Page 90 of After All This Time

But unfortunately, I don’t have the power to heal people.

It would make life so much easier if I did.

“How is this not my fault, Mom? I was in the car. I wish I was the one in the driver’s seat. I killed him. I killed Dad.”

Tears are falling out of Lizzie’s eyes. She’s trying to catch her breath.

“Don’t say that,” I say to her, tears welling up in my eyes.

“How can I not say that, lioness? I shouldn’t be here right now,” she says.

My eyes narrow. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t want to talk anymore. I just want to be alone. Please,” she pleads.

Noah’s breath makes contact with the skin on my neck, causing me to breathe in and out.

His arms wrap around me even tighter than they were previously. I cave again, putting my hands on top of his. They’re freakishly large, accentuating how dainty my hands are.

Goosebumps form on top of his hands, making my body jolt. His thumb gently rubs against mine.

I smile, knowing my touch is not only making him lose his mind, but because I’m calming him at the same time.

Noah seems to calm down when I touch his skin, especially when he’s on the brink of having a panic attack or when he’s in the middle of one.

I noticed it when I helped him for the first time a month ago, and when we were at the Promenade outside of Sunset Cove Creamery.

The weird thing is I calm down too when I feel his skin on mine. The same thing happens when I look deep into his eyes.

Here I go rambling on about Noah again. My mind can’t seem to get rid of him. He’s like a video that never stops replaying.

I wonder if he thinks about me in the way I think about him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

noah

“We should give Lizzie some space,” Mom suggests, gesturing to us to get the hell out of the room. Dani gets off my lap, looking at my sister as she walks out.

Celia and Mom are the next ones to leave the room, leaving Dani and I alone with my sister.

This is all too much for me.

Dad.

My sister.

Mom.

The only good thing to come out of all this is Dani. I wouldn’t be able to get through any of this without her.

I need to get out of this hospital.

Home sounds good right about now, but I can’t drive in the current state of mind I’m in.

My head is spinning. Everything is blurry.

I try to sit down on one of the chairs in front of Lizzie’s room, but I miss it. I land hard on my ass. “Fuck,” I mutter to myself.

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