Chapter 31
Serena
My body feels so heavy. There is nothing but darkness surrounding me. I try to swallow, but I can’t.
What is that annoying fucking sound making my head pound?
It’s steady, almost rhythmic. Like a heartbeat.
Then I hear him. His voice is hoarse and rough, like he hasn’t slept.
“Isaac?” I try and call out to him, but I don’t think he hears me.
“Isaac?!”
At first his words are muffled and sort of jumbled together, making it hard to understand what he’s saying. Slowly, they start making sense.
Is he…apologizing?
“I’m so sorry Mi Vida. I should have protected you.” His voice cracks. Is he crying? Hearing him call me the name he’s been using for weeks makes my heart flutter
“I should have seen it coming.” Seen what coming?
Flashes of the break room and a raccoon dance in my mind. Isaac must have picked me up from work. Maybe he’s just apologizing about our stupid fight we had.
I want to tell him I’m sorry too, but I can’t speak.
I try to lift my arms, but they don’t move. My eyelids twitch, but they don’t open.
Why is it so damn hard for me to move right now?
My skull feels like it’s split in half from the inside. Every pulse sending a sharp pain through my head, the pressure building until it feels like I’m trapped in a vice.
Okay, I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I do know I need to move. I try to move my arms again, but all I manage is to wiggle a finger.
Progress.
“Serena? Baby?” Issac calls out my name. “Get the fucking doctor, now!” Why do I need a doctor?
“That’s it Mi Vida. Open your eyes. Just open those big beautiful sapphire eyes.” My eyelids flutter open, and I’m blinded by how bright it is.
Blinking, I look around, but it’s too blurry to see. I try and focus on the world around me, but it feels impossible.
I turn to my left and see Isaac coming into focus. His hair is disheveled and a bit longer than last time I saw him and dark stubble shadows his strong jaw. How long has it been?
His hand is gripping mine tightly, almost as if he is afraid I’m going to leave.
I try and speak again but then realize that there’s something in my mouth that stops me. Moving my hand to see what it is, I notice a thin, plastic tube attached to the top of my hand with some sort of liquid inside.
I look at Isaac and search his bloodshot eyes. Pleading with eyes of my own, begging to know what is going on.
Commotion from the door grabs my attention and the doctor comes in with a smile on her face.
My heart sinks.
Whatever happened can’t be good if she is the one who is walking through that door.
“Oh good. You’re awake.” Lauren approaches the right side of my bed. “I’m going to take the tube out of your throat now. It is going to be uncomfortable, but over quickly.”
She puts on a pair of gloves and leans over the bed. “Are you ready?”
I nod my head in response, and she begins to remove the tube.
A deep pressure drags upward, like a pulling sensation from inside my chest. I get the immediate urge to cough and start to gag. Isaac’s hand tightens painfully around mine.
A violent cough rips through me as the tube slides out my throat. Air rushes in too quickly, burning my chest. My lungs feel like they are on fire.
“It’s okay baby, breathe. Just breathe.” His jaw is locked tight, his intense eyes locked on mine full of panic, even though he’s desperately trying not to show it.
I gasp. Oh God it hurts.
It’s like my lungs forgot how to work. And when I swallow, I might as well have choked on glass.
Lauren sets the medical equipment on the surgical table next to her while Isaac sits me up, gently rubbing his hand in a circle across my back.
My breathing evens out, and he helps me lean back against the raised hospital bed.
Trying to remember what I’m doing in the hospital in the first place.
“I-Isaac?” I barely recognize my voice. It’s raspy and broken.
“I’m here Preciosa.” Sitting on the bed beside me, he strokes the top of my head. “You don’t have to speak. Just rest.”
I lean my head into Isaac’s hand and let out a painful sigh. “Wha-what happened?” My throat burning with each syllable.
“You were attacked, Serena. After work.” Isaac’s bloodshot eyes are rimmed with exhaustion and search mine.
“Attacked?” I have no memory of being attacked. No memory of what happened after I got to work. “How long have I been here?”
Isaac lifts my hands and brings them to his lips. Kissing them softly. “You’ve been in a coma for two weeks baby.”
I rip my hands away from his and sit up.
Two weeks? I’ve been in a coma for two fucking weeks? Suddenly that night floods my memory, coming in fractured pieces at first.
The break room.
The fight with Jules.
The damn raccoon and the way Keirsten and Bethany were acting so strangely.
And then the car.
