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If Lexi can hear anything I don’t want her hearing grief. She needs to rest and grow stronger. She needs to come home to me.
Psycho storms up the corridor, the officers following close behind. Evie walks straight into his arms but it’s me he’s ogling at over the top of her head.
I solemnly shake my head and fall back onto the plastic chair.
“If I have to tell you one more time that she’s been straight since she got out, I’m gonna lose my fucking head,” Psycho warns the officers. “Fuck off and leave us be.”
The two officers smirk to one another, and one sighs with defeat. “We’ll be back if she wakes up.”
“Motherfucker,” I spit. “When she wakes up. When!”
Leaving Psycho and Evie out in the corridor, I go back and sit with Lexi. I won’t leave her again. Not till she wakes up. I dare not touch her so I settle for placing my hand beside hers. The first but not last tear rolls down my cheek and I keep my gaze on her chest, watching, making sure it rises and falls.
Chapter Eighteen
Lexi
It’s too dark. I’m trapped. I can’t breathe. What I can hear is muffled. It’s all just hazy wrapped in darkness. In the space of a second it all changes. Everything’s too bright. Voices are too loud but when I draw a breath, pain pulses through me like I’m being squashed in a vice.
“Babe? You’re good, you’re in the hospital, I’ve got you now.”
I can’t move but I roll my eyes to the side, and he comes into a blurry view. It feels like my eyes are buried beneath a mound of dirt.
“Vincent?”
My throat is raw and hurts like a bitch. But underneath the pain, I’ve never been so happy to see him. For a while, I thought I wouldn’t. I thought Tommy and Rosie would grow up only hearing stories about me, that my brother would burn down Eastford searching for who did this to me. Unimaginable pain rocks through me but after the nurses have checked me over and the doctor stops by, my brother and Evie walk in.
“I hope you’re not crying for me,” I choke out and she laughs.
Her cheeks are stained with what I hope are happy tears.
“Of course not,” she huffs. “I’m fed up with having to come here every day.”
“How long have I been out?”
“It’s been a few days,” Louis tells me, coming to my side. His eyes are the darkest I’ve ever seen them. “Give me a name.”
I nearly lost my life. For a while, I wanted to die. I can’t lose my brother. One thing I’ve learned in life is that revenge and snap reactions aren’t worth the consequences.
“I’m not doing this now.”
“Lex, this isn’t the time to keep me reigned in. Give me a name and before you step foot out of this hospital, the motherfucker will be dead and buried in a hole so deep, they’ll never be found.”
Staring my brother in the eye, I see his need for vengeance as clearly as my own. “It’s my job to fix this for you. I should’ve seen this coming.”
“Your job is to be a husband and a father. This isn’t your problem…”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re my sister, you’re my life. I promised you I’d keep you safe.”
In all the times our dad hurt him, he never cried. He refused to show him weakness. He took every punch and every kick and locked it down, making him the man he is today. But as he stands at my side, his face mere inches from mine, a tear rolls down his cheek and fear burns in his eyes.
“You haven’t failed. This didn’t happen because of you, trust that, and trust me to fix this myself. You’ve always been there for me, you’ve not once let me down. You’re the brother every girl needs. But right now, I need you to listen to me. Go be a husband to your wonderful wife. Be the best dad we never had. And know that one day I’ve got this handled… And most of all, I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He presses his lips to my cheek so softly I barely feel them. Then he’s back to business. He turns to Vincent. “Talk to her. Get a fucking name.”
He takes Evie’s hand and storms out, but not slamming the door. Vincent reclaims the chair at my bedside.
