“Did the doctors check you out? I remember him saying something about drugs…”
“They ran an extensive blood panel, and they think it was adderall and clozapine that he was slipping in my tea. A stimulant and an antipsychotic drug that was likely making me tachycardic. The doctor said I’ll be fine once it’s completely out of my system. I won’t have any more dizziness or fainting.”
“Thank God, you’re safe.” He kisses my forehead.
“If you hadn’t grabbed him, he would have taken me, I don’t know where…” I whisper into his chest. “He nearly had me.”
“If that was my last dying action, I’d do it a thousand times over. I wish I killed him… So you didn’t have to.”
“After I saw what he did to you, I was glad I was the one to do it,” I admit sincerely. “I would do it a thousand times over if it means saving you.”
“I don’t deserve you, Olive. Never have, never will.”
“Malec was right. Just as thick-skulled as ever.” I glance up at him, careful not to jostle us. “What did your mom mean about your dad?”
“Ah. So you were awake for that part?”
“I was ripped from sleep as soon as I heard your voice,” I whisper. I thought it was a dream at first.
“My dad was awful. Can we just leave it at that?”
“No.”
He sighs, but there is humor behind it until he starts to speak. “My dad liked to use the law to his advantage. Before I met you, he blackmailed my karate teacher into financial ruin. He smeared his name until he couldn’t face his family, and he killed himself because he couldn’t escape my dad’s evilness.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“I couldn’t stand the thought of filling your mind with such dark thoughts. You were so full of light,” he says, tracing his thumb over my forehead. “You were good when nothing in my life was.”
“Jensen…” I start, but he cuts me off.
“Meeting you was the only thing that kept me alive back then. And, your friendship was the only reason I kept living. So, when my dad threatened to ruin your life, I kept my mouth shut.”
“What?”
“He knew I hurt Arkett because I was protecting you… He didn’t care. He wanted everyone to see me as a monster, and that didn’t bother me. I was way past caring about my father’s opinion. But then he brought you into it.
“He said if I told the judge I was defending you, he was going to claim that you were an accomplice. He was going to make your life a living hell while I was behind bars. I would have been helpless to stop it,” he admits softly, staring at the ceiling.
“You didn’t fight for lesser charges because you wanted to protect me? After you had already protected me so many times?”
He shrugs like it was a no-brainer for him.
“If I hadn’t stood up and said something to the judge, you would have gone to prison for 20 years!”
He nods against my head.
“You stupid, selfless man. I wouldn’t have wanted you to do that.”
“I know. But you were my whole world, and I couldn’t leave you at the mercy of my father.”
The choices he made changed the course of both of our lives… But I finally understand that it was never a choice at all.
He did all that he could to keep me safe, so I could keep living.
I lost him because he loved me. He sacrificed himself for me.
“I love you, Jensen. I’m going to prove to you how much for the rest of our lives.”
