by M. S. Parker
I struggled, hitting his chest with my free hand until he grabbed that wrist too. “Let me go.”
“No. You want me. You want me more than him, but you won’t admit it. Why?” The word came out broken and Flynn looked away. He sounded more like a lost child than the belligerent adult I’d seen just seconds before. “Why is it always Edward who gets what he wants, what he needs?”
I stared at him, miserable and scared. Not scared of Flynn, but scared of how badly I wanted to comfort him. “Let me go,” I whispered again.
“That sounds like a good idea.”
The new voice intruded and I flinched as Cody strode into view. How much had he heard?
Flynn shot him a dark look. “This doesn’t concern you, big brother,” he said through clenched teeth.
“She told you to let her go,” Cody said, his voice firm. “Now do it, before I have to make you.”
Cody’s arrival had thrown Flynn off-guard and I was able to twist away. When Flynn tried to grab for me, I evaded, half-stumbling. I cursed my heels as I caught myself and then continued to back away, staring at him.
Flynn’s eyes locked on me, the pain in them cutting through me.
“Flynn,” Cody said quietly. “Come on, man. Let’s get out of here. I’ll take you home.”
“No.” A reckless look entered Flynn’s eyes as he glanced over at his brother. “You can go, though. You can get out of here and go straight to hell, Cody.”
I flinched at the sheer rage I heard in his voice, but Cody didn’t even blink.
“You’re drunk.” The bigger man took a step toward Flynn. Shaking his head, he gestured toward me. “You don’t want to do this. You’re upsetting her, scaring her…”
“She wants me!” Flynn shouted the words again, almost as if he had to convince himself. “Not him! She belongs with me!”
I wrapped my arms around my middle as his gaze slid toward me. “I’m…” Licking my lips, I forced the words out. “I’m marrying Edward, Flynn. I love him. He loves me. He doesn’t hurt me. I can trust him.”
He flinched at the last statement. Teeth bared, he spun toward me. “You’re going to marry a guy who doesn’t even understand you—” He broke off when Cody grabbed his arm. “Fuck off!”
Cody didn’t budge. “You need to leave.”
Flynn shoved him. “I told you to fuck off!” He turned back to me. “I can’t let you do this. You have to know—you son of a bitch!”
I didn’t even see how it happened, but in the span of seconds, Cody and Flynn were grappling on the ground. Glass crunched and I remembered the margarita glass. They twisted and swore and grunted, fists flying. I wanted to yell at them to stop, to shout for someone to intervene, but I couldn’t. I just stood there and watched the brothers fight. And then Cody was the only one making any noise.
Flynn lay unconscious, blood trickling from his mouth.
Cody groaned as he stood, pressing a hand to his side. “He hits damn hard considering how drunk he is.”
I took a step toward Flynn, then another.
He was so still—
Cody caught my arm. “He’s fine,” he said gently. “He’s just drunk and pissed. He needs to sleep it off.”
“I…” Uncertain what I even wanted to say, I shook my head and backed away.
Cody shook his right hand and I looked down, saw his torn and bloody knuckles. Guilt swept through me. This was all my fault.
“Cody, shit. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” he said. Heaving out a sigh, he looked back over at his unconscious brother. “I saw him leave the bachelor party and had a bad feeling about where he was going. So I followed him. I got hung up in traffic though and…hell, Gabs. I should have been here sooner.”
“Not your fault,” I parroted his words back to him. Swallowing the knot in my throat, I closed my eyes. “Some party, huh?”
Chapter 15
A hand brushed my cheek and I sniffled. I was sure my make-up was all smeared across my face
Cody sighed and hugged me to him. “Go on back inside, Gabby. I’ll take care of Flynn.”
“No.” I shook my head. Everything was spinning from the alcohol, and Flynn, and the party... “I think...I think I’m just going to go home. I don’t feel that great.”
Cody studied me for a long moment and then nodded. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll go let Kendra know and have a bouncer come out here to watch Flynn. Our dad can come get him and I’ll drive you home. Okay?”
“You shouldn’t have to…”
“Stop.” His voice brooked no argument and he patted my shoulder. “Just give me two minutes.”
I spent those whole two minutes staring at Flynn.
I need you…
He didn’t, of course. He just wanted me. Probably because Edward had me, nothing more, but I was going to hear those words echoing inside my head for a long time.
I wasn’t sure which was worse, remembering what he said or how, not long after he’d said something similar, I’d walked in on him fucking some random woman. How long would it be this time, I wondered. Would he even remember this conversation when he woke up? Did I want him to?
“You ready?”
I jumped at the sound of Cody’s voice and turned, watching as a bouncer came out. Between him and Cody, they managed to get Flynn off of the ground and folded onto one of the patio benches. I saw Cody hand over several folded bills and the bouncer nodded at him, standing in front of Flynn, his arms crossed.
Cody’s expression was grim as he walked towards me. “Dad’s only five minutes away and the bouncer will stay with Flynn until then. Come on.”
I nodded, uncertain what else I could say. There wasn’t anything that would make this situation better.
