“Kayne!” Jett yells at me for the umpteenth time tonight. “I apologize for my friend.” He steps between me and the doctor. “He’s had a very rough night.”
Dr. Holiday acknowledges with a head nod. “Hearing someone you love was hurt is never easy.”
“No, it’s not,” Jett agrees as I seethe behind him, wishing I could kill Michael all over again.
“Can we see her?” Jett asks.
“Whenhecalms down.” With that, Dr. Holiday turns and leaves.
NOT ONLY DID JETT ARRANGEfor Ellie’s parents to be flown in from New York, but he also arranged for her to have a private room with extra care.
Sometimes I don’t know how I would function without him.
My first look at Ellie lying in a hospital bed, unconscious with tubes sticking out of her, was almost too much to bear. Knowing what Michael did to her was the grain of sand that tipped the scale. Alone with Ellie, as still as silence, I finally broke down. Her suffering will always be my fault.
“I’m sorry,” I sob exhausted. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could take it away. I’d carry it all. It should have been me.”
“Kayne?” I feel a hand on my back. I pick my head up off Ellie’s mattress and wipe my face hastily.
“Hey. What’s up, man?” I ask Juice, trying, but failing miserably, to pretend to pull it together.
“They found this when they swept the house.” I turn to see he’s holding Ellie’s engagement ring. “I thought you’d want it.”
“Thank you.” I take the ring and slip it back on Ellie’s finger and nearly start crying all over again. I’m really not sure I’m going to survive this. I lived through a lot of fucked-up shit in my life, but this? It’s the worst of the worst.
“I’ll be back in the morning. Ellie’s parents are due in at ten. I’m picking them up and bringing them straight here.”
“Okay. Thanks.” I hide my face. “Have you seen Jett?”
“He’s in the emergency room with London.”
I snap my head back to look at him. “For what?”
“She was still sick. Couldn’t stop throwing up, so he made her come in. They’re giving her IV fluids.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Figured you have enough on your plate,” Juice states the obvious. “Get some rest, man.” He taps the doorframe then leaves.
Yeah, right.
I WATCH THE SUN COMEup through the window. Bright yellow rays breaking through the dark sky.
Ellie hasn’t moved a muscle, or fluttered an eyelash, or twitched a lip.
The nurses come and go—readjusting pillows, checking vitals, and taking blood. I never move from her side. I just hold her hand and imagine all the things I want to do with her when she wakes up. The wedding I’m going to give her, the honeymoon I’ll surprise her with.
“Ellie, you have to wake up. There are so many things I have to tell you.” My heart pinches in my chest. “All the ways you’ve changed my life. I want to tell you all my secrets. I want you to be the one to know.” I caress her hand with my thumb. Always so soft. “I’ve been thinking. You know how you asked which last name we should use? Well, since I’ve never really had a family of my own, I thought maybe we could use yours? You’re the closest thing to family I have besides Jett. What do you think? Kayne Stevens doesn’t sound bad, right?” I’m just fucking rambling now, slowly unraveling.
“I want to know who’s responsible!” a man’s voice bellows from the hallway. I immediately stand up as the door to Ellie’s room swings open. “I want to know why my little girl is laying in a hospital bed fighting for her life!” I stand there frozen as Juice walks in with three people I only know from pictures. Ellie’s family.
“Alec, please stop shouting.”
“Stop shouting! How can I stop shouting? Look at her!” There’s obvious emotion in the man’s green eyes. The same eyes as Ellie’s.
“Kayne. Alec, Monica, and Tara Stevens,” Juice introduces us.
“Kayne?” Her mother repeats my name as if she recognizes it. Tara eyes me suspiciously.
