Wild Girl: Aston Creek High (Book 3) Page 2

  “I’m okay, I promise.”

  He watches me for a moment, not wanting to take my word for it and after what feels like forever, he finally gives in and lets me off the hook. “How are you feeling? I should let the nurse know you’re awake. What’s hurting? Do you need pain killers?”

  I try to work out where to start with his questions when he pulls out his phone. “I better call Shaylee. She was struggling to keep awake and ran down to get a coffee. She’s been a mess since she got here.”

  “How long has it been?”

  He shrugs, reaching across and pressing the call button for the nurse. “I don’t know, maybe twelve hours or so. You were in surgery for three and have been sleeping ever since.”

  Well…damn.

  Chapter 2

  Shay comes barging through the door of my hospital room with a coffee in hand, spilled all down her pajama top while it drips profusely from her arm.

  There’s a wild, animalistic stare in her eyes and as they come to me and I give her a small smile, she breaks. The coffee is completely forgotten, dropped to the floor as she goes down with it.

  Heavy sobs rip from her throat and she buries her face in her hands. “Oh, Skylah,” she cries, struggling to get the words out past the lump in her throat. “I thought I’d lost you.”

  “I’m right here,” I murmur as the nurse fiddles around with my morphine and helps me get comfortable. “I’m alright, it’s just a few scratches.”

  Shaylee’s head snaps up. “Just a few scratches?” she screeches, her tone splintering through my sore head, making me cringe while forcing a sharp glare out of the nurse. “You were shot and nearly drowned. What the hell, Skylah? That’s so much more than just a scratch.”

  I scrunch up my face. She’s right. I know she’s right, but I hate that she’s worrying. I understand where she’s coming from but I’m fine now and she can finally start to breathe. “I know,” I tell her. “I just don’t want you panicking. I know how worried you must have been.”

  Shay wipes the tears on the back of her pajama sleeves and lets out a deep breath. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I should be asking you how you’re feeling instead of crumbling into a mess on the floor. I was so worried about you. I can’t lose you again.”

  “You can’t get rid of me that easy.”

  She gives me a sad smile as Slade squeezes my hand and brushes his lips over mine. “I’ll give you two a minute.”

  Panic slams through me. “Don’t go,” I rush out, surprising both of us.

  His eyes search mine but seeing how desperately Shay needs this moment, he pulls back. “I’m just going to sit right outside the door.” He turns and points to where I can see out into the hallway. “I’ll take that chair right there so you can still see me.”

  I focus on the chair for a short moment before turning my eyes back to Slade’s and nodding. He takes a hesitant step back, still not releasing my hand until he physically can no longer reach. “Just say the word and I’ll come back,” he promises before taking another step and then another.

  My heart shatters as he walks through the door and I feel pathetic for how desperately I need him. The need to call him back to my side rushes through me but before I can break, Shay is by my bed and taking hold of my empty hand. “How are you feeling?” she questions, reaching with her other hand to grab the chair and drag it closer so she can drop her ass down onto it.

  She leans forward, still trying to get as close as possible. “I’m sore,” I tell her truthfully, not wanting to sugarcoat it. After all, she’s the one who’s going to have to look after me for the foreseeable future. It’s probably best she knows just how bad it is. “My throat and lungs hurt, like really hurt. Talking is hard and every little noise outside of this room seems to pound inside my head.”

  “What about your thigh?” she questions, looking down at my leg despite it being covered with a blanket.

  “If I don’t move, then I can pretend it’s not there. It’s a dull ache now but that might have something to do with the morphine.”

  “I’d say so,” she sighs, squeezing both of my hands. “I’m sorry you have to suffer through all of this, Sky. I can’t imagine how scary it must have been.”

  I glance away, not ready to admit just how right she is about that. “It wasn’t easy.”

  “I know your throat is sore but could you tell me what happened? The police were in earlier and wanting a statement and Slade wasn’t up for a chat while you were still out.”

  My brows furrow and I look up at her. “Why were they here?”

