Brokenly Found

by Nikki Bolvair

  Brokenly Found

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Brokenly Found (The Faith Series, #2)

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Find me Info

  Author Bio

  Sign up for Nikki Bolvair's Mailing List

  By: Nikki Bolvair

  Website: nikkibolvair.com

  All rights reserved nikkibolvair©2015

  E-book cover design by: Lyn Forester https://www.lynforester.com/copy-of-art-gallery

  E-book

  ISBN: 9780996159982

  This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Book It With Bolvair List

  The Faith Series

  Love Is Not Lost

  Brokenly Found

  Gaining Ground

  Silent Secrets

  Just Married

  The Lovey Dearest Series

  Delicate Beauty

  Sweet Firecracker

  Honey Babe

  Lovely Dearest (Coming 2018)

  The Lydent Series

  Hidden Light

  The Bridge Over Snake Creek

  Tetchy Sleuth (Coming 2018)

  Winter Fairies

  Frozen Hearts

  Chapter 1

  Greyhound buses were big, but I guess they would have to be if you were hauling a whole bunch of people. I found my seat in the middle, off to the left. As it started to rain once again, the bus jerked forward to make its way through town. Raindrops pebbled against the windows as the gray sky turned dark and ugly.

  Why would Sarah want me gone? I thought she cared. I thought Brady cared. It seemed so out of character for them. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I didn't hear the whole story. My thoughts then turned to the McGuires. Why did Raina have to be Austin's girlfriend? They left because of my parents. To get away from us. Then I practically showed up on their doorstep. A reminder of their past. Something they desperately tried to forget, and I was in their sanctuary.

  Why was any of this happening to me? Hadn’t I suffered enough?

  I looked out the window, feeling sorry for myself. The roads were now half flooded with rainwater as I noticed the street gutters filling up, water rushing down them.

  I glanced ahead, watching where we were going, hoping the road was safe to travel on. That's when I saw the green Jeep speed past us. My heart leapt as my eyes drew to the person inside.

  Tyler! Was he coming after me?

  I changed my mind. Determination flowed through me. I couldn't keep running. I needed to stay and fight for what I wanted. I needed to demand that I stay. I could do it, live on my own. I wanted to stop running. To call this place my town. I didn’t need them. If Brady didn’t want me, fine, but I was done running. I was going to stay for me.

  I stood up with my bag in hand, with the intention of walking towards the bus driver to ask to get off, but I never got that far. The bus swayed to the side as the brakes squealed, sending the bus into a fishtail on the road. My nerves screamed as I crashed into a set of empty seats.

  Holy Crap!

  "Hang on, ladies and gentlemen. The road is a little slippery this afternoon with the all the rain." I got back up to move forward once again. I needed to get off. "Young lady," the driver directed his statement to me, as he glanced my way through his large rearview mirror, "Please sit back in your seat. It's too dangerous to be up right now."

  "I want to get off," I told him firmly.

  "What?"

  "I want to get off!" I yelled, but he didn't hear me as the bus hydroplaned across the road, twisting to the side, throwing me into another empty seat, before tipping over. The bus then slid into something hard, and my head crashed into the side of one of the windows. Pain exploded as a sole thought filtered through my mind before I blacked out. I was going to die, just like my brother had.

  ***

  I felt groggy as fingers tightened on mine. "Daniels, please, baby, wake up," a rough voice whispered. I wanted to wake up, but the darkness seemed safer. Less painful. A hand squeezed mine as the begging continued, denying me the safety of the darkness. I floated up from my cocoon of safety to consciousness and sluggishly opened my eyes to midnight blue ones. They were sad eyes, which were red and puffy, as if he had been crying. He swept back my hair from my face and let out a relieved chuckle when he noticed I was awake. My head felt like cotton and spider webs all rolled together as the sound of a sledgehammer rang through my ears. "It's about time you woke up, baby," he sighed. "But you never really listen to anyone."

