Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Beep, beep, beep.
What is that? My eyes blink open, only to shut tight again when I’m blinded. Trying to sit up, I squint against the light and then stop moving when a searing pain rips through my stomach.
“What?”
“Hayley, babes, it’s okay. Don’t move. I’m right here.”
Jade’s here. I sink back down into the bed.
“What happened?” I ask. And then I remember, and my eyes shoot open. “August. Where is he?” I look around the room. I’m in the hospital and he’s not here.
“Hayley, calm down.” Jade pushes on my shoulders when I try to sit up.
“August!” I yell as loud as I can. “I need to find him, Jade. I need to find him.” I shake my head.
What if that guy’s already gotten to him? I didn’t warn him. I need to find him.
“He’s coming back. He just stepped out. He’ll be back,” Jade tells me.
“Where’s my phone?”
“I don’t know.” She shakes her head. Then she takes out her own phone, presses a button, and puts it to her ear. “She’s awake and she’s screaming for you, asshole,” she says before passing the device over to me.
“August?” I ask.
“Babe, you’re awake. I’m sorry I had to leave. I’m coming back. I’m on my way back,” he says.
“You’re okay?” I ask him.
“I’m okay. You’re going to be okay.”
“He… August he said… he wanted something from you,” I attempt to explain.
“I know. He isn’t a problem anymore, Hayley. No one is going to hurt you ever again. I promise,” he says. “I’m almost back. Colton is there.”
I look around the room. I don’t see him, but then the door opens and the man in question struts inside. “Huh, you’re awake. Thank fuck.” Colton sighs.
“He’s here,” I say into the phone.
“Hayley, I… I’ll see you real soon, okay?” August quickly cuts the call.
“He’s okay.” I rest my head against the pillow and pass the phone back to Jade.
“I changed my mind, Hayley. You shouldn’t move in with him. You need to cut ties. Look where you are? It’s been two fucking days and you were already attacked because of him.”
“It’s not his fault some psychotic asshole stabbed me,” I grumble.
“Yes it is,” she says.
“No, it’s not,” I growl before I shift my attention to someone who doesn’t hate August. “Colton, where did he go?”
“He had an errand to run, babe. He’ll be back annoying the fuck out of both of us before you know it,” he says. “You hungry? Want me to go find something?”
“I don’t think you’re going to find any cereal salad here.” I smile at the memory.
“Pfft, I can find anything I want, anywhere I want, babe.” He winks at me.
“Her name is Hayley, asshole. Use it.” The growl from the doorway makes me smile wider.
“You’re here,” I state the obvious.
Ignoring everyone else, August walks over to me. He bends down and presses his lips to mine. “How are you feeling?”
“Better now that you’re here,” I tell him. Jade scoffs, and I look around August’s large frame to glare at her. “Can you go get me a drink? Something besides water, please?”
“What do you need?” August stands, ready to go and fetch me whatever I want. I take hold of his hand to stop him.
“Jade will get it,” I tell him, my eyes glued to my friend.
“Fine, but I might or might not spit in it,” she mutters, and I laugh.
“I’ll come with you.” Colton follows Jade out the door.
“Thank god she’s pregnant.” I laugh.
“Why?” August asks.
“Because I don’t have to worry about Colton hitting on her,” I tell him.
“You think her being pregnant would stop him? She’s a female.
I can guarantee he’s already hit on her.
” August shakes his head, a smile spreading across his face.
Then he lowers himself onto the edge of the bed, lifts my hand to his mouth, and gently peppers it with kisses. “I’m so sorry this happened.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It is,” he says. “I never should have let you go out alone.”
“I wasn’t alone. Andre was there.” I glance around the room, realizing I haven’t seen him since the salon. “Where is he? Where’s Andre?”
“He’s… Want some water?” August stands and goes to the table where there is a jug and a glass.
“August? Where’s Andre?” I repeat.
“I don’t want to say, and I’m also not going to lie. So please don’t ask.” He doesn’t look at me as he pours some water into the cup.
“Where is he?”
“He’s gone, Hayley. We found him… It was too late to help him,” August whispers.
Tears start running down my face. I only knew him for a few days. But August knew him, trusted him. “I’m so sorry.”
“You didn’t do this, so you don’t have to be sorry,” August says, coming back over to the bed.
“No, I’m sorry that you have to feel that pain. He was your friend.”
“Nothing will ever compare to what I felt watching you bleed out on the ground. That… I’ve never been more scared in my life, Hayley.”
“Can I go home?”
“Not until the doctor says you can.”
“Can you lie with me, then?” I shuffle across the bed, and August climbs in next to me. “I’m scared to go to sleep.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know if you will be here when I wake up,” I tell him.
“I’ll be right here. I promise I’m not going anywhere.” August kisses the top of my head, and I let my eyes close.