“Well, then you might just have to show me,” he says with a cocky smirk and in this moment I feel like the past has been washed away. It was just the two of us. The way it should have always been.
“Seraph,” I hear him say, his mouth still pressed against mine.
“Yeah,” I call out, still in my intoxicated state.
“As much as I want to spend every second with my body against you, I don’t think we should be doing this so high in the air,” he says.
I pull back, my lips pouty. He laughs at my reaction.
“OK,” I breathe out.
Braeden slowly jumps down and turns back around, his free arm outstretched to catch me.
“Do you trust me, Seraph?” he asks.
“With my life,” I respond with a smile.
I close my eyes and jump from the branch, his arm hugging around me and his grip tight, our faces close together.
“I just want you to know, you can’t run away again,” he says, his statement making my heart quicken. “I’m here to stay.”
“I already made that mistake once,” I say softly. “I don’t plan on making it again.”
I slowly set her back down on the ground but re-lock our hands.
“Come on,” I say pulling on her, heading back in the direction we came from.
When we reach the house again I see a figure on the porch, a wide smile across its face.
“Hey, Rain,” I say.
She just continues to smile. “About time you got here,” she jokes to Braeden.
“I know,” he responds.
I see that she is gripping her suitcase in her hand.
“You’re not staying?” I ask.
“I figured you guys could use some time alone,” she says softly. “Plus, I have the whole world to see.”
I let go of Braeden’s hand and wrap my arms around her.
“Thank you,” I say into her ear. “For everything. Just promise me that I will see you again.”
“I will always be with you, in this life and the next,” Rain smiles.
I pull back, Rain turning her attention to Braeden.
“Take care of each other. You both need each other more than you think.”
“She’s my life,” he says.
“And you are her guardian angel,” Rain smiles. I see him nod.
“See ya,” she says before walking down the driveway and soon out of sight.
I turn back to Braeden.
“So, this is my home,” I say nervously, it resulting in me chewing on my bottom lip. “It could definitely use some help.”
I see him shake his head.
“It’s beautiful,” he says as he looks over it. “I understand why you like it here.”
I see him step forward and put his hand in mine. I let out a laugh as he bounds up the front steps, our bodies soon inside the foyer.
“Why is everything still here?” he asks, confused as much as I was when I got here.
I smile. “My father left it to me,” I explain.
“Wow.”
“Yeah, it’s a long story. They kept it from me,” I state.
Braeden’s hands come up on either side of my face.
“I never want you to think about them again,” he says.
He then puts his lips to mine. Our kiss is deep like before but now I can feel the burn between my legs and the tightening in my stomach growing. He slowly leads us against a wall, his hips thrust into mine, effectively pinning me against it. His hand travels over every inch of my torso and my hands tease along the hemline of his shirt. His hands find my bottom and he cups them, making my legs interlock around him.
“Jesus Christ,” he says between us, it clear that he is feeling what I am feeling.
I need more of his touch, my body craving everything that he can give me.
“Braeden?” I call out.
“Hmmm?” he says, his lips pressed against my collar bone.
“I need you,” I say shyly.
I barely have time to finish my sentence before my body is peeled off the wall and I am thrown over his shoulder, his grip on me even tighter. We remain in the open for a second, our bodies spinning around. We both laugh.
“Where the hell do I go?” he asks.
“That way,” I say pointing to stairs.
We bound up them quickly and I swear that he is taking two at a time.
“Left!” I shout out when he starts to make his way towards what was once my father’s room. That would be horrific.
Pushing open my bedroom door we stand in the middle of it, Braeden taking his time to look around. He puts me down slowly. His eyes fall upon my nineties boys band poster. I walk over to it, trying to cover it up with my body. He just smiles.
“Don’t worry, I won’t love you less because you had bad taste in music,” he jokes.
He continues to look around and I get antsy, his attention running away from the task at hand. I decide to take matter into my own hands. I pull my shirt and sweatshirt up and over my head, thankful for the clean clothes that Rain had brought me, which included a match bra and panties. Braeden’s eyes are immediately back on me, his fingertips now trailing around my stomach.
“You are so beautiful, Seraph.”
Once we are both on the bed, he situates himself between my legs and my body waits, needing and craving him like an addict. He enters me and I gasp, my hands finding each side of his hips. With every thrust I feel as though I may begin to cry. Grabbing one of Braeden’s hands I place it over my heart.
“This is what you do to me,” I explain.
His hand then travels over my breasts, my nipples being pinched between his fingertips, making my hips buck and inviting him to enter me even deeper. I don’t know how long we are at it, the notion of time seems nonexistent. I feel the pleasure build up inside me and I may spill over at any time.
“I’m so close,” I call out.
With that statement he begins to thrust even faster.
“Come for me,” he speaks. “I want to feel you come around me.”
