My stomach lurches and twists painfully. Bile rising in my throat, I dash toward the nearest bathroom, shove into a stall, and vomit my guts out.
Who would do such a heinous crime and try to cover it up as suicide?
But the note! It didn’t seem fake. It was too personal and I know Nathan’s handwriting. He wrote it.
Flushing the toilet, I crawl outside and push to my feet. Cramps continue to hit my entire body as I reach the sink and wash my mouth and face. Meanwhile, my mind replays the events of the night.
“I no longer wish to see you again.”
“Get off my property.”
“We had a fling. It’s over.”
Nathan’s cruel words hit me in a new light. His aggressiveness and vehemence in sending me away-it was a sign! He was trying to protect me because hewasn’talone.
There was someone inside the house who he didn’t want to know we were together.
My hands grip the edge of the bathroom sink to hold up my weight as pieces begin to click together. The murder attempt has everything to do with the secret he’s keeping. That he refused to tell me. The danger he was guarding me from.
Gosh! I had it all wrong.
The killer couldn’t have been a stranger either since there was no breaking of the front door or damage inside the house.
Who has the most to gain by getting rid of Nathan forever? Who sees him as an obstacle? Who is crazy and immoral enough to cross every line?
Who? Who? Wh-
“Oh my God!
I dash out of the bathroom and race toward Nathan’s room. I shove people aside in my haste to reach him. I left him alone with his killer.
My instincts scream it is him.
It has to be.
Reaching his room, I rip open the door. It smacks against the wall with a bang. Time stands still when I take in the view. “Get away from him!”
Rakesh leans over Nathan with a pillow on his face and his oxygen mask thrown aside. Peering over his shoulder, he presses down on the pillow harder.
“STOP! HEL-”
He charges toward me, throwing me hard against the wall. Sharp pain radiates up my scalp when my head smacks against the unforgiving wall. Before I can recover, a punch lands on the side of my face, sending me crashing to the floor.
Through blurry vision, I see Rakesh race toward Nathan and suffocate him again.
Adrenaline pumping in my veins, I force myself to stand. Beside me, there’s a tray with medical equipment on the rolling table. Blindly, I grab the sharpest object and pounce on Rakesh and stab him in the shoulder.
His back bows and he howls in pain, stumbling back.
Yanking him farther away from Nathan, I stab him again. “You are not hurting him again! You hear me?”
An oomph noise tears from my lips when he elbows me in the stomach.
“Help! Help!” I yell.
“You fucking bitch!” He whirls on me and collars my throat. Choking me until my grip loosens around the weapon, he shoves me backward. “You ruined everything!”
I futilely hit his wrist while he cuts off my air.
