CHAPTER 15
Nina sat on a hard chair in the emergency waiting area, barely aware of how much time was passing. She flinched at every sound, every passing doctor.
“Are you the one who came in with the patient brought from Pushkin Street?”
She jolted and looked up.
A man in a white coat stood in front of her. The badge on his chest read: Dr. Adam Wright. Nina hurried to her feet, her heart freezing with anticipation.
“How is she?”
The doctor held several papers in his hands. His expression was far too calm for a moment like this.
“She has a concussion. We also had to put several stitches in her scalp.”
Nina clenched her fist.
“She’s going to be okay? Has she regained consciousness?” the questions spilled out of her.
“The impact was strong, but fortunately not critical. We ran a full examination and completed all necessary procedures.”
He studied her closely, clearly noticing how shaken she was.
“She’ll recover,” he assured her.
The pressure on her chest finally eased.
She would recover. Everything would be fine.
The relief nearly made her dizzy. And then, immediately, fear crept in—what if she hadn’t been there in the middle of the night?
She couldn’t even allow herself to think about it. Who had tried to kidnap her? And why?
“Can I see her?” Nina asked before she realized she’d spoken.
She should have left. Disappeared from Lynn’s life.
Let the girl believe a stranger had saved her.
That should have been the end. Their paths should have ended right there.
But something held her in place—an aching, soul-tearing longing tangled with frantic worry.
“She hasn’t regained consciousness yet, but you may go into the room.”
Nina almost ran up the stairs.
The hospital room was small and dimly lit. The single window overlooked a dark hospital courtyard.
Lynn lay on the bed beneath an IV, pale as a porcelain doll. A bandage wrapped around her head, light hair scattered across the pillow, her lashes resting against her cheeks. She looked unbearably fragile. So impossibly small.
She stared and felt something ache painfully in her chest. She noticed dried blood tangled in her hair.
She had no right to be here. None at all. But she couldn’t make herself turn around and leave.
A delayed wave of guilt and regret tore into her.
How could she have left her? How could she have abandoned her to this world? What if she had refused Frank’s plan back then? What if she had simply chosen a different path and raised her?
Yes, it would have been hard. Terribly hard. But later… later the pain would have dulled, faded, and she would have simply loved her.
But Lynn didn’t look unhappy. Maybe this really was for the best. She’d probably been raised by a good woman—strong, steady, not broken the way Nina felt.
She was so exhausted she didn’t even notice when her head sank onto the edge of the bed. Didn’t feel how heavy her eyelids became, how her breathing slowed as everything else slowly blurred away.
The last thing she felt before drifting into sleep was warm fingers resting in her palm.
***
Nina woke to someone’s touch. Gentle, but unknown. She jerked awake, lifted her head… and froze.
It felt like she had fallen into her worst nightmare.
Not fully awake, she couldn’t quite understand where she was or what was happening—or why Jasper Garth’s terrible, familiar face and piercing eyes were right in front of her.
She couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe.
Her chest tightened, her ears rang, shards of the past exploded through her mind.
And he was looking at her—steadily, calmly, without a trace of recognition.
His hand still rested on her shoulder, hot against her skin.
His dark presence filled the space, made her want to fold in on herself, made her feel like that same helpless girl he had dragged into a dark room so long ago.
Panic was choking her, but he… he felt nothing. Not a trace of guilt. Not a trace of memory.
Only his even, calm voice:
“You’re the one who saved my daughter?”
She blinked, stared at him in silence, clenched her jaw so she wouldn’t scream.
Then, in panic, she glanced around the room.
There were only three of them—herself, him, and Lynn.
Nina forced herself to breathe. There were people nearby.
He wouldn’t dare hurt her here. And yet she was still terrified of him. Her whole body went cold.
“Thank you very much,” he continued. “They told me everything. If there’s any way I can repay you—”
She didn’t let him finish. She couldn’t bear to hear it. She sprang abruptly to her feet, stumbled back, nearly hitting the IV stand.
“I don’t need anything.”
Her voice sounded sharp, stretched thin, on the verge of snapping. Surprise flashed across his face. He clearly didn’t understand her reaction. Didn’t understand the fear and pain etched into her expression.
“You’re here now,” she said, forcing the words out. “So it’s time for me to go.”
She turned and ran.
She just ran, without looking back. She knew how it must have looked from the outside. Strange. Suspicious. Ridiculous. But she couldn’t do otherwise.
Nina raced down the hospital corridor, seeing nothing but flashing doors, pale walls, and her own distorted reflection in the glass windows.
He hadn’t recognized her.
Was that even possible?
He had destroyed her life—and didn’t even remember her face.
She ran out of the hospital, nearly crashing into people passing by. Some turned after her in irritation, someone shouted something from behind, someone stepped aside politely.
Nina stopped on the sidewalk and tried to catch her breath—then suddenly realized how people were staring at her.
Only now did it hit her that she was still wearing her bathrobe and slippers.
Damn it.
The wind cut straight through her. She looked insane. Like a woman who’d just escaped from a psych ward. Bitterly ironic.
But the worst part was—she had no idea what to do now.
Her car was parked by the Garth house. She hadn’t even locked it. She’d bolted out without thinking. Her phone was there too.
"Perfect, Nina. How exactly are you supposed to call a cab now—with no phone, no cash, no cards, nothing?"
She turned back toward the entrance, about to go inside and ask someone to call a ride for her, when Jasper stepped out of the hospital.
Her feet wouldn’t move.
He stopped near the doors and scanned the area. He was probably looking for her.
A chill ran through Nina.
Had he remembered her after all?
She took a step back. Then another. Then she turned and started walking along the road, farther from the hospital, farther from him. She no longer felt safe.
Cars passed by. She couldn’t just stop a random car. She just had to wait until a cab passed by the hospital and ask the driver to take her home.
A car pulled up beside her.
Nina tensed as the window slowly rolled down—then relaxed slightly when she saw a familiar face.
“Please, get in, Ms. Osborne.”
It was the family driver.
How had they found her?
Had someone been following her all this time?
Damn it, she didn’t want Frank finding out about Lynn. And if Frank’s people had been watching her, they could’ve at least helped her fight off those bastards earlier.
She glanced around, then threw one last look back toward the hospital, where Jasper was still standing near the entrance.
And at that exact moment, he noticed her.
Even from here, she felt his gaze bore into her, and her entire body broke out in cold, sticky sweat.
She acted on instinct. She yanked the door open and climbed into the car.
She had no choice.