Sweet Affection (Truth Book 3) (35 page)

“Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away.”

I tear up at her words. They’ll always be special to me. The film Hitch will always be special to me. It’s what inspired the way James first approached me at Encore. And he had me putty in his hand. The jerk. The sexy, arrogant, sweet, loving jerk.

I walk down stairs and brush another stray tear away as my mum comes into the hallway. “Honey, you look beautiful.” She grabs my hand and brings it to her chest, resting it against her heart.

“Darling, we have a special visitor.” She leads me into the doorway of the living room and my lungs take in a huge gasp of air.

“Daddy!” Fresh tears bubble over as he opens his arms out to me and I take off running into them on the other side of the room.

“Hey beautiful girl.” He picks me up and twirls me round, taking me back to when I was a little girl.

“But…How? I mean, you’re...” My voice shakes and the happy tears threaten to turn into something else. He brings a thumb up to wipe under my eyes, and strokes down the side of my cheek.

“Ssshh. Just enjoy it.” He whispers. He’s telling me to be strong. To just take it for what it is, and not read into it any more than I need to. I can do that. For him. He pulls me to his side and kisses my forehead and I beam up at him.

“You get to meet James.” I say happily. I never thought that day would happen.

“I do. Screw the letter, I get to warn him in person now.” He smiles down at me proudly, and mum clearing her throat interrupts his watery gaze.

“The car’s here for me and the girls. I’ll see you soon, darling.”

Chapter Twenty Three

James

“I’ll see you soon, darling.” Judy squeezes Laurel’s hand and kisses her gently on the cheek. Between us, we’ve been pretty much talking to her non-stop. The gang come and go and so do my dad and Hayley. They’ve shown us so much love and support.

The only one who hasn’t shown his face in here is Tyler.

Blake said he stays in the canteen out the way, but he’s been asking about her. Apparently he wants to make sure she comes out of the coma okay before he leaves town.

Every day they say they can’t wake her up yet I wonder what it would be like if I saw him, I don’t know how I would hold myself back. Judy insists we don’t lay blame until we find out what happened, and even then, we need to forgive him. She’s a better person than me; I can’t do it. I can’t even contemplate forgiveness.

Every day my heart loses a tiny fragment of hope. I worry that eventually I’m going to run out of it completely. And all that will be left is what could have been. Unrealised dreams, and a huge fucking gaping hole in my chest of just black, dark nothingness. She was the light, and without light, everything just slowly shrivels and dies. Without her, I feel like I might slowly just shrivel up and die.

“James, why don’t you go home, sweetie? Get some sleep, have a shower. Eat, even. I don’t think you’ve eaten today have you?”

All the days have rolled into one big long nightmare. I can’t even remember the last time I ate. Was it today? Yesterday? Two days ago?

“I’ve eaten.” I mumble quietly.

“Okay. Well I’m going to go home and sleep for a couple hours, and when I get back, I’m kicking you out of this bloody room!” She kisses my forehead. It’s a motherly gesture and I send her a half smile of grateful acceptance as she leaves.

My dad went through this. I have a new found respect for him and Judy. They lost that one person that meant everything to them, and they found a way to survive through each day. Not just survive though, they were brought back to life. My dad found Hayley, and Judy had Laurel to get her through, and now she’s found happiness with someone else, however new it may be.

What the fuck do I have if she dies?

I have a child.

A little piece of Laurel and I growing inside of her. This kid is gonna be the most loved kid in the whole world. And it’s going to have its mum to be there every step of the fucking way.

“Laurel, you’ve got to start healing now, babe. They can’t do anything until you fix that perfect body of yours. It’s all on you. If you want this, you’ve got to find a way. Fight for it, for us and our baby.” I hold her hand in mine, and squeeze tightly, then drop my fuzzy head to the bed and close my eyes.

I wake to the sound of Cassie and Jen’s giggling but I stay as still as possible with my eyes still shut so they don’t know I’m awake. I know it’s deceptive, who knows what they’re going to talk about, but I want to give them this time with her, uninterrupted.

