AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Oh baby.
He looked so young.
So utterly broken.
The memory of the words he’d written in that letter continued to haunt me so much that it was a struggle to contain my emotions. Finally seeing him and knowing that he was still here made me want to bawl like a baby in relief.
“You can’t hide from me,” I cleared the lump in my throat and declared. I felt bad for ignoring Shannon, but in that moment her brother was my number one priority. “And you can’t give up, either.”
His body jerked, a telling sign that even though he looked like a ghost, he could hear me.
Stepping around his sister, I sat on the edge of the mattress facing him and exhaled a shaky breath when my eyes took in the sight of him.
His gaunt features.
His haunted expression.
His vacant eyes.
“My Joey.”
His body twitched.
“My baby.”
His body shook harder.
That’s it.
Follow my voice.
“Come back to me.” With trembling hands, I stroked his cheek and brushed his hair out of his eyes, before leaning in close to nuzzle him. “Because I’m not giving you up.”
Jerking in what looked like genuine agony, a pained groan tore from his throat.
“I know,” I coaxed as I continued to trail my fingers through his hair. To touch him. To bring him back to me. “You’re in there, aren’t you?”
He twitched again, hands balling into fists.
That’s it.
“I see you, Joey Lynch,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to his cracked and peeling lips. “You can’t hide from me.”
His hand moved then, settling on the swell of my stomach, and I swear I could have cried in relief.
“That’s it,” I coaxed, gently lifting his head onto my lap. “Come back to me, baby.”
Instinctively, he rested his cheek against my belly button, against the part of my body that separated him from his baby.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, cradling him when he shook and trembled and clawed at any part of me that he could catch ahold of. “You can’t scare me away,” I promised, holding him closer when his hands knotted in my hoodie. “You’re mine, remember?”
It wasn’t until Edel had taken Shannon from the room and closed the door behind them that Joey finally spoke.
“Queen.”
My heart soared to new heights.
There he is.
