Page 214 of A Love Like Venom

I have to get to Reed.

Ihaveto find him.

Ineedto find him.

I rip the IV out of my hand and it sends a shot pain up my arm.

“Alice, what are you doing? Alice?” Her voice rises with alarm.

Ignoring her I swing my legs off the bed but her arms on my shoulders are preventing from moving forward. “Let go of me,” I say lowly.

She bites her lip. “Alice, stop. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

Her concern about my welfare should affect me. It should make me take pause but it doesn’t. Right now she’s an obstacle in my way.

“Let. Go. Of. Me,” I seethe.

I try to push pass her again but her hold tightens. And I hate how she is so much stronger than me right now. I hate how she’s keeping me away from the one person I need the most.

Biting down I move with all my might and her hold begins to tremble.

“Oak!” She yells out for him urgently with fear in her wide eyes.

Fear that I have placed there but my mind can’t seem to process that.

I only care about Reed.

I need him.

No second after she calls him the larger than life man comes barreling through the door. He comes to her aid within a second. His blue eyes that are usually gentle are as cold as ice, guarded. When they meet mine I see a flicker of sorrow. A hint of guilt. It’s gone before I can blink. And before I can take my next breath his hands have replaced Grace’s on my shoulder. He forces me back down on the bed. His eyes stay on mine the entire time and I can tell he’s fighting something.

“Oak, let me go. I have to see him. I need to see him. Please. Please, let me go.” I cry hysterically. He face falls before he can help it.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.” Even his voice sounds genuinely apologetic.

“Please. You don’t understand. I need him. I don’t feel whole. I need him.” I sound desperate.

His eyes stay on mine and I watch how they soften. He mutters something under his breath that I can’t quite catch. “Grace,” he addresses, his voice gentle. She comes to his side and waits for his next words. “Give Alice and I a moment alone with each other.”

My eyes flicker over to Grace whose eyes glance back and forth between us. Then her eyes finally settle on Oak’s. She places a soft hand on his shoulder. Immediately he turns his head to look at her. Something passes between them. Anunderstanding. A trust. She then nods her head and smiles sadly at me before she leaves the hospital room.

Oak returns his eyes back to mine and there’s an obvious shift. His blue eyes bleed into mine with an echo of loneliness and sorrow. “Believe me, I know all too well the feeling of not being whole.” He’s being open with me, vulnerable. The first I have ever seen his guard completely come down. Like his very own mask is off. It reminds me of Reed. That’s why they are so close compared to the rest of the members. Both were wearing masks to cope with their inner demons. And as much as my heart longs to find Reed it still finds it within itself to ache for Oak.

“Then you know,” I begin softly, “you know I have to see him.”

He finally releases me from his grip but his gaze keeps me from moving. And I know if I were to try and get past him it would be futile. He’s stronger, bigger. He can easily keep me down with one hand. But him removing his grip is his own version of trusting me and for some reason I don’t want to break that trust with him.

“I know.” He nods his head.

“Where is he? Just tell me where he is, Oak. I have to know. I need to know.”

He sucks in a breath. “The ICU.”

What is renaming of my heart stops. “How long?”

“For as long as you have been in here,” he answers vaguely.

“And how long is that?”

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