“And then this guy came back up the stairs and spluttered out how much he liked Jen and asked if he could take her out. He was actually stammering, he was so nervous.” Cassie laughs, and I feel the bed shake with the weight of their bodies, gesturing animatedly. “Laurel, you would have thought it was the funniest thing!”

“Hey.” Jen pouts, “I thought it was cute. He is pretty hot though, admit it.”

Cassie appears to think about before responding. “Yeah, I guess. He definitely has nice eyes. And works out. That’s a bonus. Laur, I know you would totally be telling her to go for it if you were here, so I’m going to say, yes Jen. You should take that number he gave you and text him. It couldn’t hurt, could it?”

“He works here though. That’s a bit awkward.”

“You’ll be fine.” Cassie brushes it off, and reaches for Laurel’s hand.

“We miss you, Laurel. Get better soon, okay. You have a man here desperate to see you, honey.” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “He hasn’t left your side.”

“We’re all here, just waiting for you to get better and come back to us, Laurel. We love you so much.” Jen reaches over to kiss her cheek and they get up to leave.

They both get up and walk towards the door, “Do you think we should wake him? He should go home and get some proper rest.”

“No.” Cassie says adamantly. “I know if that was Blake lying in that hospital bed, people telling me to leave would only piss me off. He’ll go when and if he’s ready. You know how stubborn he is.”

They leave as quietly as they came in, and I open the blinds in the room to allow some light to flow through.

I take out my laptop and open up my email. It’s how I’ve been communicating with the rest of my team for the past five days. Seb’s been taking full control of
The Garrison
project which I heard yesterday we won. I managed a slight quirk of my lips when he rang me. I have other designers that have taken on a couple extra projects each, sharing my work between them.

After an hour of catching up on work, Blake and Ryan pop their heads around the door of the hospital room, and ask if they can come in. There’s always someone in here, or waiting in the canteen, and I’m so thankful we have our friends and family around. They keep me from going completely insane.

“What have you brought us today?” I ask with a grin. Every afternoon Blake has made time to drop by and see us with a different CD each time. We decided it would be really funny to play music Laurel absolutely hates. I’m hardly going to play nice relaxing music and let her be happy in the damn coma. This is my attempt at pissing her the hell off so she fights to heal herself. I want her to wake up, attack me and call me a jerk, just like she usually does.

“I was going with a work theme today, so I’ve brought Bob the Builder.” His grin widens as he chucks the CD over to me and I move to the mini hi-fi we bought and stick it on. My ears are already screaming for it to stop after a few bars.

“I felt guilty so I’ve also got Beyoncé’s new album. Maybe she can listen to that later.”

“Thanks.” I lean back in the chair and stretch my arms above my head. It feels good to ease out some of the tension in my muscles. My eyes flick to Laurel, a look of pure peace on her face. I hope it’s not too awful where she is.

“When are you going home?” Ryan asks.

“I’m not.” I say flatly. He should know better than that.

“Just come back with us, grab a shower and a few hours’ kip. You’ll feel better for it.” Blake suggests.

I swing my head round to look between both of them. “Why would I want to feel better, when she could be dying? Every one of her damn brain cells could be vanishing, and you think I should just go home and get some sleep?” I shake my head incredulously, and turn back round to watch over Laurel. I fold my arms over my chest. “You know where the door is.”

“Okay. I’m going to work but I’ll be back in the morning. Luckily I’ve got an understanding boss.” He slaps Blake shoulder, and then turns back to me. They both have a pity look on their face. Assholes. I don’t need pity, for fuck’s sake, I need my girl back.

“Are you definitely going to stay?” They try one last time before they reach for the door.

“Of course. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”

Chapter Twenty Four

Laurel

“Are you definitely going to stay?” I look up at my dad with pleading eyes. I still can’t believe he’s here. It doesn’t feel real. But as he leans down to kiss my cheek and offers me his arm, a sad sort of happy feeling settles over me. I know that there’s no plausible way this could be more real. I just have to enjoy this time I’m getting.

