Inseparable Strangers

by Jill Patten

  I shook my head.

  He inhaled a shaky breath and his palms turned sweaty. “Your father tried taking his own life. When you saw him with the gun, you lunged at him to knock it away. At the same time, Pam fired a shot at your father and it hit you instead. The bullet went through your back, punctured a lung, then exited out your chest. Your lung collapsed and you lost a lot of blood before help arrived. By the time the paramedics got there you were in cardiac arrest.” Tears danced down Aaron’s cheeks. “I couldn’t save you, Lennox. I was your guardian angel. I was supposed to protect you. I failed you and I’m so sorry.” His body wracked with silent cries. It broke my heart to see him cry. Nobody had ever showed so much love for me before.

  I rubbed his back, giving him time to release the guilt he had. He put too much burden on himself for my injuries. Even if he were still dead, he wouldn’t have been able to save me. I would never hold him responsible for what happened. If I could talk without restriction, I would tell him this. Oh how I missed the days of him reading my mind.

  “Shh…shh.” This sucked. There were so many things I wanted to say, but right now my love was all I had to offer. I tapped on his shoulder and he looked up at me with wet, clumped up lashes and shiny, green eyes. They were enough to melt my heart. I mouthed, “I love you.”

  A lop-sided grin spread over his face. “I love you so fucking much I feel like my heart is going to burst. If I knew loving you felt this damn good, I would’ve looked for you years sooner.” He shifted his weight on his arms and hovered over me. First he kissed the left side of my cheek. “I love you.” Then he kissed the right side. “I love you.” After that, he kissed my forehead. “I love you.” Lastly, he kissed me on the lips. It was a closed-mouth kiss but it was more sensual than any open-mouthed kiss could ever be. “I love you. I will never be able to say those three words enough to you.”

  A smile the size of Texas, and tears took place on my face. I used to think I was a happy person, but he brought a whole new meaning to the word.

  With every deep breath I took, I could tell my body was growing tired. Sleep battled with my eyelids, but I fought it off, I wanted to know more about what happened. Aaron still hadn’t told me where my mom was and if my father didn’t die, why hadn’t he been to visit me?

  “My mom? Dad?”

  “Lennox, I don’t know where your mom is. I was so worried about you I didn’t pay attention to anyone else. It wasn’t until I was in the waiting room alone when I realized I hadn’t felt her presence.” He was back to rubbing a raw spot on my hand. “She has enough power and knowledge now that she can give me a sign to let me know she’s here.” He shook his head with aggravation.

  “I heard her,” I said, trying to swallow away the pain in my throat. “She was here.”

  His eyes widened. “Was she in this room?” he asked pointing at the floor.

  I shrugged my shoulders. It sounded like she was here but maybe she was with me while I was sedated. Wait. What if I had died and she was coercing me to go back?

  “Pen… and paper… please?”

  Aaron’s face lit up when the realization of my request went off in his head. He jumped to his feet and came over to the other side of my bed where the small table was. He found a pen and a paper printed with some sort of instructions or something from the hospital on it. He flipped it over to the blank side, rolled the over bed table in front of me, and handed me the pen.

  The first thing I asked him was if I had flat-lined. He nodded. I then proceeded to write down my possible theory about how Mom talked to me.

  “You could be right, Lennox. She knew your time here wasn’t over.”

  I jotted down, “but where is she? Why hasn’t she come back?”

  He shook his head, “I don’t know, baby. She might have made peace with her past and crossed over. If neither of us sees her again, we can believe that’s what happened.”

  There was a growing pain in my chest but it wasn’t from the gunshot wound. My heart ached for my mom and the possibility I may never see her again. “But she didn’t say goodbye.” My chin trembled as I fought back the tears.

  Aaron embraced me the best he could without getting tangled up in the cords and hurting my injuries. “Oh, Lennox. She didn’t say goodbye because she knows she will see you again someday. Always remember she will be with you just like she was before whether you are able to see her or not. She will always live in your heart.” He kissed me on the forehead reassuring me everything was going to be alright.

  Nodding, I agreed. It pained me to move forward without the thoughts of her by my side, but I knew in spirit she would always walk by my side.

  I took comfort in Aaron’s arms for several minutes. When he sat back down on the edge of the bed, I jotted down my next question — “where’s my dad?”

  He blew an exasperated breath. “He’s in custody. After the cops showed up, he confessed to everything. I wanted to go see him, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave your side. I nodded and mouthed the words, “it’s okay.”

  My last question was about the bitch who I hoped was burning in hell. “Where’s Pam?” It wasn’t so much that I cared where she was at, but I was concerned for my safety and for Aaron’s. If she deliberately shot at me then who was to say she wouldn’t try again?

  He poured himself a small cup of water and took a sip while watching me over the rim. I could see a smile form behind the clear, plastic cup. “I think it’s safe to say you won’t ever have to worry about that bitch ever again. After your father confessed, he also provided plenty of proof to send her to prison for many years. Sadly, he’ll probably serve some time too for aiding and abetting,” he explained. “I’m really sorry, Lennox.”

