“Good. Then, meet me tomorrow.”
“When and where?”
“I’ll send you the address.”
“Good.”
“Oh, and Agent Arnault?” I pause, ensuring I have his full attention. “If you so much as try to bring back up, your wife will be dead before you can arrest me.”
“Is that a threat, Ms. Hawke?” His voice deepens, and it chills me.
“Absolutely.”
Without waiting for his response, I hang up the call. Kaya looks at me with a curious expression, raising her eyebrow in a questioning manner.
“Are you bluffing?”
I shake my head. “Instead of coming with me, go stake out his house. If I don’t send you a message thirty minutes after the scheduled meeting, kill her.”
“Fuck,” Kaya laughs. “I like this ruthless side of you .”
“Yeah, well, being an angel in this world hasn’t done me any good.”
I get off the floor, stretching my arms above my head. We’ve done a lot today, from the training, to the entire Amy thing, and I’m exhausted. I make my way to the bathroom, to take a shower, and yet again, my thoughts are consumed by Arlo. It’s been less than a month, but I miss him like crazy. The man is the source of my existence, and the reason I’m rushing to finish all of this. All I want is to be in his arms again, and to feel the warmth of the safety he provides.
My personal heaven.
If this prolongs, I won’t be able to handle it. He is the reason I have the strength to go on, to fight and to finish this because I know that there is light at the end of this tunnel, and it’s almost within our reach.
FIFTEEN
The harsh light makes me squint my eyes. My throat is dry, and every single part of my body hurts. I can feel a deep, bruising ache in my bones, and even opening my eyes feels like a difficult task. Fuck, I hate feeling like this. I’m only forty-eight, I shouldn’t be feeling like I’m one foot in the grave already.
Slowly, as I adjust to my surroundings, glancing around, the memories slowly start to return. The last thing I vividly remember is getting shot, then being in Hudson’s arms. I should be dead. I take a deep intake of breath, and try to stretch my arms. However, I can’t seem to move my left hand at all. My eyes fall to the left side, and a small smile tugs on the corners ofmy lips. Aria’s clutching my hand tightly, sitting in the chair, her head right next to my body on the hospital bed. Her soft snores fill the room, and I can’t help but chuckle a little. I take another sharp intake of breath, just allowing myself to soak everything in. I glance out the window, and for a moment, I think maybe this is another dream. Why are the cherry trees outside of the hospital almost ready to bloom? That would mean that I’ve spent months asleep in this bed, and the thought of it makes my stomach sink. There’s no way I actually slept for that long, right?
My hand trembles as Aria’s holds it, and I swallow thickly. My eyes close, my entire body burning when I force myself into a sitting position, being as careful as possible not to wake up Aria. My back is hurting, as though someone used a whip on me, numerous times. Every single bone in my body is screaming in agony, and fuck, I can barely hold in the tears that threaten to fall from my eyes.
There’s a glass of water next to the bed, and with a shaky hand, I reach for it, needing something to quench the thirst that I’m feeling. It’s room temperature, yet it’s the most refreshing thing I’ve ever had down my throat. When I put the glass back on the small bedside table, I breathe out in relief. Once again, my eyes find Aria. She looks very tired, and she’s lost a lot of weight. My heart hurts at the thought of her going through this, and a part of me knows it’s because of me.
“Sweetheart,” I whisper softly, giving her hand a small squeeze. “Wake up.”
Aria stirs in her sleep, lifting her head. For a moment, she reminds me of my little baby, when she was still a toddler. She used to fall asleep anywhere, and at any time. That sleepy face didn’t change just because she grew older. Her hair is just as messy, sticking out every which way, her eyes hazy.
“Huh?”
I laugh softly, rubbing my thumb all over the back of her palm. “Did you sleep well?”
It takes her a few moments for everything to sink in for her, but the moment it does, oh God, it’s beautiful. Her eyes widen, she jumps up and her arms wrap around me. It all happens in less than two seconds, from the sleepy state to the realization that I am awake. She hugs me so hard, she almost squishes me to death.
“Mom,” she sobs, gripping the back of my hospital gown. “Please tell me this isn’t a dream. I won’t survive if it is.”
I return the hug, kissing the top of her head. “It’s not a dream, Baby. I’m here.”
Aria breaks down, her body trembling as she cries into my shoulder. My hand rubs her back up and down softly, almost absentmindedly, trying to soothe the shaking of her body. She’s not letting go of me, holding me in a vice-tight grip. I let her get her fill, and cry her soul out. After a couple of minutes, she pulls back, her cheeks stained with tears. She wipes them with the back of her palms, staring at me as if I’ll disappear at any moment.
“God, I’ve missed you so much, Mom.”
I smile, kissing her forehead. “Yeah, I know. I’ve missed you more.”
