Page 79 of Bianchi

Atapping on the bottom of my shoe rouses me from sleep. Everything aches from my awkward sleeping position and I crack my neck as I push through the fog clouding my mind. My eyes land on a pair of sneaker-clad ankles, traveling up the smooth bare legs. Pausing momentarily on the white dressing on her thigh, I’m hit with the familiar cocktail of regret and guilt before continuing on to meet Aurora’s frustrated gaze.

She juts a hip, sighing heavily. “What are you doing?”

I clear my throat and stand. “I wanted to be here in case you needed me.”

Every night since she returned, she’s had a nightmare. Her body trembles and she cries out. The only way I’ve found to soothe them was for me to hold her, but I don’t think she knows that.

She huffs out a breath and mutters something I can’t make out before dismissing me, turning to walk down the corridor with her crutch. Like a lost puppy, I follow behind.

Praying that she can hear the sincerity in my voice, I say, “I know my words won’t make any of this right or fix us, but I’m sorry, Aurora. For everything I put you through and for not believing you when you needed me to. If I could take everything back, I would.”

She turns to face me, her eyes glassy. “You’re right.” Her tongue swipes over her bottom lip. “It doesn’t fix anything. You can’t unsay what you said. You broke us. And as far as I’m concerned, your apology is as useful as a punch to the face and I took a fair few of those. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment with Doc.”

My stomach plummets and I reach for her when she goes to walk off. A spark of electricity races from the tips of my fingers straight to my heart, but I ignore it. “Is everything okay?”

She tugs her elbow away. “Yes. It’s just a checkup to make sure I’m on track to have my stitches removed in a couple of days,” she replies dismissively.

Right. Because in four days, it will have been a week and Doc will give her the all clear. And I haven’t got any reason for her to stay. Desperation claws at my throat, but I’ve had a lifetime of masking my feelings, so it’s easy enough to push down.

Waving an arm in front of us for her to continue walking, I look at her pointedly when her eyes narrow with suspicion before she starts moving again.

Shrugging, I say, “I don’t have anything going on this morning, so I’ll come with you.”

I nearly barrel into her back when she comes to a stop in the middle of the hallway, spinning to face me with panic pulling at her features. “You don’t need to do that.”

“It’s not an issue.”

Her knuckles turn white as she tightens her grip on her crutch. Stopping short of stomping her foot, she huffs, “I don’t want you to come.”

I fight to hide the twitch of my lips, scrubbing a hand over my jaw and forcing my mouth to relax. “Well, I need to see him anyway.”

She steps forward, her mouth open slightly. Her eyes bore into me, daring me to lie to her face. “What for?”

Rubbing at my right shoulder, I reply, “My shoulder. It’s been playing up ever since the restaurant.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

I narrow my eyes, unsure where she’s going with her question. “Not at all.”

“It kind of feels like you do.” I open my mouth to respond, but she holds up her hand, cutting me off. “The bullet grazed your left shoulder, Romeo. In case you forgot, I was there.”

Cracking my neck, my chest expands and with a firmness to my voice I reply, “I fell on my right shoulder and it’s been playing up.” It’s not technically a lie. I have hurt my shoulder, just not at the restaurant.

Instead of questioning me further, like I expect her to, Aurora sighs and turns back to walk away, ignoring me for the remainder of the way to the room Doc uses for consultations on the ground floor.

I have four days until the week is up and I’m not ready to let her go, even if that’s what she wants. For the first time in my life, I’m not sure how to get her to stay. Forcing her isn’t an option. I did that once before and look how well it turned out.

No, I need to earn back her trust and make her want to stay.

Chapter 52

Aurora

It’s Friday and today is my penultimate checkup with Doc, which means I’m one step closer to my freedom. To putting all of this behind me and packing up my life to move to New Zealand. The furthest possible country from him.

Why does the thought of leaving fill me with dread?

A pressure builds in my chest, hurting my heart. I should be feeling elated, even happy at the prospect of my future. It shouldn't feel like this. I know that leaving is the right thing, but I can’t shift this heaviness and the feeling that this might not be the right decision.

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