Chapter 44
AMELIA
I burst through the hospital doors, clutching Blade’s hand as the paramedics wheel him in on a stretcher. My vision blurs with tears, the sterile white walls of the hospital blending into a haze. Blade’s face, pale and clammy, haunts my thoughts. Each shallow breath he takes feels like a ticking clock, counting down to the unknown.
As the doors to the emergency room close, a nurse gently steers me towards the waiting room. I collapse into a plastic chair, my body trembling. My foot taps uncontrollably against the floor as my leg shakes, a desperate attempt to anchor myself in the present.
Oh God, I don’t know how I’ll be able to move on if something happens to him.
Minutes stretch into hours, everything around me becoming a blur. I don’t even notice anything in my surroundings because I’m lost in my own head, numb to the world.
Then, I hear a familiar voice calling my name. “Amelia!”
My head snaps up to see my mom rushing through the door, her face tight with worry. I blink in surprise. What? “Mom? What are you doing here?”
She sits down in the chair beside me, wrapping me in a tight hug. It feels real. Genuine. Like she’s my mom again. “You dialed your dad’s number, and I heard screaming and crying. Something about a hospital. So, I called around and found you.”
I must’ve butt-dialed him in all the commotion.
I sniffle, burying my face into her shoulder. “How did you—does dad know you’re here?” Mom sighs, shaking her head. “I-if you don’t want to talk about him, it’s okay.”
“Let’s talk about you first. What happened? How are you holding up? You look like you’ve been through hell.”
A fresh wave of tears spill down my cheeks. “Blade got shot in the shoulder. He passed out twice in the ambulance, and he was barely conscious when we got here.”
She reaches out to touch my arm, in a soothing rub with her thumb. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. He’s strong. I’m sure he’ll pull through.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do if…” My voice breaks, the weight of my fears too heavy to voice.
She stands, giving my leg a soft pat. “Let me go get you a snack and drink from the vending machine. You need to keep your strength up. All the crying will make you dehydrated.”
While she’s gone, a nurse steps into the waiting room, scanning the space. When she spots me, she walks over. “We’re letting family in now. Is any family here?”
I feel a pang of sadness in my heart knowing that one, Blade doesn’t have any family to be here, and two, I’m not considered family.
My mom returns with some snacks and water in her hand. “What’s going on?” she asks.
“We’re currently only letting family in to see him.” The nurse smiles. A flutter of hope surges into me, at least that means he’s awake.
“Hey, look lady, my daughter Amelia deserves to be back there as much as anybody else! Screw family!” My mom jabs her finger at the nurse, her lips pressing into a thin, firm line.
My eyes widen at her raised voice and angry expression. She looks like her favorite book series has been turned into a terrible movie adaptation and she’s confronting the director. Just a second ago, she was smiling from ear to ear. “Mom, it’s okay.”
“Wait, your name is Amelia?” The nurse asks, checking through her clipboard.
I nod.
She smiles gently. “Why didn’t you just say you were his wife, come on back.” She gestures towards the emergency room doors.
Uh… okay? I’m sure as hell not gonna argue about it right now.
As I step into his hospital room, my heart skips a beat. He’s propped up in bed, a sling supporting his left shoulder and arm. He looks pale and sweaty, but he’s still as handsome as ever to me. There’s another nurse in the room who’s busy, checking his IVs and fiddling with his medicine. Blade catches my eye and smiles, patting the bed beside him.
“Come sit,” he says, his voice a husky whisper.
I shake my head. “I don’t wanna hurt you.”
“I could get up from my seat and carry you over here, but I’m sure that’d hurt me worse.”
Jesus, Lord. His voice is already every girl’s wet dream, but while it’s raspy and groggy like this, it’s even hotter.
I relent and sit on the edge of the hospital bed, careful not to get too close.
The nurse smiles, a bright, warm smile. “You guys are so cute,” she mentions before leaving.
As soon as she’s gone, I turn towards Blade. “How are you doing?”
“Good, now that you’re here. I asked them—” He starts counting on his fingers. “—thirty two times when you could come back here.”
Huh, so he must’ve lied about me being his wife for me to be able to come back.
I laugh at the serious expression on his face while counting, then cover my mouth. “Stop making me laugh. You have some serious questions to answer.”
“Like what?”
“I saw you making hand gestures to that guard. What was that about?”
He gives me a smug grin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I cross my arms. “No, we’re not playing that game anymore. You’re going to be open and honest about all this group stuff now. Remember?”
He sighs, his face growing serious. “Okay. He just… had to go.”
I gasp, a wave of shock hitting me. “What?! How could you do that? And Frankie! That’s her father.”