My head hitting the steering wheel. Blood. So. Much. Blood.
Waves of blonde in the review mirror.
My chest tightens and the beeping of the heart monitor quickens, syncing with the frantic rhythm of my pulse. I claw at the I.V. on my arm, desperate to remove it. To get free from this horrible nightmare.
Isaac grabs my wrists and I still. Instant calmness replacing my panic. My eyes finding his, I utter just one word. “Savannah.”
He looks away and then meets my gaze again. “I know.”
“What? How?”
“When I found you in your car, I thought I had lost you. There was a moment where I thought my entire world was ending.” Isaac rests his hand on my cheek and I wince. “The moment I had you in my car, I placed a call to find out who did this to you.”
My heart races.
I could not even imagine what I would do if I found Isaac unconscious. I know it’s crazy. I know that it’s not normal to feel so deeply about someone like this. And so quickly.
Hell, we’ve only known each other for not even three months.
But I guess I’m crazy because I’m fairly sure I’m falling in love with this man sitting across from me. Knowing how painful it must have been for him to find me like that, absolutely crushes me.
Tears sting my eyes and threaten to fall down my cheeks. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”
Isaac chuckles and shakes his head. “You’re sorry? Baby, I should be the one apologizing. I promised I would keep you safe, and I broke that promise.”
It’s a miracle he found me when he did.
When his name flashed across my phone before I lost consciousness, there was a moment I thought for sure I was going to die and never get the chance to see him again. And that hurt almost as badly as Savannah slamming my head into the steering wheel.
He stands up and turns his back to me, running his hands through his hair.
“It is okay, Isaac. It’s not your fault.” Sitting up, I smooth out the blanket on my lap with my hands. It’s not like he could have known that she was going to go all psycho stalker bitch on me and leave me for dead in my car.
He turns around to look at me, and opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted when the door opens. I look past him, and Jules is standing in the doorway.
My heart leaps out of my chest.
She came.
Last time she spoke to me, she said that our friendship was basically over. The tears that threatened to break free earlier, are now fully spilling over my lashes and onto my hospital gown.
Jules’ face twists and her composure breaks. She runs over to me, pushing past Isaac and sobbing each step of the way. When she gets to the bed, she throws herself at me. The force knocking me back and sending a shockwave of pain up to my head.
“Ow.” I groan. Jules jumps up and pulls her arms back.
“Jules! Be careful!” Isaac shouts.
“Oh my God. I’m so- sorry!” She chokes out through tears.
Careful of my I.V., I grab her arms and pull her back in, squeezing her as tightly as my weak arms would allow. “I’m so happy you are here. I am so sorry for all the awful things I said to you.”
She relaxes into my embrace, and I feel her snot and tears dampening my shoulder. “No, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean what I said. You’re not a scared little bitch.”
A strangled laugh leaves my chest and Jules quickly follows. The laughter lifts the heaviness in the room, instantly lightening the mood.
She sits behind me on the bed and rests her hand on my thigh. “How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?”
“Sorta. I mean, I remember that Savannah slammed my head into my steering wheel. But it comes in pieces.” Rubbing my temples, I try to remember more. But I can’t.
“Well, I am so relieved you're okay. I was afraid the last thing that I ever said to you was that I didn’t want to be friends. And that is furthest from the truth.” Her voice cracks and fresh tears line her lashes. “You are the best friend I have ever had. The Bones to my Angela.”
I laugh again, my chest burning from the sharp intake of air. Another coughing fit hits and I hold my chest as I struggle to breathe.
“Okay, I think that’s enough excitement for now.” Isaac’s voice is stern from where he sits against the wall.
Jules pats my leg with her hand and gets up.
Before walking away, she leans down and whispers, “He has not left your side for the last two weeks. The only time he was gone, was the first night. Besides that, he has slept in that chair every day waiting for you to wake up.” She kisses my cheek and then leaves the room.
Relaxing back into the bed, exhaustion crashes into me like a wave. My eyelids start to fall, despite my best efforts to keep them open.
I feel the bed shift next to me and feel him grab my hand. “Hey,” he murmurs softly, “It’s okay. I’m here. You can rest and I will be here when you wake up.”
He strokes the back of my hand softly, and the last thing I see before darkness overpowers me once more, is his haunted face hovering above me. Watching me like I’m the only thing tethering him to this world.
And him, mine.
***
“You have a lot of nerve showing up here!” Isaac’s voice thunders in the small hospital room.