  “Standard policy,” she explains. “Anytime someone’s been shot, they must investigate.”

  “Good,” I whisper, hoping something positive might actually come out of this but then, how far does Lucien need to go before the cops will actually take him down? They hardly blinked at mine and Daniella’s rape allegations, maybe now this might force them to get off their asses and put him away.

  Shaylee squeezes my hand again, forcing my attention back to her. “What happened, Sky? I want to help you through this but I can’t if I don’t know what I’m trying to protect you from.”

  My eyes drop to our joined hands. “Where’s Blake?”

  Shay sighs softly and pulls her lips into a tight line. “I’m not sure. We’ve sent him a few messages and calls, but no one can get a hold of him. I’m sure he is just passed out again, he’ll be here when he wakes.”

  My heart starts racing as panic takes over. I glance out the door to Slade to see his eyes already on mine. “Blake?” I question raising my voice so he can hear despite how my throat screams at me to shut up. But I can’t seem to make myself shut up, I’m too fucking terrified that Lucien had grabbed him before running us off the bridge. It’s possible. Everyone was drunk and having a good time, he could have stumbled home and been collected in seconds and no one would have known.

  Slade nods and is on his feet in seconds. “I’ll find him,” he promises before disappearing, making my heart ease just a little, though he and I both know that it won’t completely relax until I know my baby brother is safe.

  I look back at Shay after taking a slow deep breath and rejoicing in the way the oxygen thrives within my lungs. I’ll never take breathing for granted again. You never know what you’ve got until your past threatens to take it away.

  Shay leans in just a little further, keeping her eyes locked on mine. “Slade and I had just left the party and we were maybe halfway home when the SUV pulled in behind us. He was driving recklessly, like speeding up and nudging the back of Slade’s truck and then he’d get in front and slam on the brakes. He tried to run us off the road at one point and that’s when I called the police.”

  “Oh, honey,” Shay says with tears in her eyes. “I can’t imagine what you must have been feeling.”

  I glance away, her emotions being a little too much for me to handle. “Slade finally got in front of him and he tried to lose him but the guy just kept coming, every turn; he was there. It was as though he was taunting us, trying to scare us as much as possible, and then we got on the bridge…”

  I stop as I can’t physically get the words out over the lump in my throat. I need Slade here. I don’t know If I can get through this without him.

  I take a deep, calming breath and try to remove the emotion. It’s just a story that needs to be told.

  With that resolve, I swallow the lump and try to push through it. “It happened so fast. One second he was behind us and the next, he’d pulled out and rammed the back of Slade’s truck. We went spinning and I was trying to find something to grab hold of when we hit the barrier and went flying.

  “I’ve never felt anything like it. It was kinda like a rollercoaster but one I didn’t want to be on. We crashed into the water and the windshield just shattered.” I brush a hand over my face. “I guess that’s how I got all these scratches. Slade said I hit my forehead at some point but I don’t remember that, just the water as it started rushing in.”

  Shay
shakes her head. “What kind of person would do this?” she questions, tears running down her cheeks.

  “It was Lucien,” I tell her. “I didn’t see his face but I know it, Shay. It was him.”

  “How can you be certain?”

  “Because he stood there at the top of the bridge and pointed a gun at us while we were trying to free our seatbelts. It had to be him, I just know it.”

  Shay leans over and grabs me, wrapping her arms around me. I gasp in pain but she doesn’t let go as she cries into my chest. “I’m so sorry,” she sobs. “I’m so, so sorry.”

  I curl my arms around her, taking short breaths to try and ease the ache in my chest. If this was anyone else, I’d push their bitch ass off, but Shay needs this and honestly, I think I need it too. Screw the pain. I’ve been through worse.

  “The water was so cold,” I whisper. “It was so hard to breathe even before we went under. All I know is that I was so scared. I could see the water rising and it just wouldn’t stop. I thought I was going to die. We were trying to pull at the seatbelts but they wouldn’t release. We were trapped.”

