AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She starts to say something but begins to cough. I jump up at the involuntary action to find her some water. I bring it to her lips. “Don’t try to talk, baby.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” she rasps when I remove the glass from her lips.
Her words are like a knife in my gut. A searing, hot knife being twisted. She’s still trying to run from me. “I’m not going anywhere, Zoey,” I say a little more roughly than I intended. “And I’m not letting you run away this time. You’re not shutting down or pushing me away either.”
More tears stream down her face. It nearly breaks me to see her in so much pain. “I don’t want to cause problems,” she says a little more clearly. “I don’t want you to get in trouble with your coach or your girlfriend.”
I suck in a harsh breath and release it with a string of curses. “First, all of my coaches know that I’m here with you. They said to take all the time I need because you’re more important. I guess I’m lucky I got drafted to the Raptors because they care more about their players than ticket sales. Second, I do not have a girlfriend. I know you called, and I know who answered the phone, but I swear to you baby, she is not my girlfriend and I do not love her. How could I possibly love anyone else when you're all I see?”
More tears fall. I reach to her face to brush them away, quietly shushing her. “You shouldn’t love me, Jay. I let you down. I’m weak and I’m a coward. You deserve better.”
Her words infuriate me. I want to shake some sense into her. I know I can’t, though. She is still hurting. I don’t think harsh words would help right now. “You’re not weak, Zoey. You’re hurting and you are consumed with grief and guilt. I mean it though. The running is over. And I’m not going to let you close yourself off to me or push me away. Got it?”
She nods, but I can tell there’s no real feeling or intention. She looks totally and utterly defeated. It makes me worried that the worst isn’t over. Far from it.
But she doesn’t argue, so I don’t continue the conversation.
Then I realize I need to call Zane. And probably get the nurses or doctor or something. I push the button on her bed for the nurses letting them know she’s awake. Then I pick up my phone to call Zane.
On the third ring, he walks into the room with his phone held up. I end the call at the same time he looks up from his phone. “What’s u-,” he starts then sees Zoey cutting off his words. “You’re awake,” he says, his voice cracking with emotion. “You’re really awake?”
She nods. “I’m awake, Zee,” she confirms hoarsely with watery eyes.
He walks toward the bed slowly like he’s afraid it’ll be a dream. His eyes are full of emotion as he makes his way one slow step at a time. The closer he gets the more relief seems to wash over him.
I stand to allow him the chair at her side. She looks at me with panic, obviously afraid I’m leaving. Her words may tell me to leave, but that look is the best thing I've ever seen. She needs me. She wants me.
I shake my head at her. “I’m not going anywhere,” I reassure her. “I already told you that I’m not leaving.”
I stand at the foot of the bed gauging her. So much pain fills her beautiful face. The brilliant, warm light that once exuded from her as if she held the sun in her soul seems to have dimmed to nothing making my heart hurt. I wonder what she sees when she looks in my eyes?
Zane sits besides her and drops his dead to the bed. “I’m sorry, Zee,” she apologizes.
I see his shoulders stiffen at her words. He raises his head showing his now stony face. The relief he was feeling is now being overshadowed by his anger. Anger that has been growing for a year. Anger that he has kept bottled up because he was trying to be there for me.
I swallow hard at the sight. “Zane, don’t,” I warn.
He doesn’t acknowledge that I said anything. “You’re sorry, Zoey? What are you sorry for? Are you sorry that you ran away from us last year? Are you sorry that the doctors and nurses had to tell us what happen to you, and that you ran away?”
Tears are flowing down her cheeks like a waterfall. “Zee, back off,” I hiss. “She doesn’t need this right now.”
He glares at me but doesn’t stop. “Are you sorry that when Jax got to your hotel room, you’d already been there and cleared everything out? Are you sorry you intentionally left your phone so that we couldn't call you? Are you sorry that on top of everything else he had to grieve for you too? Are you sorry we’ve spent the last fucking year not knowing if you were okay, and, then out of the blue, Maddox calls us? Again.”
Now she is sobbing uncontrollably. I can’t handle her being in anymore pain than she already is. I walk to Zane, grab him by his shirt, and force him up and away from her. “Now is not the fucking time for this shit,” I growl. “Can’t you see she’s hurting enough?”
He yanks himself from my grip. “Now is the perfect time. She was fucking selfish. She left us to deal with the grief of not know if she was okay. We had to live with the knowledge that she was fucking raped and had a miscarriage, but we had no idea where she was. I had to fucking bury our parents without her. I-,” he stops, his eyes widening at the realization of what he just said. “Shit.”
I turn to Zoey to see her face twist in more pain. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. She wasn’t supposed to find out like this. I rush to the chair beside her but then sit on the bed with her instead. I reach for her face, gently stroke her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Angel,” I say because as much as I want to tell her it’s a lie, I can’t and won’t.
“Mom and Dad are – are – are gone?” she stammers through her sobs. Her eyes beg with me to tell her it’s a lie. The pain in those ice blue eyes intensifies tenfold as I nod in acknowledgement. “Wh-When? How?”
I look at Zane and, for the first time, I truly want to beat the ever-loving shit out of him. She was not supposed to be told like this. He let his fear, anger, and guilt take over. “Well, you opened the can of worms,” I sneer. “Now pour it all out.”
He gives me an apologetic look which I refuse to accept. I’m sick of apologies already.
“They died in a car accident, Zo,” he says with a notably different tone. More sympathetic and less hostile. Well too fucking late for that.
“When?” she asks again causing Zane to flinch.