A few minutes later, we were in Cody’s car, speeding away from the club toward the hotel where I was staying the night. Even though Edward and I had been living together since just after our engagement, I’d told him I would’ve felt weird waking up next to him the day of the wedding. He’d rented a suite for Kendra and me too, right next to my family.
My sisters, mother, Kendra and I were all supposed to meet for breakfast first thing, do our hair and makeup together…a sob hiccupped out of me.
Cody reached over and took my hand. “I’m so sorry, Gabs. Flynn gets sort of crazy when…”
The words trailed off.
Sniffling, I forced myself to quit crying so I could talk. I had to say something. “Gets crazy? Yeah. I’ll say he gets crazy.”
Cody grimaced. “Normally, he’s not like this, sweetheart. Something about you…shit. Look, there’s no excuse for what he did, how he acted. None. But he’s weird around you. That’s not who he usually is, how he is. I just…I’m sorry, okay?”
“You didn’t do anything,” I said, my voice raw.
No, Cody hadn’t done anything wrong. I had. I’d fucked it all up from moment one. Staring out the window, I rested my forehead on the glass. The lights of the city sped by in a blur before slowing down and coming into focus as the traffic closed back in.
“I found Kendra, let her know that you weren’t feeling well.”
“Thank you.” Closing my eyes, I willed my brain to empty itself. If I didn’t think, it would help.
Another sob tried to tear out of me but I forced it down. Flynn McCreary had made me miserable enough. Tomorrow was my day. I was getting married. I should be happy.
So why aren’t you?
I refused to acknowledge that little voice. I’d gotten pretty good at ignoring it over the last few weeks.
Cody’s hand tightened around mine and I rolled my head on the padded headrest to look at him. He was staring ahead, eyes flicking as he checked the traffic.
“It’s all going to be okay,” he told me.
“Yeah.”
But I didn’t believe it.
“You’ll see.” He came to a stop at the light and glanced over at me. “You’ll get some sleep. Some breakfast. You’ll be nervous tomorr
ow, but once the music starts and you move down that aisle toward Edward…everything will be good.”
I nodded woodenly and focused my gaze on the windshield as he started to drive again. A question rose to my lips and I swallowed it down. I didn’t want to go there, didn’t want to ask it, because if I gave it voice, it would mean I had to acknowledge it. And that would mean I’d need to deal instead of just pushing it aside.
But it kept coming back and when he swung a left near the park, I looked over at my friend. I hated putting him in this position, but he was the only person I could trust right now.
“Cody?”
“Yeah?”
“What if it’s—” My gaze strayed past him to the driver’s side window. Then moved back. Then I looked again, my mind processing what I’d seen even as my words died in my throat.
Lights.
Bright lights.
I opened my mouth to scream.
I think I might have managed it.
But I wasn’t able to say the words.
I couldn’t tell Cody to stop.
Not until it was too late.
The truck slammed into us.
Metal shrieked like a monster.
Glass broke.
There was pain, so much of it, I thought it would eat me alive.
And maybe it did, because after the pain…there was...nothing.
Chapter 16
…stop!...
I heard myself screaming the word over and over again.
Stop! Stop! Stop!
I don’t know what I was supposed to stop, but it was something important, I knew that. But when I tried to think, it hurt…
“Her blood pressure’s spiking!”
That voice. Who was that?
“What’s going on?” There was a shout. Edward?
Pain exploded through every cell in my body and when the darkness reached for me, I gratefully sank back into it.
***
Stop!
I saw the truck this time.
I saw it, but not soon enough.
It smashed into us. Into Cody. I saw the blood, saw his body jerk. And I heard us both as we screamed.
I would have screamed again, louder, harder, longer, but I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. Was I paralyzed? The thought brought no panic, only detached interest. That frightened me more than the thought that I’d never move again.
“I can’t stand to see her like this.”
I knew that voice.
Kendra…
I wanted to reach for her. She sounded like she was crying. I didn’t want her to cry. Why was she crying? I thought I should know, but all that came to mind was the truck and blood and pain. I couldn’t move. Was that why she was crying?
“Shhh…” Edward. It was Edward again. He was there. Wherever there was. “It’s okay, Kendra. The doctors put her in the coma so her brain could heal. They have to bring the swelling down.”
A coma? I was in a coma? It had to be me, right? Who else could she be?
“I know…I just…what if she doesn’t wake up? And Cody…”
Cody?
Oh, God. No. He’d been with me.
A flash of panic went through me and I waited for my body to respond, but it didn’t. I needed to see Cody.
“Don’t.”
I would have flinched if I could’ve moved. The sound of Edward’s voice was a slap.
“We can’t talk about it in here. She might hear us. Just…”
“I know.” Kendra sounded closer. I felt pressure on my hand.
So not paralyzed, right? I couldn’t be paralyzed if I could feel her touching my hand. But I still couldn’t move. Was that because of the coma? I had so many questions.
“Gabs? It’s me. I…I brought a book. It’s one of the romances I love to read. You always tease me about them. Well, now you’re going to get to listen while I read…”
Her voice cracked. Then she started to read.
I wanted to scream. I didn’t want to hear her read. I wanted to know what had happened. I wanted someone to fill in the blanks. Someone to tell me about Cody and why Edward had sounded so upset. I needed to know.
