Page 51 of Falling For Liam
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I snap when I see the sign for a hospital.
“I need to do this.” Her confident voice from a few minutes ago is gone, and it dispels my irritation a little. “I need to see him and put everything behind me.”
“I’m not fucking happy about this,” I mutter as I pull into an empty parking space.
“You can stay here.” The look I pin her with must show how unlikely that is. “Or you can come…”
She’s out of the car the second I pull it to a stop, and I rush to catch her up. I follow silently as she checks where he is before getting the lift to the right floor.
She’s just about to push the door open to the ward when I stop her. My hand lands on her forearm and she turns her tired, sad eyes on me. My breath catches at how broken she looks.
“You don’t have to do this. It’s over.”
“I do. I need to say goodbye.”
Nodding, I continue to follow her.
“He’s over there,” she says, pointing to a bay of four beds through the window in front of us. I don’t need to ask for more details; I can see which one he is from the state of his face.
Every part of me screams to pick her up and march her out of here, but I do understand her need to do this. They were a couple for years. I get that she needs to put an end to this so she can focus on us.
I watch as she hesitantly walks towards his bed. His eyes stay closed, but when she’s a few foot away, he must realise he has company because they slowly open—well, as much as they can with all the swelling.
It’s like someone hits me across the chest with a baseball bat as I see his eyes lighten at the sight of her. It’s clear that he still loves her. I almost want to laugh; how can that be the case when he’s allowed all of this to happen?
I stand and watch as she says whatever it is she needs to say to him, my fists clenched tightly the entire time as I fight my growing need to drag her out of this place and away from him.
Thankfully, it’s not all that long before she gives him one last smile before turning my way. The second her eyes land on mine, I know I did the right thing by bringing her here. Some of the shadows that were in her eyes just minutes ago have vanished. She really did need this to put everything behind her, but it still doesn’t mean I’m not livid.
Silently, we make our way back to the car and, after staring blankly out of the window once more, Liv succumbs to her exhaustion and I hear soft snoring coming from her.
She misses the entire journey and I end up lifting her from the car and carrying her into the house.
“Fuck, Liam. Is she okay?” BJ asks in a panic when I walk through the living room.
“Yeah. Get me a beer.”
“Sure thing.”
Carrying Liv straight up to her room, I carefully pull back the covers before lowering her to the bed. I pop the button on her jeans before pulling the denim down her legs. My hands tremble as I think about that motherfucker trying to do the same thing only hours ago. Clenching my fists and blowing out a long breath, I try to talk myself down, but his smarmy, disgusting face is right there behind my eyes.
I stand and look down at her sleeping peacefully for a few seconds. The purple bruise on her face keeps my anger simmering just under the surface. I flex my fingers, the need to go and punch something only growing stronger the longer I stand here.
Eventually, after telling myself that she’s fine, I silently walk out of the room. I look back at the last minute and almost change my mind and crawl in beside her, but I know it’s pointless. I’ve got too much pent-up energy to be able to lie in bed, let alone sleep.
“What the fuck happened?” BJ asks the minute I step foot in the room.
“Beer,” I demand, and thankfully a can is thrust at me in seconds.
Popping the top, I start pacing back and forth in front of the sofa where my best friend sits and watches.
“Well?” he demands.
Chapter Fifteen
Olivia
I feel like I’ve been asleep for a week when I start to come to. It’s like I’m surrounded by fog; nothing’s quite making sense. That is, until I turn over to find Liam and my face presses against the pillow. Sucking in a sharp breath, my hand comes up to the sore spot as memories of the events of yesterday slam into me.
