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Elizabeth blinked up at one of the nurses. Her whole world was ending, and yet people were going about their days, with no idea that Elizabeth’s life was coming crashing down around her ears.
“I’m fine.” No words had ever been more of a lie, but the nurse simply nodded and offered her a hand up. Elizabeth allowed herself to be helped to her feet and started shuffling in the opposite direction to the ICU. She needed to get out of here before James came looking for her.
She couldn’t bear to explain the painful conclusions she’d come to.
Ideally, Elizabeth would break up with Alex face to face. She owed Alex at least that much. However, Alex was currently unconscious and would likely spend the next few days or even weeks zonked out on painkillers.
Maybe her best bet would be to write a letter. That way, Alex could read it, but if she forgot it because of her high medication dosages, she could read it again.
Alex deserved more than a letter, but Elizabeth couldn’t afford to hang around until Alex was in the right physical state to take a breakup in person. Alex was badly hurt already and couldn’t afford to be hurt even further because Elizabeth couldn’t keep her distance.
Elizabeth’s weary mind was slowly going over the wording of the letter she would write when she was assaulted by bright lights and cameras.
“Elizabeth, how long have you been in love with your bodyguard?”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone that you are part of the community that you’re fighting for?”
“What is your exact orientation?”
“How do you expect your voters to react to this news?”
Elizabeth wanted to sink into the ground. She wasn’t ready to answer these questions. Alex was still fighting for her life, and Elizabeth’s heart was breaking at what she knew she needed to do. She couldn’t deal with this right now.
“I’m sorry, but I’m exhausted. I’ll give a full statement once I’ve had some sleep. I have nothing more to say for now.”
Of course, they didn’t leave it at that, not that Elizabeth had expected them to. They followed her all the way to the street and looked like they were ready to leap into the Uber she ordered, but thankfully none of them took it that far.
There were more reporters waiting at her house, but she gave them the same short dismissal she had given the ones at the hospital.
Elizabeth finally gained the peace of her house, locking the door and closing the curtains. She checked her phone to find six messages from James. Fuck. She owed him an explanation, but not before she wrote her letter to Alex.
Right now, though, Elizabeth was practically dizzy with exhaustion. She couldn’t think properly. All she could feel was pain. She already missed Alex so much it hurt, and she knew it would only get worse.
People said time healed all wounds, and maybe they were right, but Elizabeth knew that this wound would get worse before it got better. The nights would be the worst, she was sure. She didn’t know how she was meant to go on without Alex.
Everything seemed so pointless without Alex at her side. Elizabeth tried to remind herself that she had a meaningful career that fulfilled her, but it didn’t seem like enough anymore.
She wondered what would happen if she gave up her career. If she went into something completely different, could she be with Alex without risking Alex’s life?
That was a slightly more palatable option than breaking up with Alex and keeping her career, but as much as she tried to make it work in her head, Elizabeth couldn’t see it.
She had made too many enemies in her career—recent events had shown that much. Giving up politics would provide no guarantee that her enemies would cease their vendettas against her. The last thing she needed was to think that Alex was safe, only to find out too late that the threat to her had never left even after she changed her career.
No, the only true way to keep Alex safe was to stay away from her. Of course, Elizabeth needed to keep herself safe, too. She would need to hire another bodyguard.
This time, she would need to make sure not to become emotionally attached. She wasn’t worried about falling in love with anyone else. Alex was it for her. Elizabeth knew in her heart that she would never love anyone else.
However, that didn’t mean she couldn’t become close friends with any potential bodyguard. In fact, it might be hard not to, given how closely they would need to live and work together.
She would have to find some way to avoid that. She needed to protect herself and couldn’t keep firing bodyguards because she had become attached.
She felt like Alex had taken a piece of her soul with her, and Elizabeth needed to guard what was left.
Elizabeth fell into bed, finally allowing tears to fall. She shook as she cried herself to sleep.
10
Alex
