Winter (Hero Society Book 5)

by Jessica Florence

  It hurt to say those words—to offer to leave this work behind to be with her until she fell asleep. But the truth of what Arthur wrote to me hit me like a bag of iron.

  I may not be able to do this. Time was against me, and I needed to come to terms with the fact that I would still have to live life, even without him.

  I had to live for her now. I was all she had left.

  “No, I need you to keep working. I don’t wanna lose anyone else. Even in the short days of having you and him, you’re my family. Lynn says she’ll stay however long she is needed. Go bring him back for us.”

  Emily was so much more mature than I was at her age, and I tried to embody her spirit. She didn’t fault me for my mistakes and emotions with this situation. She accepted me and wanted me to keep going. To make our world whole again, with Arthur in it.

  We hung up the phone, and I got back to work, feeling peace in my soul and the spirit of my family pushing me to succeed.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Gwendolyn

  I’d done it.

  Working tirelessly, trying new methods, failing, and trying again. I’d found what I thought was the key to keeping the artificial parts working—codes.

  The body was one giant computer. Each part sent signals to the brain that told the rest of the body what to do through code. Every organ had to be in sync, or they would fail.

  The problem was, there wasn’t enough time to test it on humans before putting them inside Arthur for good.

  Dorian and Esme had done all they could to keep him alive, but time was literally almost up.

  I watched from the window above the surgery room as Dorian’s team worked for hours, taking Arthur apart then putting him back together again with new pieces.

  If they worked, if my theory was correct, then he would survive, and live until those parts gave out like normal organs under normal circumstance.

  But if they failed, Arthur would die.

  If I had done nothing at all, he would have died anyway. This way I was giving him a small chance of survival. A small likelihood to live, but even a low percentage was better than none.

  The new liver, one lung, and kidneys were taking to his body as they sewed him back up. They’d done a complete transfusion of his previously toxic blood. Now I could see bright red fluid pumping through the newly installed organs.

  I prayed it was enough, comforted by the other members of the Hero Society, who waited by my side in the observation room.

  It was in the early hours of the morning when they rolled Arthur into a recovery room. I’d waited by his bedside as long as I could before needing to go home and reassure Emily I’d done what I could. Leon took the first turn of watching over him while I was away, then Rose.

  Everyone helped as the days passed. His body was responding well to the new parts, and his skin seemed to be getting closer to his natural tan color with every sunrise.

  “Have a good day at school; I’ll be here to pick you up later,” I told Emily as she hiked her new backpack on her shoulders and reached over to give me a hug.

  I used to not like hugs, and they were still something that I had to work up to, but hugging was becoming something I wanted from others now. It showed that we cared for each other without words. Words had always been my weakness, but actions were what I was made of.

  “Say hi to Arthur for me,” she said as she opened the door and walked to the school.

  So far, she’d been doing all right at school, only calling once when she felt overwhelmed by the other girls in the class. I tried to tell her what I’d read in the parenting books about this, and I’m not sure if it helped or not. But I hadn’t heard of any problems as of yet, so to me that was a good sign.

  I picked up a coffee and bagel for myself and Asher, who had been watching over Arthur last night. Everyone was taking turns, making sure he wasn’t alone.

  Everyone I walked past at the hospital smiled at me, giving me a thumbs-up for good luck. Every day we hoped that this would be the day that Arthur woke up. His body was doing great, but he was still in a coma.

  “His parents came by early this morning. They dropped off those flowers, but that’s about it.” Asher pointed his olive-toned finger toward the bouquet of white roses.

  I hadn’t gotten the pleasure of being here when they came to visit him, mostly because it wasn’t often, and I was okay with that for now. When he was back, and we were together again, I’d face the people who didn’t want to accept him as he was, with him by my side.

  “I’m gonna go crash. You need anything else before I leave?” Asher stood and stretched. His fingers moved in a flicking motion toward the white roses, and color seeped into them like someone had poured dye on their petals.

  I smiled, seeing all the bright colors.

