Page 33 of Never Forget You

I can do that. There is so much standing in the way of us, there always has been, and this is the last clue that we can’t make this work. However much we want to, and wereallywant to, it might be time to walk away at long last. It might kill all of us, but at the same time, it might be what needs to happen.

“I don’t think that you need to turn your back on anything,” Mom finally says softly. “I’ve never seen you happy, you certainly weren’t with Ben, so if he makes you happy, then you shouldn’t turn your back on him.”

“What if he turns his back on me, though? I couldn’t blame him if he did. Why would he want any of this?”

“I don’t know,” Mom admits. “But don’t put yourself in that head space, Georgia. Don’t think that everything is going to fall apart because it might not yet. You are only doing that because you need a distraction.”

God, she’s right. I’m trying to think about anything other than the mess that is surrounding me. I just don’t want to get too wrapped up in Ella and the fact that she’s missing because my brain will start going to the worst places. If I start imagining theworst happening, then I really will fall apart. I’m barely holding it together as it is.

“I just can’t handle it, Mom.” I leap up and begin pacing up and down the room. “I can’t take any of this. It’s too much. He wants to take Ella away from me just to upset me. He doesn’t give a shit about her. He never did when we were married, and he was quick to sign his parental rights away because money was more important.”

“He isn’t going to do anything to Ella,” Mom reassures me with a hug. “He won’t even get far with her. Not with your father on the case. You might not realize this, but he will do anything for that little girl. He will go to the ends of the earth for her. Even if he once liked Ben and thought that he was a good guy, there’s no way he’ll let him have Ella. You just wait and see.” Mom holds my face in her hands so that she can stare into my eyes to make sure that her words really sink in. “Your father will solve this for you, just you wait and see.”

God, I hope that she’s right. I really need her to be right, more than anything else in the world.

26

HARRY

“M–Mom?” I ask groggily as I finally get to see her face for the very first time since this happened. “Am I okay?” I try and study myself. I do feel okay, albeit a little numb. “How hurt am I? Is this really bad?”

“The doctors have stitched you up, sweetheart.” Mom has tears flowing down her face. But they seem to be happy tears. Probably because I’m awake at long last. “You’re going to be just fine. Don’t you worry about anything.”

I push myself up into a sitting position. I’m sure that there must be some pain somewhere under all of this, but I really can’t feel it at the moment. I can’t feel anything, which is perfect because I need to get the hell out of here.

“Mom, I need to go,” I tell her in a hurried tone of voice. “I need to go and help Georgia with Ella.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” She presses her hand to my chest to stop me from moving. “You can’t go anywhere. They won’t discharge you until they can be one hundred percent certain that you are safe…”

“I’m fine, Mom,” I declare in a determined tone of voice. “I’m okay. I need to help her. Her daughter has been kidnapped by the child’s father who is a madman. He did this to me. I can’t just leave her to be harmed.”

“And what about you? What about you in this situation, huh? You’re already hurt. I don’t want it to get worse. You were stabbed, Harry. I don’t think you understand how serious that is. I think you’re in shock.”

“Mom.” I roll my eyes. “Mom, I’m fine now. Look at me. I’ve never been better. I need to do this.”

“The girl doesn’t seem to do anything but get you into trouble, Harry.” Mom looks pissed off now. It’s an expression that I know well. I saw it a lot when I was a teenager. But not now. Now, I’m an adult. “She hasn’t done anything but cause you hassle. When you were younger, and now as well. I don’t like this at all.”

“Mom, you don’t understand this situation. I don’t have time to explain it to you at all. I need to get going.”

She holds me down and fixes me in place. Unfortunately, it seems like I’m too weak to fight her off right now. Fucking Ben. Why did he have to do all of this to me? What an asshole. What a fucking asshole. And he has Ella…

“Mom, I love Georgia. I know that I haven’t shared it with you, but I love her. I always have. For years and years, I’ve loved her. Me and her… we’re the real deal, and right now, she’s in trouble. Her daughter is in trouble too. I need to be there for them, and before you can tell me not to get in the middle of it, Iamin the middle of it.”

“Well, I don’t like this.” She shakes her head hard. “I don’t like it one bit. It doesn’t sound healthy to me.”

“I know, and I understand.” I nod because I do. If I were in her position, then I’m sure I would feel the same way as well. “But I will make you see that I’m doing the right thing here. You just need to trust me, okay? You just need to believe that I know what I’m doing and that everything will be okay in the end. Trust me? Believe in me?”

She looks at me like I’ve lost my damn mind. I can tell that every instinct inside her wants to scream out with agony because the last thing that she wants to do now is help me. Especially when she has clearly had Matthew in her ear with his constant rambling, which I willhaveto sort out at some point, but eventually, she nods.

“Fine, if this is what you think that you need to do, then go. I will sort the doctors out for you, make sure that we get your discharge papers without a fuss. You know that I can sort out anything, no problem.”

“You will?” I can’t believe how much she’s willing to help me. This is so nice. And she can sort stuff out when she goes into ‘Mom Mode’. She has this knack of just making people listen to her. “Thank you, Mom.”

“Just please be careful, will you?” She begs me with her words and her eyes. “I don’t want you hurt anymore. I don’t really know what I’m allowing you to go back into, and I’m scared that this will be a decision that I’ll regret.”

“No one is going to hurt me again, I can promise you of that.” I can promise this because I simply refuse to let it happen. “No one. I’m going to help, and that’s what I will do. Now, can you help get me out of this bed?”

Even if she doesn’t want to, Mom does help me. She might mumble some stuff under her breath, but she lifts me up, assists me with getting myself dressed in my own clothing once more, and helps me out the door. I’m only unsteady on my feet for a few moments before I regain myself and I can move with ease. The numbness is actually helpful. It speeds me along and gets me out of the hospital before anyone can stop me in my tracks. I keep expecting one of the doctors to stop me and insist that I’m subjected to more testing before I’m allowed to go. But no one does. They all seem far too busy with other patients to notice me. I suppose I could just be anyone right now.

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