Chasing Daylight

by Carey Heywood

  She sits up, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head. “I’m good with whatever you want to do.”

  “What if I sleep in a different room tonight to be safe?”

  She frowns. “But last night, it was me who woke you the second time. What if you need me again?”

  I shake my head. “No way.”

  She crosses her arms over her chest. I reach over, wrap my hand around her arm, and gently pull her over to my lounger. I settle her against me and circle her with my arms.

  “I don’t want to abandon you.”

  I smooth her hair back from her forehead and kiss it. “You wouldn’t be.”

  “What happens if you have another episode?”

  I laugh, “Episode?”

  She looks away. “I don’t like calling it an attack and picturing you fighting it all by yourself.”

  “What if we sleep in the dolphin room tonight? It has two beds.”

  She turns back to face me. “Are you sure?”

  I touch my mouth to hers. “It isn’t the same bed; but at least, it’s the same room.”

  She nods. “What do I do if . . . if something happens?”

  I exhale. “I don’t want you to risk getting too close to me.”

  “Well we need to plan for it either way.”

  Her shouting my name had not worked the night before, neither had Zeus licking my face. The only thing that had worked was her shaking me.

  “I don’t like the idea of you putting yourself in harm’s way.”

  Shrugging, she tilts her head and holds my eyes. “I’m not afraid of you.”

  We drive down to Duck and have dinner on the patio of a restaurant on the sound side; it’s named for its incredible sunset views. Zeus is a hit with the wait staff, almost all of them coming over at some point to pet him. While it means we never have to ask for a refill of either of our drinks, it does make having an intimate dinner impossible.

  McKenzie doesn’t seem to mind though. It must be my nerves about tonight that have me on edge and craving less people around us. I haven’t told her, but I plan to try to stay up as long as possible tonight, hoping exhaustion will prevent another attack.

  After dinner, when we get back to the beach house, McKenzie calls to check on Rachel. Alec had been on call for the Critter Haven and Spa the night before, so he ended up staying with Rachel. McKenzie had been hoping he’d be able to stay the whole week with her, but based on what I can hear from McKenzie’s side of the phone conversation, he had a family emergency.

  When she hangs up with Rachel she fills me in. “Alec’s grandmother fell and broke her hip. They think the fall may have been caused by a stroke. Rachel said things weren’t looking good so all of his family is staying at the hospital.”

  I stand. “Rachel needs to be with him. We can head back right now.”

  She shakes her head. “Trust me, I offered. Rachel wants to get a good night’s sleep so she can meet him at the hospital in the morning.”

  “But.”

  She sets her phone on the coffee table and reaches for my hand, tugging me back down next to her on the couch. “She’s the most stubborn person I know, and she does not want us cutting our trip short.”

  “Okay, you’ve told me what she wants us to do; what do you want to do?”

  She leans against me, her head on my shoulder. “I want to get in my Jeep and drive to her.”

  “So, why aren’t we doing that?”

  She lifts her hand and counts off with her fingers. “Rachel will be annoyed. It’s already dark out. It will be even later by the time we pack up, and when we get there, all she’ll do is sleep on my couch or drive home to sleep which means we’ll be waking her up.”

  I drape my arm over her shoulder. “All good points.”

  “I can call her again in the morning and try to talk some sense into her then.”

  Deciding the time to talk is over; she shifts in my lap until she’s straddling me and softly kisses me. I slide my hand up her neck and into her hair. At dinner, she had a pinna colada and I can taste it on her. I stand and carry her into the master bedroom. Once I lay her out across the bed, I proceed to taste every inch of her.

  Before I can sink into her, she pushes me onto my back and takes me into her mouth. My back arches but I somehow keep my eyes locked on her face. Watching her suck my cock is one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen. Her hair starts to cover her face and I reach down to push and hold it back.

  “I don’t want to come in your mouth,” I growl when I start to get close.