My eyes shoot open, and I look around trying to find where the commotion is coming from. I settle my eyes in front of me and see the back of Isaac pushing someone up against the door.
“I-I’m sorry.” A familiar voice squeaks from behind him. I peer around his shoulders and see Kiersten trapped underneath his forearm. The blinds broken around her.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Isaac pushes harder into her throat.
“I… wanted to… make sure Ser-serena was… okay.” She chokes out.
“Bullshit. Don’t fucking lie to me.” His threatening voice sends shivers down my spine. Fear tightens in my chest instantly. But underneath the fear is something far more confusing.
There is something so terrifying about the way he can command control without even trying. Violence just sitting beneath the surface, leashed only by his sheer restraint.
And that same danger that should send me running, makes heat coil low inside me with want instead. I hate that the rough edge in his voice makes my body react to him this way.
It's intoxicating. And deeply, deeply fucked up.
But I'm starting to accept that I, myself, am a little fucked up.
And that is perfectly fine by me.
Keirsten’s face begins to turn purple and her lips blue from lack of oxygen. Her eyes wide and full of fear staring at me with a silent plea for help.
“Isaac! Oh my God, stop! She can’t breathe! I try to get out of the bed, but I’m still too weak and collapse as quickly as I try to get up. “I mean it, Isaac. Let her go!”
He releases his arm and she falls to the ground, gasping and holding her neck. Isaac steps back and gives her room to stand.
“You better have a good fucking explanation as to what you’re doing here Keirsten.” He crosses his arms and widens his stance.
She grabs the handle of the door to brace herself and slowly stands up. Her eyes meet mine and then fall to the ground. “If they knew that I was here… they’d kill me.”
Kill her? Who would kill her?
“Then why are you?” Isaac pressures.
“Because,” she whispers, “I felt so guilty about drugging her at the club, and then I heard about what happened at the clinic. I just wanted to make sure she was alive and okay.”
I gasp.
She is the one who drugged me at the club. “How could you? I thought we were friends?” Her betrayal cuts me deeper than I want to admit. This is exactly why it is so hard for me to let people in.
I learned quickly that people either leave, betray or use you the second it benefits them.
Girls at school pretended to like me, just to laugh at me behind my back later.
Friendships never came easily to me, showing me that it was easier to just keep everyone at arm's length, or risk getting hurt again.
Her bottom lip trembles. “I really wanted to be. You were so nice to me. But I was only supposed to get close enough to you to slip you the drugs.” She sniffs. “But then you and Jules accepted me so quickly, and it felt so nice to actually have friends and people that cared about me.”
“What about your boyfriend troubles? Was that a lie too?” My voice is harsh. Maybe a little too hard. From what it sounds like, she may not have had a choice. But even so, the betrayal still stings.
“Sorta.” Keirsten twists her hands together. “But it wasn’t my boyfriend. He was my handler. I let him into the club that night. After that night, I told him I was done. I didn’t want to do their dirty work anymore. But there’s no escaping them.”
My head hurts trying to keep up with everything that she’s saying. The taste of acid stings my tongue, and I swallow hard at the sudden sickness threatening to rise. Isaac notices and comes over with a puke bag.
I empty my stomach into the bag while Isaac holds my hair away from my face. Keirsten tries to take a step closer as he is rubbing my back, but I hold up a finger to her. In between emptying the contents of my stomach, I tell her to get the fuck out of my sight.
She covers her face and begins to cry. Guilt instantly wracks my body.
Turning around to leave the room, she runs into Jules and Cole on the way out. Her cries echo down the hallway, slicing into me and making me feel worse.
“Was that Keirsten?” Jules points behind her.
I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and nod. “Long story.”
“Well, good thing we’ve got time.” She smiles and sits down in one of the chairs. Cole sits next to her and drapes his arm on the back of the chair behind her.
I raise an eyebrow and look at Jules. She blushes and twirls her hair. Giving me a look that tells me a story for another time. Oh, they’ve fucked for sure.
Isaac pushes a piece of hair behind my ear. “I’m going to go talk to the doctor and see about getting you home.” He leans down and kisses my forehead before leaving the room.
My mind is still reeling from Kiersten's confession. I have so many questions. The most burning of them being who she’s entangled with and what it all has to do with me.
Why me?
Once again, I drift off to sleep. This time with flashing lights and grey eyes teasing my dreams.