Page 112 of See You Soon
My baby. I'll gladly die but please God, let my baby live.
I can't think. I can't move. All I see is my vision starting to blur and my hearing starts to fade. My eyes close and I feel like I'm falling into a horrible sleep.
Suddenly, Shane's off of me and I manage to pry my eyes open. But it takes too much energy to do so. The darkness tries to anchor me down but I see familiar faces hovering over me before I close my eyes again.
Danny and Kane.
I try to call out for Danny but I'm completely drained and my conscience reality is pulled away sending me into a black hole. My eyes are being forced shut and I swear I can hear Paul's voice in my ear. His voice makes me smile. Everything goes black and the last thing I see is Paul. He’s in his Navy uniform and he’s playing the guitar to a song we both love so much. He looks up from his guitar, his brown eyes meeting mine and he looks like he’s glowing. He smiles and says,
"Don't fall asleep. Don't fall asleep."
Chapter49
danny
Last night was a complete shit show. After sharing the details of her brother's death I couldn't sleep. This was something I thought would stay buried forever. I never in a million years thought that I would be having this conversation with anyone. Let alone,Paul’s sister.
After finding out that Shane was fucking with my girl, it sent me into a murderous rage and I wanted to kill him last night. I have a lot of connections and no one would hesitate to help me if I had to look for him.
But Ari stopped me. Her cute little eyes bleeding for me to stay with her instead. The sight weakened me and I changed my mind. But it wouldn't stop me from searching for him. I made plans with Zeke, to find out if we could track him down in any way possible. He has connections with people in military intelligence and if I wasn’t mistaken, he was trained to do that job as well. His level of expertise didn’t stop just at being a special operator. If he wanted, he could track down anyone he wanted to.
I got called into work this morning. The higher-ups just got word of other missions that need my team. My short vacation would be short-lived. I didn’t want to tell Ari this. I didn’t want her to feel disappointed when I gave her the news. After last night's confessions from both of us, I felt like this was going to be a fresh start to our relationship. No more secrets. Just our bright future with our little one.
I don’t know if I’ll ever truly let go of drinking. They call it an addiction for a reason. Ari came into my life at the worst time. She only heightened all of my demons and yet, her love was starting to become mynewest addiction.The only thing I was beginning to care about was making sure she was always safe. If anyone was going to come after her or cause her any harm it would be me.
I decide to surprise Ari with gifts after work. Some flowers for her and her mother.
Tulips and tickets to the Bloomings Author's event.
When I got home, I made some calls to some friends that had connections with the authors that were to be in attendance. I got us both tickets and I wanted to go with her before I had to leave.
I never did stuff like this for anyone. This was extremely new to me. A different side of me that Ari has unlocked and she held the key.
I ran to a baby store after that... a baby store. I still can't believe this will be my new life. My mother will finally get what she wants.To be a grandmother.I can't help but feel excited that she’s going to be around a small baby again after her infertility struggles.
Still, I can't help but feel protective around Ari even if it's from my parents. I don't know how my parents would take the news. I needed to protect her from their judgments so I would make sure to have a conversation with them before I even introduce the mother of my child.
Kane decided to tag along and get a baby a gift as well. I bought a newborn-sized onesie for a boy and Kane bought some newborn shoes.
We're getting closer to Ari's house and I'm already mentally preparing for her mother to bombard us with questions.
"Thanks for letting me tag along. I wanted to check on Paul's mother. See how she's doing. The last time I was here she wanted me to help her fix the garbage disposal. I want to see if there's anything else I can help her with."
"Of course, man."
I turn onto Ari's street, and I notice Kane leans forward, removing his sunglasses from his face and squinting ahead.
"What is it?"
"Nothing it's just, uh, isn't that the chick’s car you used to hang with? What’s her name again? Nora?” He points to a white sedan with a pink teddy bear sticker on the side of it. It does look just like Nora's. It's parked a few houses down from Ari's house.
I grow suspicious. My eyebrows furrow as I park my truck and I'm on high alert. An eerie feeling slithers through my chest and I know something’s wrong. Kane looks at me confused.
I rush out of the driver's seat, opening the door. I walk towards Ari's door and I hear someone screaming and it sounds like Ari.
My heart begins to pound in my chest and I'm panting hard like a bull through my nostrils. I swing open the door to Ari's place and Kane follows behind.
The sight sends me into a different version of myself I'm extremely familiar with. Death, itself. This version of myself stays trapped inside and only comes out when I'm behind enemy linesbut this. This is another level of darkness that comes over me and I don't recognize myself anymore.