  She ignores me so I sit up, reaching under her arms to pull her up my body. She reaches between us to grab my dick and line herself up above it before sinking down. We both still once I’m buried to the root inside her. She’s telling me so much with only her eyes. Even after everything that happened last night, she can quell my insecurities with a look.

  Taking my hand, she lifts it to the center of her chest and holds my palm flat against her skin. The cadence of her heart thunders against it. She lifts herself and then eases back down. Her movements are slow, languid. She’s molten heat over me. It takes all of my restraint not to flip her onto her back and pound into her. That doesn’t stop my hips from bucking upward to meet each of her strokes.

  She comes first, falling forward to press her face against my neck, our hands trapped between our bodies. I slide my hand out from in between us and grip her hips with both hands as I thrust up into her. She moans against my neck, kissing and licking until I release. We lie spent, our limbs entwined. Eventually she leaves me to go to the bathroom.

  It’s minutes later when I notice her standing in the doorway, twisting her hands.

  I pop up onto one elbow. “What’s wrong?”

  “I know I said we shouldn’t go back tonight, but—”

  “Let’s pack,” I say, cutting her off.

  We decide to leave the groceries since she hadn’t bought a lot; and depending on how Alec’s grandmother is doing, we could turn around and come back here in a day. McKenzie doesn’t argue when I move to the driver’s side. It’s late and the roads are mostly empty. We make great time and head straight for the Critter Haven and Spa as soon as we’re back in town.

  A block away, we see the flashing lights of police cruisers parked out front. McKenzie swings her eyes to mine. Even with only the muted lights from the dash, I can see they’re panicked. I double park and we both jump out, Zeus behind me. I don’t bother to turn off the Jeep or close my door.

  There’s an ambulance loading someone on a stretcher.

  McKenzie runs to the first police officer we see and asks what happened. It takes a couple of minutes for her to explain she lives here and is one of the employees before he’ll talk to either of us.

  The ambulance takes off before we know who’s inside it.

  “Where is Rachel?” McKenzie presses after the police officer, explains they responded to the panic button of the alarm going off.

  “There was an adult female whose identity we were unable to confirm when we arrived. She is being taken by ambulance to the hospital.”

  McKenzie gasps, “Is she okay? What happened?”

  “She was unconscious. I’m afraid I don’t have any additional detail on her condition. When we arrived we were able to apprehend her attacker though.”

  McKenzie covers her mouth when he says attacker and sags against me.

  “Who attacked her?” I ask.

  The police officer points to one of the cruisers on the side of the building. “He’s in there.”

  We both squint at the figure in the backseat and it doesn’t take long for either of us to recognize him.

  “Oh, my God, it’s Tyler,” McKenzie breathes before charging toward the cruiser.

  “Shit,” I mumble, catching up to her and grabbing her from behind.

  “Let me go. I’m going to kill him. Let me go,” she shouts, struggling in my arms.

  At the sound of her shouts, he turns his head to look at us. I’ve s
een a lot of things in my life; but something tells me I was looking into the face of evil. He stares right at me, a smug expression on his face. Fucking psycho.

  “Baby,” I try and she stills.

  Her body stills before she starts to shake. “I hate him.”

  I hold her against me, taking even more of her weight.

  “You know that man?” The police officer asks.

  “Can we move to where she can’t see him?” I ask, torn between wanting to kill the man in the backseat of that cruiser and needing to take care of McKenzie.

  My concern for her overpowers my rage. I scoop her up into my arms and walk until the cruiser is out of sight. Thankfully, the police officer sees how upset McKenzie is and doesn’t argue our moving.

  I explain the earlier break in and attack against McKenzie and my stabbing. He takes our contact information. Our statements from the previous attack are already on file, so he doesn’t need us for anything else tonight. He shakes his head and leaves us to give the information we gave him to another officer. He returns to let us know which hospital Rachel is being taken to.

