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Heart racing and drenched in sweat, Evan sat up in bed, shaking. It had been a second night in a row that his sleep was disturbed by nightmares aboutheragain. He couldn’t understand why it was happening; it had been years since he had them. Half disoriented, he made his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
A compilation of gruesome images flickered in his mind when he turned on the tap: the screaming, the thick pool of blood, garbled breaths… That lifeless look in his mother’s eyes before her final breath escaped her lungs. Ignoring the dull ache in his arms, Evan gulped back his drink and noticed it was three o’clock in the morning when he glanced at the time on the stove.
Quenching his thirst, he returned to his bedroom and visited his secret shrine. The hanging light bulbs from the ceiling glowed when he turned on the switch and gazed at his “artistic mural.” Standing before the collage of pictures, he lightly brushed his fingers against them and felt his heart sigh.
“I almost lost you,” he whispered. “I won’t let that happen again.” He kissed his fingers and placed them on Aria’s photographed cheek. “You belong to me, my beautiful dove.” Evan smiled darkly, clasping the mini vial that hung around his neck. The crimson liquid inside was actual blood… Aria’s blood. He had drawn it from her vein during one of his hospital visits. In his mind, it didn’t seem wrong or sick to possess such anunusual accessory. He believed he loved her in his own way; he wanted to feel closer to her.
Sitting in the armchair, he opened the blood vial from his necklace and raised it to his lips, pouring a few drops on his tongue. Evan shut his eyes and savored the coppery taste. His cock stiffened below while he lost himself in a dark world of sexual fantasies: He wanted her to strip down in front of him and straddle his lap. He wanted Aria to cut any part of his body and lick his blood. His deranged desires aroused him.
Tomorrow morning, he would stop by the hospital, get his blood tested, and pray to be the best match for a kidney transplant. Knowing that Aria would live with one of his organs inside of her got him off.
I’ll always be inside of you. Forever. You’re mine.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
ARIA
Almost a week had passed since I woke up from my coma—and maybe this sounds awful, but I wish I’d never opened my eyes. I would have died happy believing in a lie. How could I ever forget that night of eternal bliss with Noah? I wasn’t sure if I would ever feel anything that could top that experience in real life. Since regaining consciousness, my mom visited me every day and lengthened her stays, especially since Noah was clocking in regular hours at work again. I didn’t want him jeopardizing his job because of me. Sure, he was wealthy and could have retired, but he had a career he had worked hard to establish.
Last week, everyone went through a series of blood tests. Doctor Peters had said it would take another week for the blood results to arrive from the lab. These tests would determine if my cells would react well with the donor cells—cross-matching, that’s what it was called. Lately, I had trouble sleeping because I kept dreaming about the night of the crash; a night I didn’t want to remember anymore.
“Uno!” Mom shouted in victory. “I win!”
All my thoughts suddenly scrambled, as I looked up at her and accepted defeat.
“Mom, this game is so lame.”
“Are you kidding? You love playing Uno.”
“Yeah, when I was like—ten!”
“You always kick my butt whenever we play. It’s nice to win for a change, so let me enjoy it!”
It seemed like forever since I last saw her smile. I never understood why she stayed with my stepdad; Rob was the biggest contributor to her unhappiness in life.
“You’ve been somewhere else all afternoon, Aria. What’s up?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’ssomething. Come on, a mother knows when her daughter’s in love. You’re thinking about that cutie, Ryan, aren’t you?”
“What?”
Oh God, she was so off—likewayoff.
“He used to visit you often while you were in a coma. I chatted with him here and there and thought he has feelings for you.”
“We’re just friends, Mom.”
Isodid not want to have this conversation right now.
“Hmm, I don’t think he sees you as ‘just a friend.’ You can talk to me about boys, you know.”
“I know.”
“Good.” She smiled. “We have a lot of catching up to do. Your father informed me about your plans to move back to New York. He said you’ve decided on Columbia for college. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
I shrugged. “I guess I wanted to surprise you.”
