Just like I regretted seeing Dean alive with my own eyes.
Three
Frost
The second I heard Lexi’s voice; I took off running through the E.R. I’d been trying to track down this Will guy for the past half an hour, yet no one seemed to know where the asshole was. The commotion in the E.R. alone pulled me toward its corridors out of sheer curiosity.
But it didn’t take me long to realize that the Banderas Cartel had flooded its waiting room.
Before I knew it, chaos had ensued and a shriek wafted up from the crowd. As God as my witness I never thought I’d ever hear that voice again. I found her outside with cartel assholes all over her, and the strength in her words reminded me of the reason why I fell in love with her in the first place.
However, their threats made my heart stop in my chest.
“I need to go,” Lexi said breathlessly.
She slipped away from me while the security guard dressed just like her tended to the riffraff outside.
“Lexi, wait!” I called after her.
But she simply picked up the pace in order to get away from me.
I can’t let her go. Not again.
I rushed after her, barreling through the automatic doors of the emergency room at the hospital. And the second I caught her trying to soar through those metal double doors behind one of the doctors, I sprinted after her. I grabbed her arm and tugged her into the first open door I could find before whipping it closed, and the smell of disinfectant was so strong that it made my eyes water.
“Oh, hell no. We aren’t doing this,” she murmured as she shoved her hands against my chest. “Out. Get out of this closet now. I said, out, Dean!”
I clapped my hand over her mouth. “Lexi, it’s just me.”
She smacked my hand away from her lips. “I know it’s you! I’d know your touch anywhere. Now, it’s time for you to go.”
She reached around me and tried to open the door, but I grabbed her wrist and tossed it off to the side. Her eyes widened before they watered over, but I wasn’t sure if it was from the surprise of my appearance or from the sheer amount of disinfectant on the shelves. She had stopped raising her voice, but the more she fought to get me out of that room the louder we became. So, I did the only thing that I knew would calm her down.
I grabbed her wrists, pinned her to the shelving units behind her, and pressed my leg between her thighs.
“Lexi-doll, breathe for me.”
She instantly relaxed, even though panic still gripped her face. “You’re--you’re alive.”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, I am.”
She shook her head. “This isn’t real. This isn’t happening.”
I massaged her scalp softly. “Are you alright? Did any of those guys do anything to you?”
Her focus snapped back. “I’m fine, Dean. But, thank you for your help.”
I cupped the back of her neck. “I have to admit, I’m shocked to see you around town.”
She scoffed. “Took the damn words right out of my mouth.”
Seeing her again brought back so many emotions and memories. Things that I had stuffed down and refused to admit. The way we ended was so fucked up, and yet it was the only thing I knew to do at the time to keep her safe.
But the way my heart slammed against my chest; one would’ve thought my love for her had never dissipated.
“Dean,” she whispered.
I slid my thumb up and down her pulse point. “You look as beautiful as ever, Lexi.”