  He leaned over to kiss my forehead and my lips. "It's only been a day, but you still gave us all a scare." I jerked back confused. What the hell? Then I glanced around the room and realized where I was. What was I doing in a hospital?

  "We were so worried when you left and then the bus... why did you run? You said you were okay," he sighed, shaking his head, dismissing his line of questioning. "Never mind, I need to tell everyone you're awake. Brady just stepped out with Sarah." I took my hand from his and leaned away. What was going on?

  His brows dipped. He looked confused, concerned, for me. Why? "Daniels?"

  I was scared and overwhelmed. Questions ran through my head. Why? What? Who? So I voiced them. "Who are you? Why do you keep calling me by my last name?"

  Everything was jumbled. It was like someone had scratched the clear glass of my memory and now things were unclear, fuzzy. Things didn’t make sense. My timeline was all messed up. Whoever this was, he knew me and was also vaguely familiar. I glanced back over to him, watching as he leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair, looking as confused as me. His intense eyes caught mine once again as he leaned forward.

  "What's your name, baby?" His steel voice floated over me, searching for answers that I had. Answers I feared, that he might already know. He knew me, but I couldn't place him.

  "Faith Daniels," I replied in a soft voice, "and why do you keep calling me baby?"

  His eyes turned curious, almost understanding, "Do you have a brother named Austin?"

  I sucked in a sharp breath, making an ache settle in my chest at the mention of my brother's name. I hadn't expected that. It was in the past. I remembered that much. "Had," I told him cautiously unsure on how much he knew. "I had a brother named Austin, but I don't talk about him anymore."

  He let out a long breath and sat back in his chair once again as he dragged his hand over his face and groaned. "That's why you ran."

  I was so confused. I ran? Well, I wouldn't have without reason. And back to my question. Who was he? "What is your name?" I demanded.

  He stood up, shoving his hands into his pockets and looked towards me. "My name is Tyler McGuire. I'm your boyfriend."

  My boyfriend? I didn't remember him. I turned my head to the door when I heard someone else come in. Two other guys walked in, one held a bouquet of flowers and the other one raced towards me. "Finally! She's awake!" He glared over at the guy named Tyler, "Why didn't you tell us?"

  "Kayden, she just woke up," he defended, moving back to make room for the other two guys I did not recognize. Kayden? That rang a bell.

  The guy named Kayden came to the side of my bed and leaned down, giving me a brief kiss on the lips, and his hands held my head. He
pulled back, his eyes watery with tears, which I was sure I didn't deserve. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

  My heart sped up. He was pushed aside by another set of lips that met mine. When those lips lifted, I peered up into crystal blue eyes. "You are never leaving our sight. You scared the living daylights out of us, Daniels! Do you know what would happen to us if we lost you?"

  I reached up, overwhelmed, and pushed him away, shocked and confused yet again. All three of them kissed me, and it was familiar. The taste and my feelings. Something teased at the very edge of my memory, but it was just out of reach. "Air. I need air people. And I thought he was my boyfriend," I stated, as I pointed to the guy named Tyler. Isn't that what he had said?

  The other two turned to Tyler, then back to me confused. I was glad I was not the only one. Uh-oh, I thought as my heart raced, when another thought entered my mind. They looked like brothers. Was I two-timing—no, three-timing on them? I cringed, realizing that this would not bode well for me. What if a fight broke out?

  "Daniels," the guy who was still leaning over me said, demanding my attention. His crystal blue eyes were intense as they searched mine, "Do you know who I am?"

  I started to panic. Something was wrong. My head hurt like a mother of a headaches, and I didn’t know these guys, but they knew me. At least they seemed to. Either that or they were confused.

  "Lincoln," Tyler warned him, as he put a hand on the guy's arm, pulling him away from me. "Give her some space. We’ll figure this out."

  "No," I answered in a whisper, as I glanced towards Tyler. "I don’t know you."