But I couldn’t ask. All I could do was lie here and listen as Kendra’s voice lulled me back into the darkness.
***
Somebody was reading again.
A hand brushed my cheek. I was so tired…
Darkness faded in and out. Sometimes there was light. Sometimes…there was just nothing.
I was trapped inside the prison of my own body and nothing I did seemed to change that. The one good thing was that my head didn’t hurt so much. Nothing hurt really, but I was glad for the dull, throbbing ache I could feel. It meant that I wasn’t dead, and it probably meant I wasn’t paralyzed either, no matter how much it felt like it.
The voice was new, I suddenly realized.
“My, my, my…Gabriella, I’m going to have to thank Kendra for bringing this book in.”
Mom…
The sound of her voice finally penetrated the fog in my head. Her hand took mine and when she threaded our fingers together, I wanted to cry, but I didn’t even have that outlet for all the misery trapped inside. This was the most awful cage I could imagine. I didn’t know how much longer I could stand it without going crazy.
A faint sniffling sound came to my ears, breaking my heart. No, Mama…don’t cry.
“Okay, enough of that. Let’s see what this chick Vaughnne is up to. She’s…well, pardon my French, but she’s a bit of a bad-ass, isn’t she?”
Pardon my French. I tried to laugh, but nothing happened.
She read for a few minutes and I got lost in the sound of her voice, so lost that I never realized I was drifting away again. At least not until a furious voice snapped me back.
“Get your high and mighty ass out of my daughter’s room or so help me, I will drag you out!”
I had no doubt about who she was speaking to, but just what pissed my mother off so bad? She never talked like that. Not unless…
“It’s her fault!”
Claire.
Edward’s mother.
An icy hand gripped my heart. What was my fault?
Suddenly, I saw the lights of a car. Maybe a truck. I saw Cody, the blood, his body wrenching, only to be held in place by the seat belt. The blood…the blood…
What happened? I wanted to scream at someone to tell me what I’d done.
“If you want to blame somebody, you miserable bitch, you go blame the asshole who ran the red light.” My mother’s voice was low. Low and furious. “Now get out. I won’t warn you again.”
“How dare you speak to me like that? You ignorant, backwoods—”
The sound of a cracking slap filled the room, followed by a screech.
Despondent, I slid back into the darkness. Even the sounds of my mom going toe-to-toe with Claire couldn’t keep me there.
Something was my fault…and I had the worst feeling it had to do with Cody.
If something bad had happened to him, I’d never forgive myself. Because no matter what my mother said, it was my fault. I remembered enough to know that.
***
“Come on, Gabs…”
I was too groggy to care about the voices anymore.
It was easier to stay in the darkness. Easier not to have to think about what had happened. About Cody. No one talked about him. They all kept talking to me and I didn’t want them to.
But she wouldn’t shut up. None of them would.
“Gabriella, they took you off the meds two days ago. You can wake up now. So do it already.”
No…I think I like it here.
Retreating deeper into the warm gray haze, I ignored the voice. I could barely tell who it was anyway.
***
“That’s it.”
A hard voice. Hard, flat, almost angry.
“Gabs, it’s Jackson and if you don’t get out of that bed soon, I’m going to kick your ass, coma or no.”
Jackson.
My mind conjured up a scrawny boy, taller than me already, with a wide, bright grin and eyes almost exactly like mine. Jackson. My baby brother. The baby brother who was going to get married.
A rough hand gripped mine and squeezed. Then there was a voice, pressed close to my ear. “Did you hear me? Wake the hell up. You’re scaring Mom. You’re scaring Dad. You’re scaring all of us. I get why you’re wanting to hide, but stop it.”
You don’t get anything!
I wanted to scream at him.
I couldn’t.
I couldn’t do anything.
No…I don’t want to do anything…
“It’s not your fault,” Jackson said, his voice softer now. “I heard what that stupid cow said. Mom and Dad told me. And that’s when you started to get worse. Your heart-rate slowed, your blood pressure dropped. Everything got worse. It doesn’t take a doctor to put two and two together. Well, fuck that. Are you really going to let her keep you trapped like a corpse in that bed?”
Her…Claire. My mind summoned up an image.
Claire. She’d said it was my fault. Something…
Cody.
The truck. The crash. The blood.
I wanted to cry. I needed to cry.
But I couldn’t.
Not while I was trapped.
“Come on, Gabs,” Jackson murmured. “Don’t do this to us.”
I tried to speak, to ask him about Cody. I tried and failed.
But as he stayed there talking, I kept on trying. He was right, I couldn’t give up. I had to wake up so I could see my friend again. I couldn’t let Claire win.
Chapter 17
“Can you hear me, sweetheart?”
Edward’s hand stroked my cheek.
It felt…different.
Lights blinded my eyes, almost painful, despite the fact that I still couldn’t lift my lids. His sigh was a gentle puff against my forehead as he brushed his lips against my skin. I could feel the weight of his arm over my head. He was leaning down, all but surrounding me. I was aware of all of it. More aware than I’d been in a long time.
“Any change?”
