Page 206 of I Never Stopped Loving You

I can feel her hands on my face touching me everywhere.

“He’s awake?” the doctor from earlier says.

“Yes. Help him.”

“Noah, can you hear me? My name’s Dr. Snider. Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?”

I struggle against the darkness trying to drag me back down. Light ripples like rays of sunlight peeking through the clouds. It’s too bright, and I quickly shut my eyes again.

“Willow,” I mumble, but the word is never vocalized.

“Hold on. You can’t speak with an endotracheal tube in. We’ll get it removed. Just please stay still,” the doctor demands.

Stay still? Where the fuck do you think I’m going?

A strange pressure can be felt in my throat, and I swear it runs all the way to my stomach. A burning sensation fills my lungs as I begin to breathe.

“There. We dimmed the lights. Try to open your eyes again,” the doctor says slowly. I can feel hands on my face, but they aren’t hers. They smell sterile and like latex.

My eyes slowly open, adjusting to the change of brightness. They scan the room, searching for the only person that matters to me. She’s standing as close as the doctors and nurses are letting her. Her eyes lock with mine, and it’s like a wave of warmth flows over me relaxing my body, but then I see him standing next to her.

My eyes narrow, and an unintelligible string of words comes out with a growl.

“Fuckingsonofabitch.”

“I think I’d better get going. Call me if you need anything, Willow. Noah, glad to see you’re still alive, buddy,” Kyle says quickly before darting out the door.

I’m sure you are, Kyle. I’ll hunt him down later, but right now she’s the only thing that matters.

The nurses and doctor moved to the side after a few minutes of checking me over. I still haven’t actually been able to speak clearly because my throat feels bruised and tight. The second they’re moved away from my bed, she rushes to my side.

I try to reach for her to pull her onto the bed, but I’m too weak. I can’t even lift my arm. It feels like it’s one hundred pounds of numb, dead flesh.

“Don’t move. The doctor said you’d be weak when you woke up. It’s okay. I’m here.”

She gently climbs onto the bed and curls into my side. Her wrist is wrapped, but other than that, she looks completely unharmed. She helps me move my arm around her and rest it over her shoulder. Warmth spreads through my chest, and when I feel her silent tears start to dampen my shirt, I know everything is real.

I’m alive. She’s alive. Nothing else matters.

I tighten my weak grip around her as much as I can to give her the comfort I know she’s desperately needing right now. She needs to have this feeling solidified to believe it’s not just a dream.

We survived.

“I love you, Noah.”

I still can’t speak, but I press my lips to the top of her head, breathing in that familiar scent, the one that I’ve always loved.

I love you too, Little Rabbit.

CHAPTER 88

NOAH

I’ve been awake for less than three hours, and I’ve already had two cops in here questioning me. I wrote down all my answers to their questions, which made it easier when lying. I said I didn’t remember much except coming home, the door was open, and there was someone in my living room. They rushed me and stabbed me. And that I never got a good look at his face.

When the doctors first cleared out of the room earlier before the cops came in, Willow told me that the story we’re all sticking with was that she and I came home late to find the front door was open. I had her stay in the car while I went in to check, and the guy attacked me. That’s an easy enough story for all three of us to corroborate. She promised that once we left the hospital, she would tell me everything, but she assured me that James wouldn’t be a problem ever again.

“We’re safe.”