“Calm down, Frankie isn’t gonna care. She was raised by her mom, traveling the world. She just settled back in with John to come to college because her mom got sick. She barely even knew him, for what? Five months? He and her mom divorced before she even turned two. And even Frankie had regular complaints about him.”
I let out a breath, still grappling with the reality of him putting a hit out on John. He wasn’t the best man, but did he deserve to die? “I still can’t believe you did that. What about your mom?”
“If she stayed alive, she was only going to cause trouble. I mean, she came in and pointed a gun. I’m not going to be looking over my shoulder every day, and putting everyone else in danger because she’s sad about her son dying. And she wasn’t my mom.”
I rest my head gently on his good shoulder. “If you say so. Why did you have to get yourself shot?”
He starts running his fingers through my hair. “Well, there are people in the group that are loyal to John. They would’ve investigated his death. If I got shot too, it just looks like a rogue security guard snapped and shot everyone. So I paid him handsomely, and he’s on his way to Costa Rica to live out his days.”
“So you planned everything to a tee, huh?”
“I’m good at planning things.”
“What happens now?”
He sighs. “Now our lives are going to change.”
“How?”
“For starters, I’m gonna have to be sworn in as president, as soon as I fully recover and get out of this damn sling on my shoulder.”
I fall silent, wondering what that means for us going forward.
“You said you want me to be honest about everything now, right?”
“Yes. I know you don’t think I can handle things, but I can.”
He blows out a breath. “I lied when I told you that time that Rhys is probably bouncing around to different jobs.”
My head perks up, off his shoulder. “Lied? So what really happened?”
“I sent him to the dungeon and he didn’t make it.”
“The dungeon…” I remember my dad being scared shitless about going there the first time I was in John’s office. “So that’s like, a torture chamber?”
“Yup, it was supposed to be a three week sentence but he didn’t make it past day three.”
“Good. I’m glad he suffered.”
“Amelia Riley Ellis, I know my ears aren’t deceiving me, because I know you didn’t just say you’re glad someone’s dead.”
I let out a laugh that borders on embarrassing. “Did you have to go and use my middle name? And yes, I’m glad he’s dead. All people who sexually assault others don’t deserve to go on and live their lives while their victims live in misery.”
“Agreed.”
I lay my head back on his shoulder.
“So, what was it that you said right before I passed out?” He smiles big.
“Hmm… I don’t recall saying anything.”
He lifts my chin to face him. “I’m serious.”
A warm feeling flutters in my chest. I say in a light whisper, “I said I love you.”
He kisses my forehead. “I love you too, angel.”
···
“Amelia, go home.”
“No.” I pout and cross my arms. “I wanna stay here with you.”
“You’ve been here with me for the past three days.”
“But, I’ll worry if I go home.”
“You’re worrying while you’re here. And you’re barely sleeping, they don’t have any good gluten-free options here so you’re not eating properly, you need to go home and take care of yourself. I’ll be discharged in two days, max. And I’ll see you then.”
“That’s too long!”
He glances at my mom, who’s sitting in the chair in the corner. She’s been back and forth visiting us for the past few days, we got her a nice hotel suite close by. She still hasn’t told me anything about what’s going on with my dad. But I figure when she’s ready, she will.
“Can you excuse us for a moment?” Blade asks. Uh-oh.
My mom smiles and heads for the door, sipping her coffee.
Blade’s hand trails up my thigh as I sit next to him on his hospital bed. Before I even see it coming, he grabs the end of my necklace and pulls it tight, drawing me closer while simultaneously choking me. He whispers low in my ear, “You know, just because my arm is in a sling doesn’t mean I can’t take off my belt. You know that, right?”
I nod and whimper. My breathing quickens, and tingles scatter across my body.
“Oh, so you weren’t listening because you wanted me to do this then?”
Maybe. Maybe not.
I pull away slightly, causing him to tighten his grip on the necklace and pull me back. I always know exactly what to do to get the reaction I want. I gasp for air.
“This is how it’s gonna go. You’re gonna go home, take a nice nap on our luxury mattress, eat Julie’s gluten-free, whole food, pick one of our heated showers to use, and sing your heart out with the built-in speakers, then you’re gonna FaceTime me so I can see you play with your pussy before bed. Understand?”
I shake my head, and he pulls tighter on the chain.
“You’re not gonna be able to breathe until you say yes.” There’s a twisted smirk on his face. He’s smiling while watching me fight for air, enjoying it.
I try to hold out as long as I can, thrashing around and clawing at his hands, but I start seeing black dots in my vision. I rapidly nod my head. When he lets go, I drink in gulps of breath like it’s a cold glass of water on a hot day.
He kisses my forehead. “See you there, pretty girl. FaceTime me tonight, and I’ll call you whenever I’m on my way back home.”
How can he go from almost snatching all of the breath I have left in my body to kissing my forehead the very next second?