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My heart bursts with emotion. My chest constricts. I can hardly breathe.
Tears stream from my eyes. I hear a wailing noise around me and realise that the sound is coming from me. Bella sits on my bed and pulls me into her. Holding me tight she rocks me and mutters words I can’t make out. I’m in utter shock. I am overwhelmed.
I stay in Bella’s arms while my brain begins to refunction.
“I need to see him.”
“You will soon, but you need to get better first.”
“No, I need to see him now.” I look around and find the nurses call button, I press it multiple times until a nurse arrives.
“I need to go see my boyfriend.”
“I don’t advise that just yet Chloe, we have only just got you stable. You lost a lot of blood.”
“I don’t care. I take full responsibility if anything happens to me. If you don’t remove these tubes from me right now, I will remove them myself.” The nurse looks displeased with my request but starts to remove the heart monitor. She knows I mean business.
“We can get you in a wheelchair and you can take your drips with you. I’ll call for a porter now so we can get you on your way.” I am not happy about being in a wheelchair, but I do feel rather dizzy so its probably best to do as the nurse says.
I am wheeled into a room which is dimly lit. There are lots of machines in here, each making different beeping noises with flashing lights.
There’s a bed in the middle of the room. In it lies my Josh.
My heart tightens. I honestly thought I’d never see him again. I thought I had lost him forever.
He’s lying slightly upright. His shoulders and arms are bare, but his chest is wrapped in bandages. He looks comfortable and peaceful. Damien is seated at the side of him but stands when we enter.
“I’ll give you some time together.” I wait while Damien and the porter leave the room. When we are alone I wheel myself to his side.
“I’m so sorry Josh. I’m so sorry I brought this to you. I should leave you, it’s my fault you’re in here. But I can’t. I am too selfish. I cannot live without you Josh. I didn’t realise how empty I was before I met you. You make me feel full. Complete.” I take hold of his hand, he gives me a little squeeze. I squeeze him back.
“I love you Josh.” His head turns towards me. His eyelids flutter open.
Our eyes lock.
His stare fills me with strength. Although he doesn’t say a word, in that moment, I know he will be ok.
We will be ok.
Josh
I open my eyes still half asleep. Although the room is dark, I recognise the familiar layout of my teenage bedroom. The football trophies on the shelf above my desk, my cricket bat lent up against the wall, the humming sound of the filter in the fish tank next to my bed. Its then I hear it, the sound that woke me. Angry, raised voices. Male voices. I quietly get out of bed and open my door a crack to listen. I hear my dad, he’s asking whoever it is to leave. The other male shouts back at him, refusing. I can’t quite make out their conversation, but I can hear the distress in my dad’s voice. Anger and adrenaline build inside me. I swing open my door and make my way across the landing to the stairs. As I reach the top, I hear the sound that haunts my nights. The whip like crack surrounded by a boom that you feel in every microorganism in your body. The sound of a gunshot.
I make my way downstairs two steps at a time. Bursting into the kitchen I find my dad lying on the floor. In the corner of my eye, I see a man leave through the back door. But unlike the other thousands of times I have relived this nightmare, I follow him. I make my way out into the back garden and find him stood with his back to me. I then feel the cold heavy metal in my hand. I look down to see a handgun. Without a second thought I aim at the man’s head and pull the trigger. A dark red spot in the back of his head grows larger as he drops to the floor. After finally ending the man who took my dad away from me, I need to see his face. To look in his eyes. I push him with my foot to roll him over, but as I do, I’m pulled back into darkness. I am no longer standing in my back garden; I am lying down. I force my eyes open, and I see it.
I see the end of my nightmares. I see Chloe.
Chapter 21
Chloe
The weeks and months that follow are hard and wonderful all at the same time. There’s pain, pain for Josh in his recovery, pain for me watching him struggle in frustration, And love, so much love. They say you can’t have one without the other, there’s no pain without love and no love without pain. One of the universes great challenges and I am grateful for it every day.
Josh and I are living with Bella and Damien. Josh has had two serious lifesaving operations, one to repair damage the bullets did to his organs and another to remove a bullet. They had to leave one of them in as it was too dangerous to remove. There’s been lots of physio and physical treatment for Josh and he has pushed himself to the limit. He’s thankfully back to his fit self, apart from a few scars and some aches and pains now and again, which I’m sure he over exaggerates for attention, he’s good as new. It has been difficult to get our heads around what we have all been through. It is, however, undeniable that we were all destined to meet. This was the universes way of bringing us all together. A little harsh, If you ask me but it worked out all the same.
It turns out that Cain, Mr Graves son was the one who murdered Josh’s Dad. When Josh was a teenager, his dad got himself in a lot of debt. He had lost his job and things had spiralled out of control. He hadn’t wanted to worry Josh’s Mother, so he had borrowed some money off a loan shark. That loan shark being Mr Graves, my biological father. At that time Cain was the debt collector. Josh’s father had known they were loan sharks but hadn’t thought there was much risk, as he was waiting for a business deal to come through. He knew he would be able to pay it back with the large interest rate.
When the time came to collect payment, rather than meeting at the arranged place, Cain had turned up at Josh’s house. Even though Josh’s dad made the payment in full and on time, Cain murdered him anyway. Josh unfortunately walked in on this horrendous scene leaving him with heart breaking nightmares. This incident however led to him to specialise in intensive defence and protective training. He then set up ‘King security’ with Damien. So regardless of how intensely heart breaking our past has been, we must respect it, and understand that it is the universes way of directing us to our destiny.
