“I’ll come with you,” he says quietly, but I’m already shaking my head.
“I need a few minutes by myself. I won’t be long, and I have my phone on me.”
He hesitates for a moment before giving me a slow nod.
Before he can change his mind, I step out of the room and into the sterile hallway.
I fucking hate hospitals, but then again, doesn’t everyone?
Almost everyone I know has a memory of one they would rather forget. Dying family members, injuries, and illness. And in my case, the worst days of my life.
I force the thought to the back of my mind. The emotions in my chest are already warring a little too loudly, and I don’t need to allow myself to fall any further into the past.
There’s a crossroad in front of me, and I make the last-minute decision to turn to the left.
I’ve never been to this particular hospital, so there’s a very real chance I’m going to get lost, but that wouldn’t be any different to every other day of my life.
Lost is just my permanent place in the world, and I don’t remember what it feels like to be anything else.
My tennis shoes tap against the fading linoleum floors with each step I take, and I allow the rhythmic sound to settle my racing thoughts for the first time since I heard Damon’s voice this morning.
The next time I come to the end of a hall, I take the right, my feet taking me further from the waiting room.
I’ll head back soon. I want to be there when the doctor comes to update the guys about Camilla, but I can’t bring myself to turn back just yet.
A restroom sign catches my attention up ahead, and I head inside, stepping up to the sink and flicking the cold water on. I allow it to run for a moment while I shove the sleeves of my sweatshirt up my arms, and then I hold my wrists beneath the ice-cold stream.
My eyes slip closed as I drag steady breaths into my lungs, reminding my nervous system that we’re safe, that nothing is going to happen to us, but I’m so focused on my breathing that I don’t hear the door open or the heavy footsteps as someone walks toward me.
No, it’s not until a hand covers my mouth and cuts off my scream that my eyes flash open, meeting dark green ones that used to stare at me with nothing but adoration.
Now though? Now they’re full of pure hatred.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHLOE
THEN
TEN YEARS AGO
“You’ll only be gone a few days,” I giggle as Ronan pins me against his bedroom door.
I only came in here looking for my favorite lip balm, but I’m hardly surprised to find myself in this position.
We’ve never been able to keep our hands off one another, even when we were kids and didn’t understand what the big feelings in our chests meant.
It used to be tickles and hugs, and now it’s kisses and other things we didn’t know existed back then.
Ronan presses kisses down my throat, tearing a soft moan from my chest.
He’s so fucking good at that, it’s hard to believe he’s only ever been with me. After our awkward first time, we found our feet quickly, learning what each other liked and how to drive one another wild.
“I know, but I’m going to miss you,” he murmurs, biting down on the place where my neck and shoulder meet.
I moan as my hips jut forward, searching for relief. I shouldn’t be horny, especially considering he fucked me against the shower wall just a few hours ago, but you know what they say about young love.
“You have to go,” I sigh.