  A tear rolls down my cheek and splashes down onto the pillow beside me, but I force myself to finish the story. “It was only thirty seconds before I went under that he shot at us. It hurt so bad, but I couldn’t focus on it. I had to get out. The water hit my chin and in the blink of an eye, I was under. I wanted to scream but I couldn’t, that was the only oxygen I had. I didn’t know if I should be scrambling for Slade or the seatbelt, all I knew is that I had to make my oxygen last. I kept pulling, trying to get free with one hand while trying to hold my leg. I guess it’s a good thing that the water was so cold because it kinda numbed it but not much.

  “I couldn’t see anything under the water and I could feel myself slipping away. I remember thinking that I was finally going to see mom and dad.” A sob tears from my chest and I have to give myself a moment as it travels up my burning throat. “I wasn’t ready to go, but that thought made it easier. Do you know it’s peaceful?”

  Shay pulls back and looks down at me. “How do you mean?”

  “After the struggle, once everything starts to shut down. It’s peaceful. There was no white light or anything like that, just peace.”

  Shay’s face cracks and she crumbles to the side of the bed, crushing her face into her hands. “I never wanted any of this for you. Being four years old and witnessing what you did…I thought that was as bad as it gets and then that awful man…Oh, honey. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to make this end.”

  “I wish I had answers,” I whisper.

  “I know,” she says into her hands, desperately trying to wipe at the tears staining her face. “Tell me you-”

  “FUCK, SKYLAH,” Ben shrieks, barging through the door and making both me and Shay jump. “Please tell me you’re alright.”

  Shay flies to her feet, hastily wiping her face. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

  “She’s my niece,” he demands. “I have a right to know how she is.”

  “Are you serious? She is not your niece. She is my niece. You lost all rights to her when you led Anton Mathers to her parents' doorstep. Without you, none of this ever would have happened. She would have been home with her parents, not on the run from a fucking psychopath.”

  His face crumbles before he’s able to pull it back together. He peers around her to gaze over me and Shay instantly steps across blocking his view. “Please, Shay,” he begs. “Please, just let me know she’s alright and then I swear, I’ll leave, just tell me she’ll be okay.”

  Shay drops her gaze, not wanting to look at her husband a second longer. She glances back over her shoulder and meets my eyes, but we’re both too emotionally exhausted for any messages to pass between us. “Physically, she’ll be fine. A week in the hospital and some TLC then she’ll be back home where she belongs. Emotionally…I don’t know. I’m assuming she’s going to be pretty traumatized for a while.”

  Ben nods and the strain begins to seep out of his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispers, keeping his stare on his wife for a moment too long before turning it back on me. “I’m glad you’re alright, Sky.”

  I nod, not wanting to waste precious oxygen on the man who paved the path to hell for my parents.

  Seeing the pained expression on my face, Shay steps forward, demanding her husband’s attention. “I think you should go. She’s not ready for this. Neither of us are.”

  Ben doesn’t take his eyes off Shay and I see the desire and longing deep in his eyes. There’s regret, self-hate, and an apology ready to fly but he holds it back, knowing it will fall on deaf ears.

  Ben turns to the door with a heavy sigh but as he goes to walk away, he turns back and catches my eyes. “You’ve got to know how sorry I am,” he tells me. “I know you hate me right now, believe me, I’ve hated myself for thirteen long years, but I am here for you. Anything you need.”

  With that, he steps over the threshold and disappears, leaving Shay and I in silence, both of us not even close to being ready to deal with the Ben bomb.

  Shay takes a deep breath and tries to gain control of her emotions before turning back to me with a fake as fuck smile. “Fucking men,” she groans in a rare show of fiery language. “Are you alright?”

  I nod. “Fine,” I lie.

  She sees right through me and comes to sit back by my side, instantly scooping her hands into mine. “I’m sorry, honey. If I knew he was going to come barging in here like that, I would have tried to stop him.”

  “It’s alright. You can’t be mad at the guy for caring.”

