Chapter 47
47
Jack
I lay in my hospital bed, seething.
They weren’t letting me see Aviva.
After we were taken away—in separate goddamn ambulances—we were rushed to Gehenom Hospital. I was hooked up to an IV and given fluids and food, all my vitals were taken, and they’d seen to my hand. I should’ve been worried, since I needed my hand healed to play hockey—but all I cared about was seeing Aviva.
“Let me go see my girlfriend,” I demanded to my nurse.
He tsked at me. “You can’t leave your room in your state. And neither can she. You’re both being treated for sustained smoke inhalation and burns. Honestly, you’re lucky you survived. Don’t push it.”
“Do not tell me what to do when it comes to her,” I said through gritted teeth, even though it made my jaw ache.
But the nurse couldn’t be intimidated. “Jack Feldman, I’ve seen a lot worse than you over the years. You don’t scare me. ”
It hurt to smile. Everyone caved when it came to me.
Except Aviva.
At that moment, as if I’d summoned her, the door opened.
She was standing, fragile and pale, wheeling a mobile IV next to her.
“Aviva Gold, I don’t care how scary your relatives are. You shouldn’t be out of bed,” my nurse scolded.
Aviva glared at him. “Do not tell me what to do when it comes to him.”
The nurse sighed. “Peas in a pod, the two of you. Fine, I’ll pretend I didn’t see you. But let him rest .”
With that, he walked past Aviva and out of the room, softly shutting the door behind him.
Aviva stared at me, trembling.
“Little fury, come here,” I said, as gently as I could.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’ll hurt worse if you don’t come here and let me hold you,” I wheedled.
She wheeled her IV toward me, sitting carefully on my hospital bed.
“Jack, your hand!”
“It’s fine. The doctor told me it would heal okay and I’ll be able to play hockey. And even if I couldn’t—” my throat worked, “I wouldn’t care. I have you, and that’s what matters.”
Tears filled her eyes. Finding strength I didn’t knew I had, I pulled her down against me with one arm.
Thank fuck. Having her in my arms immediately healed a wound inside of me the hospital hadn’t managed to mend.
Burying her head in my chest, she inhaled.
“I was so scared,” she whispered.
“Me too,” I said, inhaling her scent, too. She smelled like smoke and hospital, but I’d rectify that as soon as they let us leave. Shower, feed her, fuck her—so she smelled like me and only me.
Tugging her hair gently with my good hand, I pulled her back so I could look at her face.
“Should you even be down here?”
She stared at me, eyes working. “You don’t want me here?”
“Don’t ever ask a question like that. I’m worried that you are out of bed when you should be resting.”
But I was greedy for her, and selfish, and glad she was here anyway. She’d fought to see me. She’d made it clear that she would fight for me, no matter what. And I hadn’t realized I’d needed that from her until now.
I buried my nose in her hair. I might’ve been imagining it, but I thought I caught a whiff of apples and honey.
Which reminded me.
“What the hell were you thinking, leaving your apartment and going to meet him?” I tried to keep my tone even.
“Coach Jensen texted me that he had you and was going to hurt you. I knew it was a trap, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t risk losing you.”
This woman. My heart—that organ I was sure had died when I was a kid—beat steadily in my chest, so fucking content with the world. With her . Aviva was brave, loyal—and finally her loyalty was mine, the way I’d craved since I’d first gotten to know her.
That didn’t mean I’d allow her to risk herself.
“You’re not doing anything like that ever again. You don’t sacrifice your safety for mine?—”
She interrupted me, staring me down with her big, beautiful brown eyes. “You almost sacrificed your life for me. I know we didn’t start this way, but hear me, Jack Feldman— we’re equal partners in this relationship, now. And it means we need to give, equally. I love you too much for anything else.”
I stroked her hair. “Understood.”
I got it now, why so many people lied. To protect her, I’d lie through my teeth for the rest of my life, and never lose sleep over it.
“I don’t know if you know how much I love you,” I said, quietly, solemnly. “I don’t even have words for it. I don’t think there are words for it. I love you fiercely, obsessively, relentlessly. I love you in my heart, mind, soul, in my fucking bones, until the day I die, and then I’ll love you still. There’s no heaven or hell for me, little fury—just you, forever.”
