Page 118 of From Us, Forever

JAY

“She is knocked out cold, huh?” Mikey whispered as he entered the room and slowly shut the door behind him.

“Yeah,” I said softly as my gaze swept over the woman lying on my chest. God, she was beautiful. Even with her wild hair, dark circles, and pale skin, she was the most stunning sight. My heart still hurt at the way she cried last night. She must have been so scared trying to just hold on her own. Her busted lip only made me want to destroy that fucker all over again.

“She took it hard.” His gaze softened as he plopped down on the seat next to the bed. “Wouldn’t eat. Wouldn’t sleep. Wouldn’t even shower except for that one time.”

I sighed, tightening my grip around her. She felt so small in my arms, almost as if she had lost half herself in just a few days, and it was only breaking my heart.

“When the fuck are they letting me out of here?” I shifted in the uncomfortable bed. I still hadn’t gotten up, except for the one time the doctor made me. But my back was killing me. I just wanted to be back home in my own bed with my girl by my side.

“Not sure. Hopefully later today.”

I nodded. It was still the early hours of the morning, so I had to wait it out a bit. “What’s the news on the outside?”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Well, as for the outside world, you’ve been in an accident, and we put out a statement that you are perfectly fine and have been shifted home so the crowd outside would clear out. As for the other matter, the cops need a statement from both of you to tie everything up. But he’s already facing two counts of murder charges and an attempted one.”

“Fuck, later on that please. I can’t deal with it now.”

“Yeah, it’s no rush.” He yawned, rising to his feet. “I’ll go ask if they can discharge you any earlier. I’ll be a lot less worried if you’re at home.”

“Did you even get any sleep?”

He gave me a playful smile. “Not when your sorry ass gave us a scare.”

“Thank you,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “For keeping an eye on her and for everything.”

“You don’t ever have to thank me, brother.” He grinned before closing the door behind him.

I watched as the early morning light seeped through the thin curtains. Every breath I took felt a bit clearer, feeling like all the poison that’s been infecting our lives had finally been sucked out clean.

In the end, the only thing that mattered was her.

And I had her with me.

I can’t wait to give her the world—this time, free from the reins of our past.

EVY

“Jay, will you calm the fuck down and sit? You just had surgery,” I chided, trying hard to pull the brick of muscles back to bed, but he wouldn’t fucking listen.

Even Strawberry was barking, standing over the threshold like a guard. It’d only been a day since he was discharged, and he was already getting on my last nerve.

“Evelyn, I’m going to go get myself some water. Not committing any crime.” Jay pinned me with a stare, swatting my hand away, which made me plop back into the bed instead.

Even weak, he was so damn strong, or maybe I had gotten so weak. I didn’t know if it was because I had hardly gotten any sleep or because I sat in a plastic chair for too long, but my entire body hurt.

My back felt like a stiff board with pins and needles running all over my body.

“I can go and get that for you,” I replied, huffing out a breath as I dragged myself out of bed.

“You stay right here.” He pointed at the bed, and in a quick stride, he was right before my face. “Evelyn, I know I got shot and had surgery, but you also went through something traumatic,” he said softly. “You got kidnapped at gunpoint, for Christ’s sake, and I can tell how tired you are. No one is forcing you to be this hard on yourself.”

“But I’m fine.” I folded my arms, matching his stance. “I feel perfectly fine.”

Just then, his phone started to ring, and he let out a frustrated breath and picked it up. “Hello?” He frowned, running a hand through his hair. “Now?” He paused, nodding to whatever the person on the other end was saying.

I tried to tune in on the conversation, but I couldn’t hear a thing.

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