  It’s the same one Alec’s grandmother is at. McKenzie steps away to call him; but when he doesn’t answer, she decides against leaving a voicemail. Before we leave to go to the hospital, McKenzie quickly checks on the dog they were boarding. She calls the on call vet for the night and quickly explains what happened. Once he confirms he’s on the way, we go. As I drive, she tries to call Alec again.

  My ex attacked my best friend tonight, and the only reason she was in harm’s way in the first place was because she was doing me a favor. Alec will never forgive me if she is truly hurt. Not that it matters since I’ll never forgive myself either.

  Mitch drives, reaching across Zeus to grab my hand and squeeze it. I’ve tried to call Alec at least a dozen times. If only he would answer his damn phone. He’s already at the hospital they’re taking her to. If he knew she was coming, he could meet her and find out how she’s doing. Knowing nothing, other than she was unconscious, is unbearable.

  My mind guesses at the missing information, giving possible solutions, each more horrible than the last. She’s the closest thing I have to a sister and the only real family I have. Other than emailing them or a change of address after the move, I haven’t spoken to either of my parents in months. They don’t even know why I moved to North Carolina in the first place, or that Tyler attacked me.

  Mitch parks, hooks a leash to Zeus, and the three of us head to the Emergency room. En route, the paramedics were updated on Rachel’s name after we spoke with the police officer at the Critter Haven and Spa. That way we are able to ask for an update on her condition by her name. When they ask our relationship to her, I don’t skip a beat when I tell them I’m her sister.

  After we are told to wait for someone to come to speak to us, I ask for the room number of Alec’s grandmother, explaining that he is Rachel’s husband and I haven’t been able to tell him Rachel is hurt. The woman we speak to is able to call the nurse’s station in that part of the hospital to pass the message onto Alec.

  We make our way over to a couple of free seats in the waiting room and sit with Zeus between Mitch’s legs.

  “If I had known he could come, I would have brought Zeus to visit you,” I say, my eyes trained on the door to the emergency rooms.

  My hand rests on my thigh and Mitch covers it with his. “I wasn’t great at sharing then.”

  I start to smile, but instead, suddenly dissolve into tears. “She has to be okay.”

  He begins to console me; but we’re both distracted by the sound of someone running. Alec bursts into the waiting room, his eyes sweeping the room before falling on us.

  “My phone was off,” he explains before asking, “Where is she? What happened?” he asks, approaching us.

  We both stand and I shake my head. “They haven’t told us how she is yet.”

  His hands come up to grip my biceps as he stares down at me. “What happened?”

  Tears spill from my eyes as I confess, “It’s all my fault. It should have been me.”

  Alec’s eyes widen and he drops my arms to look questioningly toward Mitch.

  Mitch puts his arm around my shoulder and tucks me against him. “This was not your fault.”

  “Why does she think it is?” Alec asks, glancing between us.

  “Tyler hurt Rachel,” I answer for him.

  Alec clenches his fists. “I’ll kill him.”

  Mitch nods in agreement, and I imagine the line forming of people who want to kill Tyler.

  Alec leaves us standing and moves to speak to the woman at the check in counter. He doesn’t seem to learn any more than we already know and returns to stand with us after a couple minutes. Mitch and I both sit back down, my hand reaching out to stroke Zeus’ soft fur. Alec doesn’t sit, he alternates between pacing and standing stock still staring at the doorway beyond the counter.

  A woman in scrubs comes to speak to us after ten minutes. Rachel suffered a head injury. She is still unconscious, and they’ve performed an emergency procedure to alleviate the pressure caused by the swelling of her brain.

  I drop my face into my hands and struggle to catch my breath as the possible ramifications of Rachel’s condition hit me. Alec goes with the nurse to see Rachel. Mitch scoops me up and deposits me into his lap. I lift my head only to bury it in his neck as my body shakes. His arms coil around me offering shelter and strength for me to cling to.

  I’m not sure how long Mitch holds me before Alec returns to us. He takes me to see her. Instead of going with us, because Alec couldn’t get a straight answer if Zeus could go, Mitch decides now would be a good time to take Zeus outside since it’s been awhile since he’s had a walk.

