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Maverick
“Maverick,wakeupnow!It’s Bea. You have to go.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Beatrice
Monotonousbeepingstirsme.
My eyes are heavy when I try to peel them open, refusing to cooperate, but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing as images flash through my brain. A nightmare? No, that can’t be right. It’s too real. Too painful.
As though the moment triggers my muscle memory, pain courses through me, hitting every nerve as my mouth opens on a scream, but no sound comes out. There’s nothing but pain and suffocating silence.
A hand jostles my shoulder, sending a shockwave of panic through me, and I thrash, my aching body struggling under the weight of the images that pass over my mind. Voices. So many voices filter through the quiet, but they’re too far away.
I don’t know how much time passes, but with each dragging second, the pain begins to evaporate, settling into a barely there ache as my mind grows groggy and the images blur before disappearing all together.
Maybe I can stay like this forever.
That would be nice.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Maverick
Thehoursdrag.Oneturns into two, then three, and four and five. And still nothing.
She’s still gone.
I grip her hand in mine, her mom and dad sitting opposite me with matching expressions on their faces. Guilt, sorrow, anger. It’s all muddled into one. Tears haven’t stopped streaming over her mom’s face, not since I made it to the hospital, and she pulled me into her arms. She blames herself for not knowing that Beatrice left the house last night while I blame myself for letting her walk away from me.
Beatrice’s dad is the only one with some semblance of calm, though I know it’s only a matter of time before he cracks. His body is too tight, his jaw too tense. He tries to smile at me, offering me some comfort, but I can see the rage burning beneath his pale irises.
My own coils inside me, sickness settling in my stomach as I stare at my girl. So small with dark-blue bruises forming on her face, and marks around her neck from where he held her by the throat.
If I’d done things differently, would we still be here today?
Would she be lying in a hospital bed, wires hooked to her body, fluids running into her veins while she slumbers. If it weren’t for all that, or the bruises that litter her body, you’d think she was sleeping. Lost in a land of dreams and wonder as she breathes softly.
Instead, if—when—she wakes up again, she’s waking to a nightmare. How much more can one person take before they give up?
Pushing out of the chair, I squeeze her hand, leaning down to press a kiss to her damp hair before I pace back and forth. Over and over again. My body vibrates with the need to do something. I need to make this right, but how?
“Maverick,” Beatrice’s dad whispers, dropping a kiss to his wife’s head before he moves over to me. “I know you’re angry right now, and believe me when I say I am too.” He glances down to my hands, curled into fists at my side—I hadn’t even realized they were. I blow out a slow breath, peeling them apart one finger at a time. “But that girl, she needs us. We need you here. I can see the wheels turning in your head, and I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”
“I should have done it back then, I should have never stopped.” I sigh, my vision swimming with unshed tears as my eyes land on my girl again. She looks so small, so fucking fragile in that bed.
He curls his arm over my shoulder, hugging me to him. “This is the last time, Maverick. I promise you that.” I lift my eyes to his, seeing the hardness settling there. “Her mom and me? We fucked up back then. We watched our little girl disappear before our eyes, but we didn’t stop and look closely enough to figure out why. Instead, it was easier to pretend it wasn’t happening.”
Easier.That word again.
So many times I’ve told myself things would be easier, and it turns out, in the end? It only makes everything harder.
“She’s never once blamed us,” he continues, his eyes growing glassy. “Even when she should have. We’re her parents. It’s our job to protect her, and we didn’t. We left that up to you. You were eighteen at the time, and instead of getting involved, we let an eighteen-year-old take care of the situation.”
“And what a great job I did of that,” I croak.
“You saved her, Maverick. And that is a debt I can never repay. But let us save you both this time.” My brows furrow, a frown pulling my lips down. “Don’t do anything stupid is what I’m saying. She’ll never forgive herself if you go down that path again.”
