Page 105 of The Broken Keys

He runs his palm over his chin and glances at Livianna’s door. His jaw works as if he’s chewing on the idea, trying to figure out if this is some kind of trap or manipulation.

Fair enough. We’ve been in a standoff since the moment we realized we both love the same woman.

“Jaxon—”

“I know what the doctor said.” My last plea presses on me and begs before he can throw the medical warnings back at me. “I’m not going to wake her, or try to trigger her memory, or force her to remember me. I just need to see that she’s okay. That’s all I’m asking.”

Cash shifts, uncertainty flickering across his features. “Why? So you can torture yourself more?”

“Think about it, Cash. If you were in my shoes, you’d want the same thing. My request is about…loving her.” I swallow my emotions. “And because I need to see for myself that she’s still breathing. I need to see she’s still here even if I’m not part of her world anymore.”

Cash studies me like he’s trying to figure out if I’m telling the truth or if this is another attempt to claim territory I no longer have access to.

“One favor, Cash. That’s all I’m asking. Let me see her, and then I’ll leave. I’ll walk out of this hospital and let you be whatever she needs right now.”

He drags his teeth over his bottom lip and rubs the side of his neck. His expression softens. It’s not sympathy exactly, but something close to understanding.

He knows what it’s like to love her and not be able to reach her. He’s been there for years while I had her.

“Fine.” His brow furrows, and he gives me a stern stare. “But there are conditions.”

“Name them.”

“You don’t touch her or say a word. You don’t do anything that could wake her up or upset her if she does wake up.” His tone hardens, and he points to her room. “If she stirseven a little, you leave immediately. No arguments or hesitation.”

“Agreed.”

“I mean it, Jaxon.” Cash steps closer, his protective instinct for Livianna overriding whatever truce we just formed. “She’s fragile right now. Her brain is trying to protect itself, and I won’t let you fuck that up because you need closure or whatever this is.”

“I understand.” And I do because I want what he does.

We want her safe and cared for.

“When?” I take a deep breath, and hate that I’m allowing someone else dictate what I do.

This is so out of character, but I’ll take even the smallest piece of her that I can get.

Cash glances down the hallway, then back at me. “Give it an hour and let her settle. Let the painkillers kick in so she’s properly asleep. Then I’ll come get you.”

Cash turns and disappears back into Livianna’s room. The door clicks shut behind him with a truth that echoes down the empty hallway.

I’m alone, and Livianna and I are over.

The distance between us now presses against my skull like a vice tightening with each passing second. My feet move before my mind catches up, carrying me down the corridor in a path that has no destination.

Just movement, something to keep my body from collapsing under the weight of everything crashing down around me.

She doesn’t remember me. She doesn’t remember us. My heart bleeds and drains all of my hopes, leaving me empty to the core.

Two years of discovering how she takes her coffee, what makes her laugh, what sets her on fire, and witnessing her become a powerful businesswoman I admire.

All that time, I was falling so completely in love with herthat I forgot what it was like to breathe without her in my orbit.

Gone. All of it is just gone.

Once I reach the end of the hallway, I drag my palm down over my beard. I turn back.

The fluorescent lights buzz overhead. This place reeks of antibacterial cleaner and desperation, like lives being saved and lost in equal measure.