
Epilogue
Connor
“I don’t know, man.” Anthony makes a face and shakes his head. “It’s muggy as fuck here.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that a few times since we got off the plane.”
Panic rises as I sift through my suitcase. I push aside shirts and send shorts flying. Of all the fucking things I could possibly forget, how could I make it all the way to Brazil without the one thing I actually need? This trip means everything to Brynn. This is where she came as a child. The beach outside our hotel room is the same beach she planned to come to when she thought she needed to escape. This is where she wanted to celebrate our two-year anniversary. Her parents arrive tomorrow, for fuck’s sake. She doesn’t know they’re coming, and now when they arrive, it’s going to be the biggest letdown in the history of letdowns.
Oh, yeah, I invited your parents and Walt for no reason. Certainly not because I was planning on asking you something and now I can’t!
Anthony’s hand touches my flailing arm. “Connor, chill. The ring is in your carry-on.”