  “Sorry, just felt he would have appreciated waking up to colors in this dreary place.” Asher shrugged, and I was grateful for his wild magic. He wasn’t like us, gifted powers by the gods. Asher was something else, but no matter how he got his powers, he was one of us until the end. Part of the Hero Society family.

  An hour after he left, I started reading to Arthur, a book I’d started recently about the world of fae. There was a princess who lost her memory and had been with the love of her life, and the fae prince was trying to make her fall in love with him over again. He was taken before she could remember, and then once she’d found out the truth, she was hell-bent on rescuing her love.

  It was a very romantic tale. Dragons, witches, fae, and wild adventures, all wrapped into one story.

  “I’m still lost in you.” I gripped his hand and squeezed it a little. Nothing ever happened.

  Until it did.

  Arthur’s fingers curled around mine.

  My body froze, and then thawed a second later.

  “Arthur?” Was he finally coming to? I waited to see his eyes open, to look into those hazel depths, and tell him how much I loved him. That I didn’t hate him for doing what he did. He saved everyone and made me become a woman I never thought I could. I became a warrior. Being willing to die for some was easy, but choosing to fight, and live for them even if they wouldn’t be there with you—that was what a goddess would do. The goddess he believed I was.

  I held my breath while his closed eyelids twitched.

  “Come back to me, baby, come back and be the color in my world,” I begged, hoping it would help push him to fight this battle one last time.

  Slowly, those soft eyelids opened, giving me the sight I’d prayed for days to see.

  Arthur had woken up, and he was looking right at me.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Arthur

  “Who are you?”

  The woman sitting above me was beautiful, but I’d never met her before.

  “Nurse!” she called out, panic in her eyes.

  “You did it, Arthur! You made it back to us.” Tears began streaming down her pale face, her blue eyes turning more of an ice blue with emotion. It was strange having this woman crying over me, and I just wanted to get the fuck out of here.

  I looked beyond the woman and realized I was in a hospital room; it was full of colorful flowers and artwork that looked like it had been done by a child. Obviously, something had happened to me. I wanted to laugh. It must have been Ralph, that asshole. He was my best friend at the company. Last I remembered, we were partying to celebrate the closing on the Fredricks Tower, right next to Griffin Enterprises. I was a huge deal, and we needed to get drunk. Maybe I got too drunk and passed out?

  A nurse, who looked pretty hot with her brown hair tied on top of her head and a scattering of freckles on her face, came running in. A man in a doctor’s coat followed behind her.

  “How long has he been awake?” he asked her, and the nurse started checking me over.

  The woman who had been crying spoke quickly, telling them that I started twitching in my fingers then opened my eyes. I looked down to my hand and saw her snowflake-pale skin inside mine.

 
Instantly, I pulled my hand from hers. What the fuck was going on? Did I do something extra stupid like get married while I was drunk?

  “Arthur. Can you speak?” the nurse asked, and I nodded.

  “Yeah. What’s going on here?” I tried to sit up but felt a little dizzy. Both the nurse and the other woman were there to help stabilize me.

  “What is the last thing you remember?” She lifted a flashlight up to see my eyes, then brought her stethoscope to my chest to listen to my lungs and heartbeat.

  “I was out with my best friend at Knockouts Bar. We were celebrating the closing on Fredricks Tower. Then I woke up here, with her in the room.” I grabbed for the glass of water next to my uncomfortable hospital bed and downed it in seconds. My throat was so dry, like I hadn’t drunk anything in days.

  “You don’t remember anything?” The white-haired woman’s voice broke, and this time it wasn’t because I was awake—it was hurt.

  “Did I meet you last night? Sorry, I don’t fucking recognize you.” Something in me felt like shit after saying those words to her. A strong instinct in my body was crying out to pull her into my arms and soothe the hurt I caused.

  “Amnesia from the Pseudo‐nitzchia. It happens a lot to people who ingest oysters or other infected seafood.” The doctor looked at me like he just solved the puzzle.