“Of course. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”

I breathe out slowly with relief, then climb into the car, sitting next to him. It’s all so surreal.

“You okay pumpkin?” He reaches out and takes my hand and I snuggle backwards into the seat, enjoying the feel of his strong grip.

“I’m good. Excited.” I smile as I think about having the two most important men in the world together at the same time. It’s like a dream come true. After a few minutes of silence, the 1957 Cadillac Sedan we’re sitting in comes to a complete stop and the butterflies start up the flapping in my stomach in a crazy rhythm. Why the heck am I so nervous?

My dad helps me out the car and Jen and Cassie run over to me, and do their own fussing over me. They perfect my hair, add another touch of cherry lip gloss, and straighten the train on my dress.

“You look beautiful Laurel. I’m so proud of you.” My dad’s sweet words of affection bring tears to my eyes but I will not be a mess today.

“Thank you.” I say, genuinely thankful for how happy he’s made me. I loop my hand through his arm and grip on tight to keep myself from stumbling. I feel so dizzy all of a sudden. But that won’t stop me from making it down the aisle. Nothing will stop me from doing this.

I step forward into the Church as the music starts up and my eyes flicker over everyone’s faces. They’re all here to see us. To share with us this moment of happiness. My steps falter about halfway down when the faces get blurry and I blink quickly trying to get the vivid pictures back, but they don’t come.

“Come on, baby girl. He’s there, not far to go now.” Dad whispers in my ear. I’m being held up by his strong arms, but I can’t seem to get my bearings. I don’t want to move, in case I fall in front of everyone. It’s scary not being able to see.

“I can’t. I need to turn around. I can’t see anything.” My eyelids feel heavy. There’s a shooting pain in my head but it subsides, leaving a dull ache and wooziness as dad pulls me closer to him.

“Why can’t I open my eyes?” I ask worriedly.

“Because you’re not ready to yet.” He answers simply.

Chapter Twenty Five

James

“Thanks for bringing this, man. I really appreciate it.” I nudge Blake as he hands me a bag full of clothes and a few other things I needed from home. “Look, I’m sorry for being a little bitch the other day. My head’s not right at the moment. I know you both were just looking out for me.”

He nods and falls into a chair near the window.

“Any news?”

My heart has been racing all morning. They’ve been lightening her dosage for the last twenty-four hours because her brain’s recovering well from the swelling. Dr Bennett is coming this afternoon and may be stopping the sedation completely. To say I’m nervous is an understatement. I just need her back and talking to me. If I can tell her I love her, I’ll be the happiest man in the world.

“It’s today. The doctor will be here soon.” I glance at my watch and realise it’s sooner than I thought. About ten minutes.

“I’m going to rally the troops. Everyone will want to be here for it. Outside obviously. Er…” Blake shifts his attention to the floor, then back up at me. His whole posture has gone rigid, and he looks back up at me sheepishly.

“What? Spit it out.” I frown when he winces and blows out a breath.

“Dude, what do you want to do about Tyler?”

I instantly tense up. I don’t give a shit. But I don’t want to see him.

Blake notices and takes a step forward. “It’s just…he’s been here the whole time. He sleeps in chairs in the corridor. Slumped against a table in the canteen. Up against the wall. I’ve got to tell him.”

“You can tell him whatever you want, but he’s only here because he feels guilt. Like he fucking should. But he’s come into my life and fucked it all up more than I ever thought he possibly could! He took the very reason I get up in the morning and nearly killed her, so yeah, tell him whatever the fuck you want but don’t let him near me.”

Blake swallows and lays his hand on my shoulder. “It’s up to you, but I still think you should talk to him. Once Laurel’s awake and doing well, find the time. Nobody knows what happened that night apart from him and Laurel.” He walks out the door, and I sit next to Laurel on the bed. What did happen that night? Why would she have been chasing after him? I guess I’ll have to wait until she’s ready to talk, but it doesn’t stop a little ripple of unease making its way into my brain. What if I’m being too harsh?