  Moments later, I let out a sigh of relief when I noticed the next person to step into my room was Brady. Hopefully, he would know what was going on. "Ah, so you're finally awake." He walked over to me with Sarah, his wife, not far behind. Tension in the room was high with the guys and me. Why? I wasn’t quite sure, but I was too confused to care at the moment.

  "Oh honey, we were worried that you wouldn't wake up," Sarah cried as she reached my bedside and took hold of my hand.

  "What happened? Are my foster parents talking to the doctors?" I asked her, as I tried to get some sense of clarity. I was not sure who I was living with at this time. I avoided the guys’ eyes and focused on her. I knew I was missing things, but surely not that much, right?

  Sarah's eyes went wide as her mouth opened, but she couldn't come up with anything to say and turned to Brady, who froze. "What do you mean foster parents?" he questioned, his brows pressed downward.

  My palms started to sweat as nervousness set in. I knew I was missing things. A lot of things. Like what home I was living in. "I can't remember which one I'm supposed to be with. Am I in a new home?"

  "Daniels, you're in our home. We moved to New York, remember?"

  My heart pounded, and my headache grew worse. I rubbed my sweaty palms against the top blanket as my nerves set in.

  I lived in New York. With Officer Brady? I was apparently missing a lot.

  "Since when?" I croaked out, the ringing in my ears becoming louder. "Because the last thing I remember was getting accused of stealing money out of my fosters mom’s purse."

  "Did you?" Brady asked quietly stepping up to my bedside.

  "Tom!" his wife cried, appalled at his question.

  I glared at him, pressing my lips. "I’m not a thief. I never touched her purse."

  He smiled. "I know. You said that the first time, too."

  "So, I really did lose my memory?" I asked, scared about what else I was missing.

  "Yeah, baby, you did," Tyler said softly, and I turned to look at him. He was standing alongside Kayden and Lincoln. All of them had stepped back, standing with hands tucked in their pockets, looking upset.

  "And we’re going to find out what we need to do as soon as the doctor comes in. We paged him." Brady said, but I kept my gaze on the three guys. Their eyes held secrets. Secrets that, deep down in my soul I knew too. Secrets I was supposed to know, but now were scattered pieces of broken glass all scratched and unclear. All I had to do was put the pieces back together and for the glass to clear. If it ever would.

  The doctor came in, and the guys left, leaving me alone with Sarah and Brady. He looked me over as he asked questions.

  How old are you?

  Sixteen.

  Do you know these people?

  Yes.

  Where do you live?

  I thought Denton County.

  What year is it?

  2015

  What month?

  June.

  It’s almost September. Count to ten, please.

  My mind was still reeling as I did as he asked. Three months. I’d lost three months. Tears started to well up as I stopped at thirty. I went further than he asked to prove a point but it was all too much. Months. I’d lost months.

  A sob tore from my lips, but I pressed my lips tight before I could let another one out. Sarah came over to me, putting an arm around my tense shoulders. "What am I going to do?" I broke out as I glanced up to the doctor. My head felt like it was going to explode with all the pressure. "Will it ever come back?"

  The doctor looked resigned. "It’s a possibility, but with kind of this kind of trauma..."

  I blocked him out. I'd heard it all before. I wouldn't remember. I didn’t the last time. I remembered that much, I thought bitterly. The past still haunted me. It always would.

  Chapter 2

  The Doctor left shortly after telling us he was going to request another CT scan. He wanted to make sure they didn’t miss something, that I didn’t suffer from a brain bleed or any swelling.

  I wanted Brady to go. I wanted Sarah to leave. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to roll over, curl into myself and let the ache in my chest and heart out. I wanted to cry alone. With no one to see. With no one to know how broken I’d become. My chest hurt. I was bruised, and my ribs ached. Why wouldn’t they just go?

  Brady and Sarah stayed, and I suffered as I kept all my emotions in. I needed a moment to myself, but I couldn’t even have that.

