Page 155 of Imogen

“Come on, it’s time for him to rest,” the nurse announces.

Ben lowers his hand, his eyes already drooping. “Just think, if we can get through this, we can make it through telling your dad.”

“About that…” I bite my lip, hoping he isn’t upset that he wasn’t there to tell him. “He already knows.”

He winces. “Should I go into hiding?”

Before I can stop myself, I laugh. It almost feels foreign to do. “No, he’s happy for us.”

The nurse pushes something into his IV. “What was that?” I question. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s some more pain relief.”

I watch as his eyes droop, and seconds later, he falls back to sleep. My heart stops for a moment. I don’t think I’ll ever not feel this pang of pain when he sleeps.

“Is this real? Is he really okay?”

“It’s real. He’s not out of the woods, but he is stable. The surgeons are optimistic he will make a full recovery.”

“He saved me,” I whisper.

“You need to rest too, Imogen,” she tells me.

“I can’t leave him,” I admit, my voice shaky as I move back into the chair. “I can’t. I’m afraid to go to sleep in case he’s not here when I wake up.”

The nurse lets out a sigh. “Let me see if we can bring your bed in here for tonight, but you need to promise me you will try to get some sleep.”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

My thoughts drift to Zach when she steps out. Knowing he has tried to frame me, knowing his plan all along was to die, feels worse than thinking he was there to kill me. My mind is struggling to understand how we got to this place. I go over every argument and conversation and come up with nothing. No matter how hurt he was over the break up, I don’t understand this outrageous reaction and outcome. I don’t understand how he could claim to love me, but then easily treat me with so much malice and resentment.

I ward off those thoughts, knowing I’ll only give myself a headache. My focus is drawn back to Ben, and the words he said to me.

He loves me.

He really loves me.

I glance up at the ceiling and whisper, “Thank you for bringing him back to me.”

I don’t plan on ever letting him go.

Epilogue

Imogen

I’m lost in my own little bubble, gazing at the houses as we pass them by. It’s been three and a half weeks since the incident happened, and so much has happened. Ben got transferred three days after his surgery, where he then stayed at our local hospital for another week. Then he came home—to our home. Neither of us wanted to be apart, and since he rented, we decided to move in together at mine. I thought it would be weird to suddenly move in together. I’ve never lived with anyone but family. I loved my privacy too much. But it doesn’t feel like Ben’s intruding on it. He feels a part of it.

Following his discharge, he had psychical therapy, learning to do things for himself once again. He’s out of the woods now, but his recovery could take another eight weeks.

Yet the doctor feels he’s ready for light duties in another week. I don’t know how to feel about that. I don’t want to be the person who gives him an ultimatum, but I also don’t want to be the girl who sits by whilst he puts himself at risk. I want us to stay in our bubble. I love it there. We’re happy. We’re safe. And that’s all I want right now.

He takes my hand, holding it in my lap as we near our home. “Are you okay? I thought you would be happy about me getting the all clear. But you seem sad. You’ve barely said anything.”

“I’m sorry. My head is all over the place today,” I admit. “But I am happy. I’m over the moon.”

“Is it about Zach and what today is?”

I gaze back out the window. Today is Zach’s funeral. His parents sent me a text to invite me to his funeral, but I couldn’t bring myself to go. Not even to comfort two people I was once close with. I’ve not been able to speak to them and they asked my dad if they could see me when I was at the hospital. At first, it was to confront me for taking their son’s life, as they’d only heard one side of the story. But after the police confirmed Ben’s statement, they wanted to talk to me for other reasons. I couldn’t face them though.

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