Page 28 of Broken Skulls

I have to get the feeling of his lips and the blood off me.

“Elizabeth, stop,” he orders, pulling me away from the sink.

Water drips from my lashes as I blink at him.

JD’s blue eyes roam over me with concern before he roughly pulls me against his chest. “Goddammit, woman, just talk to me.”

When I don’t, he ushers me to sit on the floor beside the little door in the wall, and then he leaves.

I hear him slide his side open. “You can tell me anything. I’ll keep your secrets, Elizabeth. Consider this your confessional.”

“Why are you calling me that?” I ask, suddenly feeling exhausted.

“It’s your name, isn’t it?”

“Everyone calls me Lizzie.”

“I’m not everyone. Lizzie is who you were throwing off the cliff. I don’t want her. I want Elizabeth.”

I don’t say anything.

“I know I’m right, because I do the same damn thing. Everyone calls me JD, but deep down that’s not who I am.”

My fingers brush over the door, and I open it slowly. He smiles when our eyes meet.

“I thought it would be easier for you to talk if you didn’t have to look at my ugly mug,” he jokes.

“You’re not ugly. Not even close,” I laugh lightly.

He holds his hand out to me through the little box. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth. My name is Jacob.”

Jacob.

I like that.

Hesitantly, I place my hand in his. His fingers wrap around mine firmly as he shakes my hand.

We continue to hold hands, staring at each other. A sob escapes me as the loneliness that has consumed me for so long surrenders to the darkness. And I find that’s where I want to leave it. I want to be with him on the other side.

It’s the first time I’ve wanted something other than death.

“I had a baby,” I admit quietly.

He doesn’t flinch. “Is that who painted the dragonfly I found in your car?”

I nod, my heart beating out of my chest. I’ve never told anyone about her. The only people who knew I was pregnant were my parents and Dr. Williams.

And now Jacob.

“Tell me about it.”

So I do. I tell him that I was just a teenager and how upset my parents were when they found out. “They were wealthy and highly respected in our community. They didn’t want anyone to know.”

I pull my hand out of his slowly and turn away from him to slouch against the wall, resting my cheek against it.

“They turned to Dr. Williams for advice. He recommended they send me to this maternity home for teen moms in California. They told everyone I was going to study abroad for a year in Italy.”

“That’s shitty.”

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