CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

 

 

The kiss was firm, his lips warm and soft against hers. Arms wrapped themselves around her, pulling her close, making her feel safe. Warm. Protected.

Their lips separated too suddenly. Arms pulled away from her body, no longer holding her close. Someone was taking Jake away from her. A look of horror darkened his handsome features as he held his arms out to her; she tried to reach for them, her heart pounding, stomach twisting.

A gloved hand rose from the shadows, gun pointed at Jake. She couldn’t see who held it, but she knew.

“No!” she cried, pleading with his attacker.

A loud bang filled the air, consuming her, then Jake was gone, no longer standing there facing her. Her gaze went to the body lying on the floor. “No!” She ran to him, dropping down to her knees at his side as he struggled to keep hold of his life.

Blood pooled, seeping out from under his body. She yelped. “Jake, no! Don’t you die on me.”

But she knew deep down he was. The gunshot was fatal.

His lovely blue eyes met hers, shock and desperation filling them as he fought to stay. He lost the battle, eyes going vacant, chest stilling. No breath. No life.

She broke down. “No, Jake!” This couldn’t be happening. Not to him. He needed to live.

Dropping her head down to his still chest, she sobbed uncontrollably, despair racking her so much that she didn’t register the feeling at first. Then she felt it again, something touching her head, moving her hair. Lying still, she focused on the feeling, reaching out to it in her mind, pulling it close.

Charlie woke slowly to a strange sound that she quickly recognised as the beeps from monitoring equipment. She smelled the familiar clinical smell that reminded her of where she was. The base of her back ached. She was hunched over. Then she froze, aware of the tickling sensation in her hair, exactly like she’d felt in her dream. Someone was touching her head.

Jake.

Overriding the urge to sit up quickly, she lifted her head slowly instead, realising she’d fallen asleep with her head on Jake’s hospital bed. Then her eyes met his beautiful blue ones and her hand covered her mouth to hold in her cry.

“Charlie?” he struggled to say through a raspy voice.

Placing her hand on his warm arm, she smiled, tears blurring her vision until she swiped them away with the back of her other hand. “Yes. You’re awake.”

Blinking slowly, he nodded his head. “Just about.” When he spoke this time he swallowed with a grimace.

“Do you need some water?” she asked, getting up from the chair and glancing out of the windows that looked out into the corridor. She was reluctant to leave him, but he was obviously uncomfortable. “I’ll be right back.”

Almost sprinting to the nurses’ station, she told them he was awake and that he needed some water. The nurse there told her she’d be right in, and Charlie rushed back to his room. When she returned to his bedside, her heart was racing as she looked at him, suddenly overcome with emotion.

He looked a little more awake and gave her a smile that she was sure she was going to remember for the rest of her life. “You’re here.”

“Yes. I’m here.” Her hand went on top of his and when he looked down at them, he raised his finger to stroke the side of hers.

Then his eyes closed and his head went back a little and she saw his chest rise as his lungs filled. “I’m alive,” he said as if he couldn’t believe he’d survived. Tired eyes met hers again and she bit back more tears. “I feel like shit, but I’m alive. Somehow.”

“Yes.” Charlie was too choked to say anything else right then, but she was saved when a nurse came in carrying a paper cup. The man smiled as he approached Jake’s bedside, glancing up at the machine. “Welcome back, Jake. How are you feeling?” Passing the cup to Charlie, he raised the back of the bed slightly so Jake was sitting up a bit more.

“Like someone shot me in the stomach,” he said, reaching up and taking the cup that she was lifting to his mouth. Charlie’s stomach sank like a stone falling to the bottom of a well when he said it so matter-of-factly. As if there was any way he wasn’t going to remember it.

The nurse’s mouth tightened. “Yes, well thankfully, they were a bad shot,” he said in jest, straightening the edge of the covers. “You’re lucky to be alive. And you’re lucky to have such a wonderful girlfriend who has sat by your bedside all night.”

Charlie felt her cheeks heat, even more so when Jake looked at her. She didn’t know if he’d appreciate the girlfriend label. Maybe he’d be unhappy about it, after all, they’d slept together, but they hadn’t talked about a relationship. Still, it was the only thing she could think to say when they’d asked; better for them to think they were in a relationship so they’d treat her the same as a family member.

When she felt his hand move under hers, she expected him to pull it out from underneath in disgust. So it surprised her when he turned his palm up and laced his fingers through hers. “Yeah, I am lucky to have her.”

Warmth shot through her as those blue eyes locked on hers intensely, capturing her, holding her prisoner. In that moment the room fell away. All the noises, the smells, were far away in the distance. It was just the two of them, an undeniable moment passing between them, one that filled her heart.

Was this the start of the future Jake had begun to see? Was she a part of it now?

She wanted to be.

Excitement filled her veins at the thought of it.

It was more than she could hope for.

Later, though. Now wasn’t the time to get ahead of herself. Jake needed to get better first before they could think about anything else.