And just like that, I do. My eyes slam shut and the pleasure rips through every ounce of my body, flowing from my head to the tips of my toes. Sometime between my state of bliss, I feel Braeden come, too, and I can’t help but smile, knowing that I can also bring him pleasure. Once we finish, we lay side-by-side in the small bed, both our chests rising and falling rapidly.
At some point we must have fallen asleep, a deep chill runs through my body and wakes me up. I look out the window, the sky is full of different hues of orange and red. I look back down at Braeden, his naked form still resting.
“I love you,” I say so softly that it doesn’t waken him.
Reaching out, I run my fingers through his hair and begin to trail down his back. A reminder of what happened.
“Something that can be healed,” I say to myself.
Just then, a ruthless pain rips through me and I grip my chest as I begin to fall backwards, screaming out Braeden’s name as I do.
Chapter 71
Phoenix
Pain.
There is so much pain that I’m surprised I don’t lose consciousness from it. It feels like every bone in my body has been shattered and every inch of my skin bruised. I try to open my eyes but I can’t. Something is keeping them shut. I begin to panic and try to move my arms and legs but they are weak. Am I paralyzed?
An ever-increasing beep reaches my ears and I concentrate on it, since it is the only sound I can hear. Someone’s hands are on me and I cry out, not being able to see them is terrifying me.
“Shh,” is all the voice coos. It’s quiet and comforting.
I feel something being pulled away from my eyes and I pop them open, the bright light harsh. My eyes are extremely dry and I blink rapidly to regain some moisture.
I now see whose hands are on me and it’s a face I don’t recognize. She holds a flashlight in her hand, taking turns shining it in each one of my eyes.
“Do you know where
you are?” she asks, her voice distant and muddled.
I shake my head.
“You’re at the hospital,” she states.
I look at her confused.
“Do you know where you are?” she asks.
I nod.
“Oregon,” I say through a dry and scratched throat.
She is the one now looking at me confused.
“No,” she says while shaking her head. “You’re in San Francisco.”
I begin to get upset. This nurse does not understand what I am saying.
“Do you know your name?” she asks again.
“Phoenix…Harper,” I say, pausing to swallow between words.
“Good,” she says.
She continues to look over me, touching and feeling all over my body.
“Are you in a lot of pain?” she asks.
“Yes,” I respond.
“I’ll have your doctor increase the amount of morphine,” she starts. “Can you lift your arm for me, Phoenix?”
I look down at my right arm, concentrating on my muscles until it lifts off the bed slightly, it shaking immensely.
“Good. That’s a good sign.” She smiles at me.
I continue to stare at her, confused by everything.
“Where’s Braeden?” I ask. “Can I see him?”
She looks into my eyes again.
“Oh, is that your boyfriend?” she asks with a smile. How does she not know who Braeden is?
“Yes,” I explain, repeating my question “Can I see him?”
“I think the doctor just wants to make sure your progress is well enough for you to have visitors.”
Turning off her flash light she pulls the blanket back over my body again.
“OK,” I say with disappointment. “What happened to me?”
“The doctor will be in shortly,” she says before exiting the room, her eyes sympathetic. “He will explain everything to you.”
I take this time to look around and I see a long curtain separating the room. I hear a steady beeping that is not coming from my own machine. The room falls quiet again except for the constant beeping of the machines. I don’t know how long they were gone, but every moment ticking away painfully slow. I jump a little when I hear the door being pushed open, someone coming through it. I think I smile a little when I see who it is.
“It’s so nice to see you awake Ms. Harper,” Dr. Harris says, his eyes warm and gentle. I am confused by his formalities.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, looking down at what I assume is my chart.
I ignore his question as I look up at him. Something about him is so different. His hair is darker. His eyes the wrong shade of blue.
“Ms. Harper?” I hear him repeat.
I snap my attention back and I begin to cry, tired of not knowing what’s going on.
“Where’s Braeden?” I cry out, wanting and needing his comfort.
I start to thrash around, my limbs somehow regaining strength. I feel two sets of hands on me, the nurse from earlier is back.
“Please, just calm down,” Dr. Harris calls out.
“Why am I here?” I call out between cries.
“If you calm down I can tell you,” he says, his hands still on me.
I slow down my movements and keep my eyes on him.
“You’ve been in a coma, Phoenix,” he says with regret.
I become paralyzed by his words, my body now remaining still.
“What?” I cry out. “How?”
He stands back up, his hands now off of me.
“You tried to commit suicide,” he says.
“No, I didn’t,” I call out. “You’re lying.” He pulls open the chart, reading some more.
“You tried jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge,” he reads. “You were pulled from the frigid waters seven days ago; you’ve been unresponsive until now.”
Everything in the world stops. I feel so lost, my mind not being able to comprehend what he just said.
“That can’t be possible,” I say to myself.
I hear Dr. Harris say something to the nurse but I don’t make out what it is. I reach down and grip the blanket with my sweaty palm, pulling it off of me.