  He shifts my weight to Alec and I lean against him as he takes me to Rachel’s room. Fresh tears sting my eyes when I see her. Tubes and wires are everywhere and machines are beeping. She looks like she’s sleeping, but her face is already showing the bruises of Tyler’s attack. A portion of her head is shaved, gauze partially covering it.

  Alec eases me into the chair closest to her before moving to her other side and sinking to his knees next to her and clasping her hand in both of his. I rest both of my hands on her bicep, not wanting to disturb her IV and lean over until I can rest my chin on my hands.

  “Z and I are both here, baby,” Alec rasps, his voice thick with emotion.

  Tears stream down my face as I whisper, “I’m so sorry, Rachel. I’m so, so sorry you got hurt because of me. This is all my fault.”

  “Or my fault,” Alec replies, surprising me. “I was the one who left her alone.”

  “She wouldn’t have been there in the first place, if it wasn’t for me,” I argue.

  He shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter, she’s my wife and I should have been there.”

  “Doesn’t matter?” I cry, “It was my psycho ex who hurt her.”

  He looks down at her and laughs with no humor. “Baby, you need to wake up so Kenzie and I’ll stop arguing over whose fault it is.”

  I manage to crack half a smile at his words before I build the courage to ask, “You don’t blame me?”

  He reaches across Rachel with one of his hands and I lift my chin to place one of my hands in his. “You didn’t do this. You have done nothing to be blamed for.”

  I start to open my mouth but close it when he shakes his head. We stay there, holding hands across Rachel until her doctor comes into the room. He drops my hand and we both stand.

  “I’m Dr. Wilson.”

  Alec reaches out his hand. “I’m Alec Magnusson, Rachel’s husband.”

  I offer my hand next. “McKenzie, Rachel’s sister.”

  Alec doesn’t blink at my admission and Dr. Wilson begins to update us on her condition.

  “We will not have definitive information until she regains consciousness.”

  “Do you have an expectation on how long that might take?”

  He nods. “We are closely moni
toring her and anticipate she will continue to monitor her for the next twenty four hours.”

  “What happens after she wakes up?” I ask.

  “At that point, we will further evaluate her condition.”

  We both nod. Now we wait.

  Once the doctor leaves, Alec turns his attention back to Rachel but speaks to me. “You and Mitch should head home and try to get some rest.”

  “I don’t want to leave her,” I argue.

  “There’s only one pullout chair in here and Mitch is out there waiting for you. Go get some sleep and come back in the morning. I promise I’ll call if anything changes.”

  He’s right. It doesn’t make sense for both of us to stay. I give Alec a hug before moving back to her side and pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.

  “I love you, Rachel; please be okay.”

  As I make my way back to the waiting room, the walls of the hospital seem to pulse with judgment. I avoid the eyes of the people I pass. No matter what Alec said, I can’t help but feel some guilt for what happened to Rachel.

  Mitch and Zeus are waiting for me where we were sitting earlier. Exhaustion is written all over his face as he slowly moves to meet me once he sees me.

  “How is she?”

  I shake my head. “Let’s go to your place. There isn’t much to tell, but I’ll do it on the way.”

  He shakes his head when I offer to drive, and I’m grateful for it. I’m not sure how he’s still functioning. All I want to do is pass out.

  By the time we’ve turned back out onto the main road, I’ve told him everything the doctor told us.

  “None of that was bad news, Kenzie.”

  I rest my arm on Zeus. “None of it was good either.”

  “We can’t turn back time and undo what happened. All we can do is face what’s ahead of us. I hate he hurt Rachel; but, honest to God, I’m going to breathe easier knowing your fucking ex is behind bars tonight.”

  I’ve been so wrapped up worrying about Rachel that I completely forgot about Tyler. “I hope someone shanks him.”

  Mitch coughs. “Easy, killer. I want to look him in the eyes when he finds out he’ll be in jail for a few decades first, then someone can shank him.”