  “No,” she sighs. “I guess I can’t.”

  She gives me a tight smile before resting back in her chair. “You’re going to be alright,” she promises me, though it’s almost as though she’s trying to convince herself. “I don’t know how, but I just do, okay. Lucien Valentine is not going to get away with this, not on my watch. I promise you, Sky, we’re going to fix this. I don’t want you ever running scared again, not in my house.”

  I squeeze her hand, silently thanking her for her support but knowing that when it comes to Lucien Valentine, there’s not a lot she can do. She’s just one woman and he’s the devil.

  Wanting to focus on getting better, she calls for the doctor and the second he steps into my room, she blasts him with question upon question of how I’m supposed to recover from all of this. He checks all my vitals while he’s in here and as he walks back out with a happier Shay by my side, Blake comes tearing through, wide-eyed and panicked.

  “WHAT THE FUCK, SKY? I came as soon as I heard.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I demand, grabbing Shay’s phone from beside her hand on the bed, not caring how this is going to set my throat back a few hours. I glance at the time. “It’s after three in the afternoon. Where the hell have you been? I thought something had happened to you.”

  “I’m sorry,” he says, rushing into the room and hovering over the other side of my bed, tearing the blanket off me to get a good look. “What happened? Please tell me Slade was just fucking with me? You did not get shot.”

  “You think I would make that shit up?” Slade demands, walking in behind Blake and meeting my eyes, making something settle within me.

  “I…I…FUCK. I don’t even know what to say.”

  Shay grunts. “You can start with where you were all night.”

  His eyes continue traveling over my body but keep coming back to the stitched gash on my forehead and the bandages wrapped around my thigh. “I was at home,” he practically cries. “I bailed from the party early and crashed. I was exhausted from the game so I turned my phone off.”

  “You’re kidding?” Shay questions, looking horrified.

  Blake ignores her comments. “I’m so sorry, Sky. I swear I’ll never turn my phone off ever again.” His hands go to his temples and he instantly starts pacing up and down the length of my bed. Two strides up, two strides down. “This was Lucien, wasn’t it? He h
urt you…again.”

  I don’t answer him as let’s face it, I don’t need to clarify something he already knows.

  “Let me get this straight,” Shay says. “You were home when I got the call that your sister was in an accident, and I left without you?”

  “Sounds about right,” Slade grumbles.

  “Shit, Blake,” she sighs. “I’m sorry. I just assumed you were out drinking yourself under the table again. I could have saved us all this unnecessary worry.”

  “Worry?” Blake questions. “Why? I’m not the one you need to be worrying about.”

  “Ain’t that the truth,” Slade says with a smirk, making my heart beat just a little faster. Seeing my reaction, he winks and for the slightest moment, I forget it all, hell I even forget my damn name.

  I look back to Blake, wanting to put his ass in place before Slade has me forgetting that I’m supposed to be mad at him. “Nobody could get a hold of you,” I explain with a slight cringe. “I thought that maybe…”

  “Shit,” Blake sighs in regret, stepping into my side and taking my hand. “You thought he took me back there?” I nod and he lets out a devastated groan while briefly closing his eyes. “I’m sorry, sis. I swear, I’ll do better.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” I tell him. “Just keep your phone on and tell me if you’re bailing from parties early. I can’t be worrying about you like that all the time. This is the second time Lucien has been back here. Four if you count him getting to Slade before we arrived and when he got to Roman. Though, who knows if he actually made the trip for that one.”

  “I thought you’d be happy that I wasn’t out partying all night.”

  I roll my eyes, despite the way it makes my head pound. “You’re such a turd.”

  “Yeah, I may be a turd, but you got shot and drowned all at once,” he teases, grinning and knowing exactly how to lighten the mood. “Look at all this commotion you’ve caused. There are better ways to get attention, you know?”

  “I swear to God, Blake,” I say, choking on a laugh. “If I could get up to kick your ass right now, there’d be a Blake-sized hole in the drywall.”