Left alone, neither of them spoke. Jake was still looking at her, an expression she wasn’t sure of on his face. Charlie wished she could get a glimpse of what he was thinking right then. Maybe he was wondering why someone who barely knew him would rush to a hospital hours away in the middle of the night. There hadn’t even been a second thought for Charlie. As soon as she’d disconnected the call from the hospital, her mind had gone into planning mode thinking of all the possibilities of how to get to him.

“Do you want—”

“How did you—”

They both paused at the same time too, and Charlie wondered how he could smile so easily given how he must feel.

“I was just going to ask how you got here?” he said, his voice a little less hoarse.

Passing him the cup of water again, she explained that Jas, Selena, and Cara were all downstairs and he seemed surprised that they’d all stayed the night.

“They didn’t hesitate to bring me. You must have made an impression on them.”

A brow popped up. “Really? Even Jason? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me very much.”

She smiled. “He’s just a little protective of me knowing what I went through before I moved to Hatfield.”

When Jake’s brow creased, Charlie realised what she’d said. He didn’t know about her ex, Dale. When had she even had any real time to bring it up with him? Cara and Jas were the only other two people in the world apart from her parents that knew.

“What did you go through?”

Well, now was as good a time as any. The room was private, quiet, and maybe speaking about it again would help a little more.

“Five years ago I met someone, Dale. We dated for about a year and everything was great. I thought he was going to be the one, you know. Then he asked me to marry him. It was quick, but we were happy. My parents were happy.” Faltering, she tried to disguise the anxiety that talking about it all again brought up. “It all changed as soon as we moved in together. I should have known something wasn’t right when he was adamant we move to a town thirty miles away. He said it was because it was easier for him to commute to his work, but that was a lie, just as his work was. I was living the fairy tale, or so I thought, so I didn’t question it at the time. He changed into a completely different person in the blink of an eye. The man who I’d laughed with, been so happy with, wasn’t there anymore. He started to drink, which made him aggressive, controlling. While the whole time he made out it was me who was causing his drink problem.”

Biting back tears, she looked up at the ceiling. It was hard to admit what she let Dale do to her. That she was too weak to see what he was doing. She was such a different person than she was now.

“I was so alone. He’d got me away from my family, and I was trapped. At least I thought I was. For the nine months that I stayed with him in that house, he tormented me, emotionally abused me, and eventually things got violent. It was the one and only time. He broke my arm and something just snapped in me. When I was at the hospital getting a cast put on, I phoned my dad and told him to come get me. I never saw Dale again. Not that he didn’t try. I left everything I had at the house we’d shared. I didn’t want any of it.” There was no way she wanted to keep anything that was associated with him. His money had paid for a lot of it and anything else she wasn’t interested in.

“I never looked back. He was out of my life, but didn’t leave my head for quite some time. I fell into depression. I was so unhappy. Mainly at myself for letting it happen. Then one day I realised he was still ruining my life even though he wasn’t in it. He still had a hold on me. Moving to Hatfield and going to university, which was something he wouldn’t have allowed, was the best decision I’ve ever made.” She looked at Jake and caught his chagrined expression before he blinked. Then his eyes settled softly on hers, making her feel warm. Comfortable. “For more reasons than I could have imagined.”

The warm, strong hand that was laced with hers, keeping her grounded, squeezed a little. “Fucking hell, Charlie.” His brow furrowed and he looked away, his eyes moving down. “And I was an arse with you at first.” When his eyes met hers again, they looked unsure. “I’m sorry I acted like a dick. I was just. . . I was in such a precarious place. I’d been so used to things how they were, just me and my revenge.” Huffing out a laugh, he shook his head. “Look where that fucking got me.”

“I don’t blame you for keeping hold of that hate, Jake. You had a right to those feelings after what he did. I can’t imagine what hell you’ve been through.” Leaning forward, she felt the need to be closer to him. “I’m just. . . I’m glad you’re still alive. When the hospital called, they only gave me a little information, told me you were in ICU in a critical, but stable condition. I had no idea if—”

“That’s how you knew I was here?”

“Yes. The nurse said I was one of the contacts in your phone and my name was first alphabetically.”

Jake’s head tilted back on the pillow and he closed his eyes. For a moment Charlie thought he was unhappy about them phoning her.

Then he huffed out a breath. “I almost deleted your number.” His gaze turned to her again. “I figured if everything went south and Terry got hold of my phone, it was better for him not to find your number in there. Didn’t want him to think I was still in contact with you. But I couldn’t seem to do it. Fuck. Thank God I didn’t.”

His thumb stroked the side of her hand. “I wasn’t sure who you were when I woke up. I couldn’t see your face. Then I smelled your perfume and there was no doubt in my mind it was you. I couldn’t believe you were here.”

He knew her by scent?

Jake’s eyes closed and she figured he needed more rest. “Get some rest. I’ll go down and see the gang while you’re sleeping. Okay?”

A gentle nod. Then as she went to move he squeezed her hand. “I’m glad it was you,” he said in a slurred voice, and when he drifted off to sleep, his hand loosened around hers.