Page 119 of The Light to My Darkness (The Light to My Darkness 1)

ine and that everyone would think he was the best. But I knew it wasn't going to be fine. I tried to tell you." She started crying harder, unable to speak.

"Pumpkin." I pulled her into my arms, pressing her ear to the side of my face and covering her other one with my hand. "Get Porter to deactivate all the cameras," I said to Matt. "I need to get down to the hospital before he does something else."

Matt was still on the phone with the police, unable to listen to my request.

So I lifted Scarlett into my arms, ran out into the hallway, and down to the security office. I knocked on the door.

Porter looked alarmed when he opened it. Like he hadn't seen everything that just happened. Because he probably hadn't. Because I had told him to only glance every five minutes. Because Penny felt uncomfortable with them watching us. Because I didn't want them to see the curves of her body. Or me fucking her relentlessly. What had I been thinking?

Maybe I should have told him about the shooting pain in my left arm. Or the fact that I knew I had consumed some of the poison. But I was heading to the hospital anyway. So instead, I handed Scarlett to him. "Call the hospital. Dr. Nelson poisoned Penny. I should have seen it. He was the one that told us about the heart murmur in the first place. He made the whole thing up. He gave me the health records from her last OB-GYN. He probably fucking tampered with them!" How had I not seen any of the signs? "Him disagreeing with the doctors at the ER about Penny needing medicine for her elevated blood pressure and heart rate. His pretend sincerity for my family. Him saying he'd testify against Dr. Jones. Him pressing the fact that his rival practice was negligent. He wanted to ruin them. And what better than a public face like Penny's to do that? He was going to destroy Dr. Jones' practice with the tabloids, even without winning a lawsuit. He just wanted to be number one. And he said he was going to keep his eye on my son and Penny. I think he's planning to do something else." I winced at the pain.

"Are you alright?" Porter asked as he pulled Scarlett against his chest. She was still crying.

"I'm fine," I lied. "Scarlett?"

She looked up at me with her tear stained face.

"Tell Porter exactly what happened. Exactly when you saw Snape come, okay?"

Porter gave me an odd look.

"Okay, Daddy," she sniffled.

Twitch.

I ignored the twitch, just like I had the pain in my arm. "I'm going to the hospital. Make sure the police are there to meet me." I ran back out into the hall and down the staircase.

Three years ago, I had changed my life. I had started teaching again. I had stopped eating steak. And God, I fucking loved a good steak. I had started appreciating the little things more. My wife's laugh. My daughter's smile. With those changes, I had been able to lower my stress levels. I had been able to lower my blood pressure. I was healthy now. My last checkup verified that.

But I was tired. I told Daphne I wasn't drunk. But I wasn't exactly sober. The stress of the day had piled up. I felt physically sick with grief. With betrayal. I was angry. And heartbroken. And hopeful. It was too much.

So I shouldn't have been surprised by the sharp pain in my chest. I shouldn't have been surprised that my legs collapsed from underneath of me.

My shoulder landed hard on the step beneath me. My body continued to fall, and I couldn't seem to stop it. Finally the back of my head hit the floor at the bottom of the stairs. And it felt like all the life had just been sucked out of me. For a moment, I had the eerie feeling that Penny had just taken her last breath.

I tried to gasp for mine, sprawled at the bottom of the staircase. I tried to feel anything but the pain in my chest. My heart was failing. I had been so worried about Penny's that I had forgotten about the stress on my own.

I thought I was suffering from withdrawal, when in reality the twitch on the side of my face had been a sign of my body being attacked. The poison was killing me. And my heart was breaking because I was losing the love of my life.

Darkness. That was life without my light. Complete and utter darkness.

* * *

Penny wakes up to discover she has the perfect husband. The perfect family. The perfect life. There’s just one problem…she doesn’t remember any of it. Penny and James' story continues in A Whirlwind of Color!

One great love. That’s what every heart craves. I was lucky enough to find mine when I was 19. But I wouldn’t describe myself as lucky now.

My husband looks at me like I’m the light of his life. We live in a penthouse apartment that overlooks Central Park. My closet it filled with designer clothes and more pairs of shoes than I can count. I have everything I could possibly want at my fingertips.

And I’ve accomplished my dream of writing a novel. I wrote my love story. Every kiss, every touch, every memory compiled in a manuscript. The pages make my heart ache, my tears flow freely, and my cheeks hurt from laughter. My whole life is written on these pages.

I have the perfect husband. The perfect family. The perfect life.

But I don’t remember any of it.

Get A Whirlwind of Color now!

Or if you can't even wait, just keep reading for a special sneak peek of A Whirlwind of Color.

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