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I huffed out a laugh, or at least, I thought I did. “Tired of fighting,” I whispered. “Tired…”
“I know, but I need you, Jack. Parker needs you.”
I stared into her eyes, those beautiful eyes that had seen me through so much, and I knew I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t be in her life and bring the destruction that was bound to ruin everything she fought so hard for. Rico trapped her the first time. I wouldn’t repeat what he did. Sky was so independent, so strong. She fought hard for what she wanted, never allowing anything to keep her down. Even in a tough spot, she found a way to get what she wanted.
If I stayed in her life, what could I offer her? She couldn’t rely on me. Not when I was addicted to drugs and couldn’t even function properly. I needed more help than she could give me, and it wasn’t her job to fix me. She had a son to consider, and he was more important than I would ever be.
“Promise me,” I said, forcing my eyes open. “Promise me…”
“Whatever you need,” she whispered. I could feel her hair tickling my cheek as she leaned in close.
“Promise me…stay away…”
“Stay away from what?”
“Run…”
“Jack, you’re not making any sense. What do you want me to run from?”
My eyes drifted closed as the heat intensified again. I needed to tell her, but my thoughts just wouldn’t come together.
“Jack, what is it? Tell me who I need to run from. Jack!”
My body shook as her hands landed on my shoulders, rocking me back and forth. I forced my eyes open again despite how tired I was.
“Jack, who should I run from?”
“Me,” I finally told her. “No good.”
“Jack, you saved me,” she cried. Fat tears slid down her cheeks as she stared at me. I’d like to think she was crying because she loved me, but it was most likely because I was dying. I could feel my soul being shredded in two, part of it fighting to stay here with her, and the other half trying to get to Hannah. I did what I was supposed to. I protected her and her son, but Johnny could take it from here. He would always have my back.
My breathing grew labored and a mask was shoved over my face. I wanted to tell her it was no use. It was over, and she had to accept that. It would be fine. I opened my eyes one last time to tell her that when the pain returned full force, eviscerating any thoughts jumbled up in my mind.
A tortured scream ripped from my throat as the stabbing sensation in my brain drowned out every other sound or thought. The faint light outside the window pierced my eyes, making the pain worse. As darkness swarmed in my mind, I readily accepted the escape, hoping I never woke up again.
The first thingI noticed when I heard her voice was that I no longer felt like my head was about to explode. The dull throbbing was still there, always threatening to get worse, but it wasn’t like before. I could actually think clearly. The second thing I noticed was the underlying itch that I hated so much. How much time had passed?
Opening my eyes was painful, but worse than that was the lightthat hit me, strengthening the headache. “Blinds,” I muttered, hoping someone heard me.
In seconds, the room went dark as the blinds were pulled shut. “Hey, how are you?”
Sky. She was still here.
“Why are you here?”
“Wow, I saved your life and that’s the thanks I get?” she teased.
“You should be?—”
“We’re safe,” she said, grabbing a cup of water from the table. When she pressed it against my lips, I greedily opened, needing something to take away the sensation of sandpaper in my throat. “Parker is already at OPS with Rae and Jason.”
“Where are we?” I asked. The room told me absolutely nothing about where we were.
“In Oklahoma. We stopped to get you help.”
We weren’t in a hospital. Fuck, this was all so confusing.
“You’re lucky your boss has friends that were willing to drop everything to come out here and take care of you.”
