Page 115 of You Saw the Best In Me

“Hi, can you please tell me what room Karina Collins is in?” I ask the nurse behind the desk.

She barely looks at me while she looks it up on her computer, and finally, she has an answer.

“Take the elevator to the third floor, take a right, and she’ll be in Room 312,” she sounds robotic, but I thank her anyway and make my way to her room.

The hallways are quiet, and I quickly reach her room. I tap lightly on the door, but there’s no answer. I find a nurse, pleading with her to tell me where Karina went.

“Oh, another nurse took her for a walk. She’s been very anxious waiting for her boyfriend. I assume that’s you?” she smiles, leading me to where I can wait.

“Yes, ma’am, thank you,” I pace in the small waiting room, unable to sit still.

This might be more tortuous than the long ass car ride. We’re in the same building, but I don’t know exactly where she is.

I want to rip my hair out. It’s been too long since I’ve seen her, held her, and I can’t take another second without having Karina safely beside me.

It’s been fifteen minutes, and just when I’m about to search every inch of this hospital for her, a voice breaks through the silence, sending a jolt of electricity through my body.

“Mav? Maverick!” I hear from behind me, and when I turn around, there’s my girl.

I catch her in my arms, and her legs wrap around my waist.

“Never let me go,” she whispers, and I have no intentions of doing so.

“Hi,” I place her back on the floor, taking her in, without taking a hand off her.

There’s dried blood around her face, and her eyes are bruised and swollen. Her hair is knotted in a bun, and she’s wearing a plain blue hospital gown.

Everything about her appearance floods me with relief, gratitude, and love, but at the same time, I can’t let her see how angry I am.

Knowing that Asher did that to her, put her through something so terrifying and traumatic makes me feel powerless.

“Hi,” she says, taking my hand and leading us back to her room.

One look at her, and I can see how fragile she is. Her hands shake, and that sparkle is missing from her hazel eyes. The swollenness around her eyes isn’t only from the broken nose, I realize, she’s been crying.

I don’t say anything. The silence does the talking for us, and I wrap my arms around her. We stand in the middle of this cold hospital room for ages, and I can’t bring myself to let go.

My nerves are gone, smashed to bits within the second I touched her body.

I feel whole again. My missing piece is back in place, and I can finally breathe.

Karina shifts, pulling out of my embrace, and looks up at me. The tears well in her eyes as her hands caress my face.

“I love you,” she whispers, and I can’t stop tears from falling.

“I love you, too, kitten,” I lean in to kiss her, but she flinches.

It’s slight, but it’s there. She’s terrified again. This time, it’s not intimacy holding her back.

It’s pure fear and trauma.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve asked,” I wipe a few fallen tears from her eyes gently.

“No, it’s me. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Mav. I can’t feel anything. You’re finally here, and I don’t feel a single thing. I’m not happy, or sad, or scared. I’m just … numb,” she cries, and I stroke her hair.

Clearly, she’s traumatized. God, I want to rip a hole through that fuckers skin. I can’t bring myself to ask what happened yet.

I’m too fragile to hear details.