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I couldn’t ask for more. I love walking on the white beach as the sand takes the form of my steps under the setting sun. It has a more calming effect on me than meditation ever achieved. I breathe life in with every intake of fresh tropical air. Damien’s favorite spot is the pavilion bed where he can watch every move I make, never letting me out of his sight, his care and love melting my heart.
I’m a lucky woman, being with him, knowing he’s all mine. This happiness overwhelms me. I scream out these emotions tearing and gluing me together for him to the stars above and with echoes scratching the light waves.
“I love you, Damien!”
I run the short distance toward him and land on top of his chest. He leans in to kiss me, and his entire face radiates happiness. Damien cocoons me into his arms, and we fall asleep with the light breeze cooling our heated skin.
A light tan color spreads itself on our bodies as we let the days turn into peaceful nights. I wish the time on this island, my island, would never end.
***
Two weeks fly by, and even surrounded by all this beauty, all I need is Damien’s arms around me and his presence to make me feel one with paradise.
I open my eyes and watch my handsome husband—his chest rising and falling in a constant, powerful rhythm—still peacefully asleep. My finger traces the edges of his chiseled jaw. Not wanting to wake him, I quietly descend the stairs and pour myself a glass of orange juice.
Something woke me, though. An uneasiness creeps under my skin, and an unsettling sensation digs a hole in the pit of my stomach. As if something viciously dreadful crawls inside me, I try to escape it, but the feeling rushes back with a renewed sense of vengeance. I step outside, walking up and down the beach, but it doesn’t help.
Damien runs toward me, an anguished expression transforming his face. He’s about to tell me what’s the cause of my unease, and all hopes for a false alarm disappear. He grabs me, pulling me tightly to his chest.
“Bria . . .”
“Please, don’t.”
Sobs gather at the top of my throat as he tries his best to comfort me and hold me through what will follow.
“It’s Quinn, baby. I’m sorry, it’s bad. He’s in the hospital,” he says, changing my life forever.
I drop to my knees, falling apart.
Chapter Thirty-Six
BRIA
Everything stops, time freezes, while I succumb to the pain rooting itself inside me and I wrap my hands around myself. My voice shakes and cracks when I ask through sniffles. “How bad?”
His silence is all the answer I need. My world tears apart, and not even paradise can protect me from the painful hell unleashing in my heart. On my knees with sand digging into my skin, I shatter. Anguished screams come out my burning throat.
“Baby, please calm down. It’s not good for you.”
“You don’t understand, Damien. I can’t . . . I can’t lose him . . . I can’t.”
Damien picks me up in his arms since I am paralyzed to the spot. Everything hurts.
“Have you eaten?”
Is he crazy? “I’m not hungry.”
“Bria, baby, I know you hurt, but let me take care of you. Whatever happens, we’re in this together. Together, remember?”
I can’t say or do anything else, so I nod. He feeds and dresses me. Then packs our luggage between firing orders into his phone and at the people rushing in and out. I’m too deep in my mind to hear what he says, can’t distinguish who’s who, my vision just blurry.
I have no idea what I’d have done without him while I sob seated on the edge of the bed.
My movements turn robotic, and my mouth clamps shut, not allowing me to let any words out. It must be shock.
I don’t remember the helicopter flight or embarking the plane. My body turns frigid, and Damien drags a hand down his face with worry etched in his eyes. Locked inside my grief, I can’t offer or receive any comfort.
“Seeing you like this and being unable to help you is pure torture. What can I do?” he asks, crouching down, taking my hands in his, holding me together.
