Page 94 of Bound By Secrets

At first, only Callum and Connor were allowed in the room to see her, but Colin pulled some strings and got the nurses to allow us all inside.

I place my hand over hers, being careful not to touch the IV in case it causes her any pain.

“You think she meant it?” Nate asks, drawing my attention away from Callie.

“Meant what?”

He sits in the seat on the other side of her bed, his eyes drifting over her face.

“She shouted that she loved us all before she stabbed Cameron, right?” I nod, glancing over at Brad, assuming he toldNate everything. “Do you think she actually meant it? Or was she saying it because she thought she was going to die?”

I shrug and Connor scoffs from where he’s perched by the window.

“It was both,” he states, casting his haunted gaze across each of us. “She wouldn’t have said it unless there was meaning to it, and she most likely blurted it out, believing it was going to be the last thing she said to any of us.”

I hear Nate sigh and watch as Brad walks over to him, sitting on the arm of the chair and patting his shoulder.

I look towards Connor, gazing out of the window again. Placing a soft kiss against Callie’s head, I trudge over to him, leaning against the wall.

“Are you not going to wait outside for your Mum and Crystal with Callum?”

He shakes his head, tearing his eyes away from the parking lot below.

“I’ll go down there once they’re here. I don’t want to be away from Callie at the moment.” I nod in understanding and watch as a frown mars his face.

“What’s on your mind, Con?”

“I still can’t understand why Cameron had such a vendetta against Callie. It doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t understand how he could hate her enough to do what he did to her.”

“Connor, there’s no use in trying to understand it, mate. Cameron was sick and deeply disturbed. Nothing he did or said made much sense and I don’t think it ever will because his mind works differently to ours.”

“I just wish that I could ask him questions and get to the bottom of it,” he huffs. “Why do you think he branded her with his initials?”

I cringe at the mention of the brand that’s burned into Callie’s thigh.

“Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe he knew she might survive and wanted to leave her with a constant reminder of what he did to her, or it could have been some sort of taunt because she’s not a Conrad, and now she’ll forever have those initials on her. It could’ve even been a twisted way of claiming her. There’s no point dwelling on something that can’t be changed.”

“She’s going to hate it when she sees it.”

My gaze drifts over to Callie, my heart clenching in my chest.

“Yeah, she probably will, but we’re all going to be there for her to help her through it all. Maybe once the scar tissue has healed, we can convince her to get a tattoo to cover it up.”

He chuckles softly, his saddened eyes watching outside the window again.

“I couldn’t imagine her ever getting a tattoo, even if it was to cover that thing up.”

I’m awakened from my slumber when I hear the sound of Callie’s hospital room door opening. I squint my eyes, the light from the hallway causing them to sting.

When I spot a glimpse of short blonde hair, I shoot out of my seat, rubbing the sleep from my eyes before focusing my gaze on Clarissa.

She smiles at me sheepishly as she hobbles into the room. The sight of her uneven walk and the wooden walking stick that she heavily leans on with every step has a small amount of sympathy seeping into my veins.

“Sorry darling, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Her voice is soft and caring, just like it used to be.

“Why are you here?”

---