Page 84 of Savage Justice

“You need to wake up. If you can hear me, please, let me know. Squeeze my hand. Open your eyes. Something. Anything.”

Nothing.

I take his hand in both of mine. “I love you, Nico. I know I never said that before. I should have, but you know how it is. It never seemed… like the right time.”

I’d thought I had all the time in the world. I’d believed we had forever. I was wrong. I know that now.

“Please, Nico, don’t leave me. Come back to me, to us…”

Silence engulfs me again, punctuated only by the incessant chorus of the machines. I drop my head back onto the mattress and close my eyes.

“Molly…?”

The voice in my dream is soft, barely there at all. It breathes my name, then falls away, silent again.

I drift back to sleep, dozing lightly, only half listening to the sounds of the machines.

“Molly.” It’s louder, stronger. Someone is calling my name. No, not calling, but not whispering either.

I open my eyes and lift my head. The room is empty but for me and…

“Nico!”

I sit bolt upright and stare into those dark-chocolate eyes I’ve come to adore. “You’re awake.”

“More or less.” He gives me a lop-sided smile.

“Are you…? I mean, I should call a nurse.” I reach for the alarm button.

“Not yet.” His voice is hoarse, gravelly. “Let me just… enjoy the moment.”

I pause. “You might be bleeding internally.”

“I’ll take that risk. Was it true?”

“Was what true?”

“All that stuff you said. It was you, I assume. At least, I hope…”

“You heard me?” I try to recall exactly what I said while I pleaded with him not to die.

He inclines his chin. “You said you love me.”

I meet his gaze. “Yes.”

“And now?”

“What do you mean?”

“People say all sorts of stuff when they’re scared. Did you mean it?”

I can only nod.

“Say it. Say it again, out loud.”

“I love you, Nico Hanssen.”

His mouth curls in a smile. “I love you, too, Molly Lowe. And I didn’t mean what I said before. Yesterday… was it yesterday?”

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