Page 46 of Dangerously Yours

I started to shake my head. The only one I’d had any issues recently with had been Cade, but even those had waned in the past few weeks. Initially, he had taken badly to having to pay alimony to me, and later my budding relationship with Noah. After the incident in my bedroom which I hadn’t breathed a word to anyone about, including the man lying in this hospital bed, Cade had been more accepting of our divorce. Relationships were hard enough and I understood that the finality of somecould bring out harsh feelings, but the man who gifted me my children was no killer.

Realizing that being here might only harm Noah more, I stood up and walked toward the door. I had just reached it when I heard my name, and it caused me to turn around. “Lulu.”

NOAH

My dreams were fitful, and they seemed to replay in a vicious loop over and over. I was in Lulu’s car and that blasted parking garage when I exited the vehicle. Each time, I couldn’t escape the hail of bullets, even though I had been expecting them. Each time, I hit the pavement, and I would wake up alone in a hospital room. Pain coursed through my body, the entire damn thing aching worse than anything I could’ve done to it on the football field.

My career. Everything I had worked my entire life for had slipped through my fingers. I had been so afraid that I would be traded, or even worse that I would be cut, that I never fathomed something like this would ever take me out instead. The doctors, though... Their words echoed in my head whenever I was awake. All I would hear were them, then I would see my football life flash before my eyes. My friends... my coaches... my teammates... Their disappointment was like a double-edged sword only twisting deeper into my chest.

A faint waft of perfume tickled my nostrils, and I recognized it right away. Every time I woke up, all I had wanted to see wasLulu. She had been here once, or maybe I had dreamed of her presence, and I desperately wanted to see her again. It was for that reason that I was likely imagining her favored scent of the Black Opium YVES Saint-Laurent perfume she always wore. It was like one of those iced drinks that I would bring her in the past. A slight hint of vanilla mingled perfectly with the scent of coffee.

I inhaled slightly, then nearly choked as the simple action sent pain racing from my ribcage to my chest. Opening my eyes, I looked toward the door and there she was. “Lulu,” I called out, and would’ve sighed in relief had I known it wouldn’t cause me additional undue pain.

“Noah,” she said as she turned and walked back over to me. I could see how damp her eyes were, and even the watery smile she tried to flash at me spoke to her current mood. “H-how are you?”

“Better now that you’re here,” I told her, hiding my wince. I had broken a rib back during my freshman year of college, but even it hadn’t been this bad.

She took a seat, then stared at me. To be honest, I was actually just glad to see her, even if she was upset. When I reached for her hand, I couldn’t disguise the pain that simple motion elicited, and she noticed it right away.

“You’re still in a lot of pain?”

I knew it was a question, so I simply nodded at first. “Yeah, but it’s nothing that won’t pass. How are you?”

“I’m fine. I?—”

“The truth, Lulu. And not the watered down version you think I need to hear.”

She took my hand, and just the warmth infused by the action had me feeling a lot better. Granted, my mobility was still severely limited, but my pulse slowed and I felt as if I could breathe just a bit easier. While her presence was making things better for me, I could see the pain in her eyes, and I watched as it grew sharper the longer she stayed with me. My presence was doing the exact opposite for her.

“Honestly, I’m freaking out,” she finally admitted.

I thought the truth would make me feel better, but knowing I couldn’t draw her into my arms and kiss her soft lips only made things worse for me. My chest had ached since the shooting, and knowing she was in need and I was unable to help her only made it hurt that much more. Since the two of us got together, all I had wanted to do was shield her from her troubles. I had wanted to lift the weight of the world from her shoulders and carry it on mine. I had failed in that endeavor, and it only made the pressure heavier on my chest.

“I can’t help but think that this is all my fault.”

“Don’t,” I told her. “It could’ve happened to anyone.”

“But, it didn’t. It happened to you,” she pointed out, then added, “And all I keep wondering is if the shooter thought you were me.”

“That’s impossible,” I told her, even though she could very well be right.

After all, I had barely even gotten two feet out of the car when the shooting started. So much of that day was still a blur. Iremember having picked up her car from the dealership, and parked it in her space. I had just gotten out when I felt the first bullet as it shattered my rib, then everything went black, only turning to technicolor when I woke up in this room. The police told me that I had managed to call 9-1-1 for help, but I couldn’t remember any of it.

“How can you be so sure?” She asked.

“Because...” I said, and quickly realized that I didn’t have an answer. In fact, I had none. I closed my eyes, and despite the spike in my heart rate as I tried to remember anything, I persisted until something flashed before my eyes. It was metal, or something metallic. I focused on the image, then realized the silver I was seeing in my mind had been from the car. “It was silver. The car.”

“S-Silver,” she said before her entire face paled.

Lulu was now white as a sheet. Her hand trembled on mine, and when I tried to grab it, she pulled it away. The screech of her chair as she pushed it back echoed in the room, competing with the incessant beeping of the various machines around me. She was now on her feet, and the terror on her face was still there. She began to pace, before finally turning on me.

“Are you sure that car was silver?”

I didn’t even know anyone who drove a car that color, but she seemed freaked out over the detail. “Yeah. It was a foreign sports car of some?—”

“Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!” It was all she said over and over.

Something had spooked her. “What’s the matter, Lulu?”

---