“Miss Harper,” Dr. Harris says, his hands back on me.
“Stop calling me that!” I scream out. “You know who I am. You know me!” I continue.
I notice that a new nurse has entered the room, a needle in her hand.
“No!” I scream out. “Please, no,” I beg him.
“Wait,” I hear him say to the nurse, his hand reaching out towards her. The nurse stops in her tracks.
“Please…just get Braeden. He can explain this,” I say.
“Braeden, who?” he asks.
I am confused once again.
“What do you mean? Your son…”
Now he looks at me confused.
“How do you know my son?” he asks.
My knees go weak and I fall, his hands are the only thing supporting me. He sets me back on the bed and turns to the nurses.
“Leave us,” he says to them.
They both leave and it’s soon just him and I.
“Please, lay back,” he says. “You’ve had a rough time. You shouldn’t be moving so much.”
I do as I am told, even though I want nothing more than to leave this place. As I lay back, he grabs a chair and sits beside me. We are both silent until he speaks first.
“It’s normal for someone who’s just came out of a coma to become confused, to not understand a series of events prior to the injury,” he starts.
I don’t care what he has to say and I’m starting to think he’s the one with the head injury.
“Now, I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to think about it really hard.”
“OK.”
“What was the last thing you remember?” I think hard.
“I was at my home, with Braeden, and I felt a sharp pain in my chest.”
He opens my chart again. “Impossible,” he says stern like.
“What?” I ask nervously.
“You were seen at your home here in San Francisco an hour before your incident by your mother…an Elaina Collins.” He’s lying.
“And you say my son was with you?” he asks, his eye brows furrowed.
“Yes!” I respond, becoming even more agitated.
He sets my chart down on the bed beside me. “Do you think you can stand again?”
I just nod. He stretches his hand out towards me.
“I need to show you something.”
Putting my hand in his, he helps me to raise slowly, the pain still very much apparent in my body. We walk a few steps and I become even more confused when we do not exit the room. Instead, we walk around the curtain, my heart racing. Why is he taking me over here?
As I round the corner my eyes fall upon a blanketed form, the face of this figure not within eyesight. Their side of the room looks the same to mine, the body attached to numerous monitors, obviously where the extra beeping was being emitted from.
“This is my son,” he says, his voice heavy.
My eyes widen.
“He’s been in a coma for a little while longer than you,” he states.
I feel like I am going to faint.
“What happened?” my mouth utters before my mind even has time to catch up.
“He was attacked by one of his patients,” he explains. “A war veteran suffering from extensive post traumatic stress.”
And in the moment every hair on my body stands up, goosebumps breaking out everywhere.
“We’ve had a few responses, spike in his heart rate monitor but he hasn’t opened his eyes since.”
A single tear falls down my cheek.
“There is something that we have been monitoring for a while though,” he declares. I look up at him. “It could be nothing more than coincidence, but every time your heart rate increased, his did as well.”
A chill runs down my spine.
�
�Maybe you could talk to him? Tell him to wake up…” he says, a small but painful smile on face.
Neil steps out from beside me, his form approaching the bedside. He reaches out and runs his hand through his son’s hair. He leans down and kisses his forehead before standing back up. I can see tears in his eyes.
“I’m sure he would like the company,” he states. “Maybe a pretty girl’s voice will help him wake up.” He continues to walk right past me. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
And then I am alone. I remain in my standing position, staring at the bed. I couldn’t say how many minutes pass. I take one step forward.
Then another.
And another.
As I get closer I feel a tingling sensation flow through my body, it’s exciting and frightening at the same time. Maybe he doesn’t understand. Maybe it’s a different Braeden. And then I see him. I look over his lifeless face. But much like with Neil, something is different. Odd.
The grooves in his face are different, his hair a different shade of brown. His face is covered in facial hair and I am sad that I can’t see his eyes. I look over at the table beside his bed, a pair of black framed glasses folded on top of it.
“Phoenix,” I hear the sound of my name so soft that I swear I imagined it.
I look back down at him, his lips now parted ever so slightly. There’s no way. And then in one swift movement, his body jerks, his right arm coming up and gripping his chest. I rush closer to his side, placing one of my hands onto his clutched hand to steady him.
“Braeden!” I call out.
As soon as his name leaves my lips, his eyes fly open and, in return, I am met with the most vibrant green.
Chapter 72
Phoenix.
Everything stops.
My heart.
My ability to breath.
The world.
I don’t speak. I don’t move. I don’t think I could if I tried. All I can do is stare. Stare into the abyss of his eyes - deep pits of emeralds. They are the right shade. Nothing is different. Nothing is strange. For the first moment since I have woken up, I feel like everything is going to be OK. He continues to stare at me and I force my mouth into a tight smile. He doesn’t return one. His eyes travel away from mine, ending on my fingers that are still wrapped around his arm.
A Brand New Ending Page 32
