And the longer it takes for Liam to wake up, the less those words mean anyway.
People say a lot of things that aren’t true. That horrible reality was proven to me at an early age. I didn’t believe anything anyone said until I met Liam. Until he proved to me through his actions that he meant every single promise made.
Which is why his final words to me keep slashing at my heart like a knife.
I’m so sorry…
He took a bullet protecting me, yet he apologized because he thought he had failed. But Liam McBride never failed me.
I failed him.
By not leaving McBride Mountain the moment I knew what a problem he was going to become for me, I failed him.
And as my feet move over the floor, back and forth, in the tiny room, that truth strangles my ability to remain rational and calm.
Willow steps in, her soft gray eyes flicking over to Liam before landing on me. “Hey…”
My feet stop, but my body feels like it’s still moving, like it has to keep up with my racing heart that won’t seem to slow. “Hi.”
Her dark brows rise. “No change?”
I shake my head, fighting back a sob that threatens to slip out. Clamping my hand across my mouth, I turn away from her, squeezing my eyes closed and doubling over so this feeling of being torn apart might ease.
Willow’s arms loop around me, and she presses her cheek to my back, holding me tightly and letting me completely lose it. “The doctor said it might not be until tomorrow.”
“I know, but?—”
Another sob catches in my throat.
She turns me in her arms, and I let my eyes open to meet hers. Her gaze holds so much wisdom even though she’s only ten years older than me, and despite everything she suffered, the warmth there has never faded.
The past two years could have crushed her, could have turned her into a miserable, damaged woman who hated the world and everyone in it, but she didn’t let it.
Her hands tighten on my upper arms. “Don’t. He’ll be okay. The surgery went well. The doctor said he’s fine, right?”
I nod.
That is what the surgeon told us.
But after watching him fight with Lorell, after seeing so much blood, after being helpless when he passed out and not being able to rouse him, after that race down the mountain with his head on my lap in the backseat, waiting any longer is the worst type of torture.
All those worst-case scenarios won’t leave my head.
All the guilt and regret won’t stop choking me.
Willow reaches up and wipes the tears from my face. “When he does wake up, you don’t want him to see you like this, right?”
Shit.
I clear my throat. “Right.”
The last thing he needs when he finally comes out of this is my out-of-control emotions.
I try to force a smile and hope that it looks like one instead of the grimace it feels like.
Willow returns it, but hers actually lights up her face with the hope we’re all clinging to right now.
She glances over her shoulder toward the open door to the hallway, where Killian, Connor, Raven, and several other people I don’t recognize have been talking for what feels like hours. But I’ve mostly lost track of time related to anything but how long it’s been since I heard Liam’s voice and those mossy green eyes found mine.
