Page 89 of Fatal Attraction

Thirty Nine

Charlotte

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

“Ch-Charlotte? Baby, it’s me… Spike. Ca-can you hear me?”

A soft groan escaped my lips as I cracked my eyes open, the bright light forcing me to squeeze them shut again.

“Hang on, baby.” Suddenly the lights dimmed, and I was able to see clearly. “Is that better?”

“Much,” I muttered, my throat drier than sandpaper. “Water. I-I need water.”

My body was weak, and I could tell from the droopiness in my head that I’d been pumped full of painkillers. Spike rushed to my side with a bottle of water and a straw resting inside of it. He brought it to my mouth and instructed me to drink slowly.

“I-I love you,” he whispered, tears dotting over his fallen green eyes. “I love you so much. I-I don’t know what I’d have done if we lost you.”

I finished what water I wanted and then cracked a smile as he rested his palm against my cheek.

“I love you too, Spike.” I took my glassy eyes away from him long enough to glance around the room, frowning. “Where’s Phoenix?”

“He should be here soon. He had something to handle. But hey… We got him, baby. We got Perry.”

My eyes widened. “You did?”

He nodded. “Carter is awake. Thankfully, he remembered everything that happened the night you were taken.” He paused, his green eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” I tried to sit up and failed. “What happened?”

“When they got Perry, they searched his house and found Peter there.”

My heart jumped to my throat, and I shook my head in denial as he said, “I’m sorry, baby. He’s gone. Perry killed him.”

“No,” I croaked, my chest heaving so hard that I broke, hoarsely screaming at the top of my goddamn lungs as I weakly, desperately tried to remove the IV so I could launch out of the bed.

“CHARLOTTE!” Spike wailed as I continued to scream, sobbing so fucking hard my ribs screamed in protest.

“PETER! OH, GOD! PETER!”

He forced me down against the bed, refusing to let go the harder I thrashed, bawling my fucking eyes out.

“PE-PETER… PETER!” Tears flooded my face and my jaw terribly trembled. “No… NO!”

I wasn’t sure what came over me, but somehow, I was able to shove Spike hard enough to send him crashing into a chair. Once I was on my feet, the IV ripped free, I fucking ran for it, right out the door and down the pale white hallway. I busted through the doors and then fell to my knees, panting hard as I struggled reading the signs.

I had to get to the morgue, butfuck, I was so doped up, I could hardly make out where I was going. My vision became blurry, and it was then when I glanced down at the floor and discovered the blood pooling from my arm.

My legs wobbled, buckling, and the last thing I saw was Spike catching me before I hit the floor as I weakly cried Peter’s name.

I woke up alone, not caring what time it was, and instantly burst into tears. I remembered everything. What Spike told me, how Perry was in custody, and how Peter was dead.

Peter was dead…

I sucked in my sob, holding it in deep, and painfully reached behind my head for my pillow, pressing my face into it. I let it all out, my sorrow, my pain, and screamed, sobbing so fucking hard it made my sore ribs ache in protest.

He’s gone…

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