  I scribbled down, “don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault.” I gave him a reassuring smile.

  “If there’s any consolation, the cops are opening your mother’s murder case back up. I know without a doubt justice will be served this time.”

  “What about your death?” I wrote.

  He chuckled as if any of this was a laughing matter. “Interesting you ask that. Your father wasn’t the one who ordered my death, it was Pam. She orchestrated the entire thing without your father’s knowledge. Hard to believe he took the blame to protect her.” He shook his head again with repugnance. “I hope she rots in hell, but first, I hope she lives a torturous life in prison.”

  A yawn escaped me and I found it difficult to fight the urge to sleep any longer.

  Aaron took notice of my fatigue. “I know you’re super tired, and I’ll leave soon so you can rest, but before I do that, I need to ask you something.”

  Lifting my eyebrows as if to say ‘what,’ I nodded, indicating to go ahead.

  He stood up and paced back and forth by my bed. “That first day I met you in the rain, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. When you treated me like shit, I couldn’t ignore the feeling in my gut that told me you had a good soul, it just needed to be dug up by the right person.” He wrung his hands nervously. “When our paths crossed again, I knew fate took a hand in our destiny and our chances of crossing paths twice weren’t coincidental.” He stopped pacing and stood directly in front of me. “I’ve known from the moment you carried me out of that ditch and brought me back to your house that I would fall in love with you. No matter how difficult it would be for us to be romantically involved, I couldn’t stop my feelings for you. The harder I fell, the more human I turned. When I changed completely, there was no doubt in my mind that I was meant to spend the rest of my life with you. These last four days in the hospital has been the most difficult time of my life. Harder than it was when I was living on the streets without a penny to my name. To live without you would be like dying in hell.”

  Aaron shoved both hands into the front pocket of his jeans. “Please tell me you want to spend the rest of your life with me, too?” he asked, staring at me. His eyes were etched with fear.

  With a nervous step, he sat down on t
he edge of my bed and took my hand in his, then gently kissed the inside of my palm. “Lennox Rae Collins, there is no place else I’d rather be than by your side for the rest of my life. I want to try a life with you. I’ll get a job. I’ll take care of you. And then when you’re ready, I’m going to put a ring on your finger and make you my wife. Will you plan a future with me? Will you give us a shot to see if we have what it takes?”

  The beeping in the room suddenly reached a crazy level of vibrato. Any moment, I expected the nurses to come rushing through the door. There was no thinking it through. Our bizarre encounter wasn’t coincidental, it was our destiny. “Yes!” I blurted. Cringing from the sudden pain in my throat, I wrapped my hand around my neck as if it would help ease the discomfort.

  Nodding my head like a bobble head, I wrote YES as big as the blank space on the paper allowed.

  Aaron jumped up from the floor and did a fist pump in the air before rushing back to me. He cradled my face in his hands and kissed me subtly on the mouth. “I love you,” he murmured against my lips. “Thank you for giving me you.”

  THE END

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  Acknowledgements

  As always, I want to thank my family and friends for putting up with my absence as a wife, mother, sister, daughter, and best friend. I promise, I’m working on making time for y’all. But, if I fail, please forgive me.

  Secondly, I want to thank my two amazing beta readers, Terri Thomas and Amy Jennings. I truly have no idea what I would do without you two. You both have held my hand every step of the way, and without your expertise, Inseparable Strangers would be a big crap story nobody would want to read. Aside from being the best beta readers ever, I thank you so much for your true friendship. Love you ladies!

  Thank you, Sheena Martin for adding your special touch to all my grammatical errors.

  Last but not least, I want to thank my Smutsisters - Adriane, Alexis, Amy, Beth, Dympna, Joan, Kadene, Kelly, Summer, Teri, and Terri. We have been on one crazy roller coaster of a ride, but no matter what, you ladies will always have a spot in my heart.

  About this Author

  Jill Patten was born a Yankee, but raised a southerner. She lives in the small town of Mayberry, North Carolina which was made famous by a popular TV show back in the sixties. (Maybe there will one day be a statue of her at the end of Main Street. Ha! A girl can dream, right?)

  Jill has always loved to read, even during reading labs in middle school for reading comprehension. Judy Blume was her first author she hero-worshipped, maturing to revere the works of Stephen King. With all the fantastic authors today, she simply cannot choose a favorite. Her taste is very eclectic and she loves almost all genres. When she's not captivated by her fictional characters, she spends time with her sweet husband and two beautiful children.

  Music is her muse. Jill also loves elephants, sarcasm, and anything made with sugar, especially sweet tea. She enjoys all things rude and crude and laughs at stuff she probably shouldn't. She has been accused of being bossy a time or two, but doesn't really see it herself.

  All in all, Jill is just a small town girl in this great big world trying to enable your book addiction.

  Oh, and if you read her book, please leave her a review - good or bad, she'll love you forever.

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