Eyes glistening, she kissed me, softly, a promise. “Those are great words. Especially for a Classics major.”
I laughed, and kissed her back, content in the feel of her lips against mine.
With a start, she pulled back. “I forgot to ask—how did you even find me?”
I wasn’t about to tell her about the trackers. “Intuition,” I said smoothly.
She narrowed her eyes, about to question me more.
Thankfully, the door opened, and my brother Marcus entered, dressed in a bespoke suit.
“Oh, good, you’re alive,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “Nice to see you, too.”
His eyes passed over Aviva, lips quirking. “This must be the girlfriend.”
“Fiancée,” I corrected.
Aviva stared at me. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Never had it in the first place, princess.” I grinned at her .
“You never even proposed to me,” she pointed out.
“Don’t need to. Proposing implies the option of saying no, but you don’t get to say no, remember?”
“Jack—”
“Fiancée,” I repeated to my brother. Changing the subject before she could argue more, I asked, “Why are you here?”
“I have eyes and ears everywhere. I found out what happened, and decided it was a good idea to beat the police here.”
Aviva sat straight up. “The police?”
Marcus nodded. “They aren’t accusing you of anything, but they have questions. Namely, how you both ended up at Hallister Hall during the fire—where the head hockey coach was found dead on scene.”
I swallowed. I’d known he couldn’t have survived, but I hadn’t processed it. I was sad, angry, relieved. But truthfully, the man I had known had died before the fire—when I’d finally accepted who he actually was.
Sensing my mood, Aviva brushed a hand over my cheek, searching my eyes.
“Are you okay?” she asked quietly.
I nodded.
To Marcus I said, “If they need someone to pin it on, pin it on me.”
“Absolutely not,” Aviva protested.
Before I could argue with her, Marcus cleared his throat. “We’re not pinning it on anyone. My lawyer is on her way, and you aren’t saying a word to the police without her.”
Someone knocked on the door.
“Ah, Ilana must be here,” Marcus said.
A moment later, a no-nonsense looking woman entered with a briefcase. “Hello, I’m Ilana Brandeis and I’m your attorney. Neither of you will say a word to the police without clearing it with me, first, alright? Now, what’s the story?”
Aviva began to speak.
Ilana shook her head. “Do not tell me anything remotely incriminating. I want to know the story .”
Aviva and I looked at each other, before explaining everything. I didn’t mention Aviva’s tracker, of course—or the fact that I left Josh to die.
I should’ve felt guilty.
I didn’t.
Ilana listened, then asked, “Do you have any proof?”
Fuck.
I started to say no, but Aviva spoke up. “I recorded the coach’s confession, and his threats. He destroyed my phone, but it should’ve sent to the cloud.”
Awed, I kissed her again. “My brilliant fucking fury,” I said against her lips.
She melted against me.
Ilana clapped her hands. “None of this. The police are waiting outside. Again, you do not say a word before clearing it with me first. Ready?”
Gripping Aviva’s waist, I nodded.
What felt like hours later, the police were done grilling us. They were sympathetic, concerned, but I still didn’t trust them. We stuck to our stories, and they accessed Joshua Jensen’s confession through Aviva’s cloud account.
One of the police shook his head as he left. “Sounds like a tragic accident, but I’m glad you two are safe. Sometimes the best seeming people hide the worst crimes. ”
The other police officer didn’t look quite as sure. “It’s an interesting story, I’ll give you that,” she said.
Neither Aviva nor I said a word.
An hour or so later, we were discharged and on our way back to the hockey house in Marcus’s town car.
“If you’re engaged, then I assume it means you’ll let me buy you a condo,” Marcus said easily as he scrolled through emails.
“I can buy my own condo,” I told him.
He shrugged. “I can buy you a better one.”
Aviva bit her lip, trying to hide her laugh.
“What do you think, princess?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t really want to live in the hockey house,” she grumbled. “But I can’t leave Tovah?—”
“We’ll talk about it later,” I said, not mentioning that Tovah was going to be distracted for a while.
Once I was sure Marcus was ignoring us, I asked, “Do you love me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then marry me.”
“Fine,” she grumbled. “As if you’re giving me a choice.”
I smiled and bent my head to kiss her hair. “I’m not.”