  The guys didn't come back in, but I knew they were still there, just beyond my hospital door. Brady never stepped out, but opened the door and leaned out, while keeping his body inside the room to talk to them about what the doctor had said. I heard one of them asked to come back in, but Brady said no. That it wasn’t a good time. It didn’t matter. They waited anyway, and when the nurses came in to wheel me to my scan, I saw the three of them, along with a few others lined up just outside my room. None of them looked familiar, except for the three guys who were in my room earlier. Tyler looked towards me, his mouth pressed. Worried.

  I turned away, not wanting to give him, or any of them, the impression or a glimmer of hope that wasn’t there. I wasn’t going to remember. I was pretty sure of that.

  When the scan was over, and they wheeled me back, I was relieved to find the crowed was gone, but Brady and Sarah still stayed.

  "You’ll be ok, Faith," Sarah said for the millionth time, putting another vase of flowers on my windowsill. "You have nothing but time. You’ll get there," she said, turning away from the flowers and towards me. She had that same, sure smile on her face. That same positive attitude that I was sick of. "You only woke up a few hours ago."

  "Sarah," Brady sighed, as he glanced to me, then to his phone. "It’s dinner time," he murmured, glancing back up towards her, "and the McGuires are here. Do you think you could go down and give them an update? Maybe grab some dinner with them down in the cafeteria. Possibly bring me something back too?"

  She glanced over at me, and her smile dimmed a little. "Sure." She came over and leaned down to kiss my forehead, then whispered that she’d be back in a few.

  When she left, I eyed Brady as he stared at me.

  "She just wants you to get better," he gruffed. Brady was trying to hold it together too. My heart trembled as it became hard to keep the tears at bay.

  He pulled a chair up to my bed and took my hand. "You scared me. So bad, Faith.
" His eyes watered with tears that were on the edge of breaking. He bent his head as his shoulders started to shake.

  I panicked. "Don’t cry," I pleaded. Brady was the strongest person I had ever met. He never cried. "Please," I broke out as my nose burned with my emotions threatening to break.

  His voice shook when he spoke. "Two times, Faith. Two times I had to see you so broken. Two times that I had to bring you back to life. Two damn times," he broke.

  My lungs burned. I died? Two times? He brought me back two times? Emotions rolled through me as the reality of everything came to head. My father did kill me, and Brady brought me back, and now I was back in a hospital with the same situation but this time it was....my fault? I choked. "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Brady."

  I don’t know what happened in those months leading up to now, but I owed Officer Brady my life, not once, but twice. It was too much. I was breaking.

  "No-No. I’m sorry," he said picking up his head. "The first time was my fault. I should have known there was a child in the house when it got so bad with your parents. This time... this time was my fault too," he said gruffly, sitting back and wiping away his tears. "Things were not as they seemed."

  I shuttered on a breath, with the truth on my lips as I looked at my bed sheets, ashamed for what I was going to ask when he was emotional. I didn’t want to see him like that. "I-I-I need some time. Time alone, Brady," I took in a swift breath trying to rein it in. "I’m overwhelmed. I-I need space." I looked up to him guiltily. "Go have dinner with your wife. Talk to your friends. Let me think. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here when you get back."

  He sighed and sat back in the chair. He held my hand, with his tears gone and only slightly puffy eyes to show for it. He looked unsure.

  "Please?" I begged. I needed to be alone. To cry myself. To have my own breakdown moment.

  I could see the moment when he resigned. He didn’t like it, but he patted my hand and stood. "Won’t be too long," he said, and then he turned and left.

  I reached for the remote at my bedside that controlled the TV, along with everything else, and turned it to the Spanish channel. I didn’t know the language, but I didn’t care. I wanted noise. I turned the volume up and let the dam break. My ribs burned, my head pounded and my monitor went off, but I cried, pulling out the plug to the damn machine. I cried myself to sleep.