  “So, I ate some bad seafood and lost my memory? I feel like I remember everything except from the bar to here.” My muscles were tensing, and I was beginning to get pissed off. I wanted to go home to my penthouse and have a glass of scotch, then call Ralph and give him all the shit he deserved for leaving me here.

  “Arthur. You weren’t at the bar. You were in the water, absorbing the toxic algae into your body like a filter. You saved the world, and you were dying. Hell, you did die. You don’t remember any of it? You don’t remember me?”

  I looked at the woman still sitting on my bed, her eyes pleaded for recognition to spark in mine. But there was none. My chest hurt, seeing her face fall in undeniable sorrow. Again, I wanted to comfort her, but I didn’t. She was nobody to me, despite her obviously thinking otherwise.

  There wasn’t anything I could do or say to help her. What she said was crazy. Me? Arthur? A commercial real estate hot shot saving the world?

  Of course, I could probably do some good in the world if I accepted that other side of me that begged to be released, but I wasn’t about to cross that line anytime soon.

  The woman stood and left the room without another word.

  For the next hour, I was told in detail what had happened to me and was shown graphic pictures of the new artificial organs I was now sporting. The whole thing was so confusing, and my mind was having a hard time grasping that I essentially had two years missing from my timeline.

  Phillip Griffin had stopped by to visit to confirm everything the others had told me. I’d met the man once at a gala for his business, but other than a friendly hello, I’d never chatted with him since.

  All these people knew me and knew me well. But for the life of me, I couldn’t remember them, or the woman who ran from the room.

  Even though people were talking to me nonstop and I should be listening, my mind was thinking about that woman. She had something about her I couldn’t shake. Maybe it was her looks, so unique and beautiful. Maybe it was the obvious devotion in her features when she looked at me, like I hung the moon in her world.

  “You saved us all, and she saved you,” Phillip commented after the hospital staff left. I turned to look at him curiously.

  “Gwendolyn.”

  Gwendolyn. Even her name did something to me, like she was a glass of water to my parched soul. I shook my head, wondering where the hell these feelings where coming from.

  “The white-haired girl?” I asked, even though I knew who he was talking about.

  “Yeah. In hours, she solved a fifteen-year-old project with artificial organs—for you. You were broken, and she put you back together, piece by piece. Parts of you are new, and your memories are gone, but the heart doesn’t forget a love like that.”

  I loved her? Did she love me?

  An ache in my head started around my temple, and I felt like I was gonna have a shitty migraine today.

  “I really don’t know what to make of all this. It’s pretty fucking nuts.” I was as honest with him as I could get. I wished I knew what I was supposed to do right now.

  If I listened to what my mind was telling me to do, I’d call Gwendolyn back into the room to hear her speak for me again. To hear those memories of us from her lips.

  “I’ll go get her for you.” Phillip stood and winked at me before walking out to fetch the girl for me.

  Hopefully I didn’t make her cry like earlier.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Gwendolyn

  I wasn’t sure I could do it again—be in that room with him. Every insecurity, every symptom in the Asperger’s syndrome, was on full blast. Arthur had pursued me, with love burning in his heart. I wanted to do the same. If he didn’t remember me then I would try to make him fall for me again. But the Arthur that woke up was the Arthur before the big battle—before he shed his past and became the hero. So much had changed in him since then, and this Arthur would probably not want a woman like me. Too many complications.

  Still, I knocked on the door to signal I was there.

  “Phillip said you wanted me to come.”

  He looked the same, and it hurt so much to see him awake and alert and not be able to run into his arms.

  “Yeah. Uh. Sorry about earlier. This whole thing is confusing the shit out of me.” He ran a hand through his hair, and I wished I knew if that meant he was nervous or uncomfortable, or if it meant anything at all. Pops and Cora stayed behind with Phillip. We both agreed that they would have probably freaked him out more, seeing them, but I wished I had their support right now.

  I didn’t know what to say, so I nodded. My hand went to my pocket and started playing with the screw in my sweater.

  The room felt awkward, and I knew it was my fault. I should be able to talk to him, to open up and tell him all my thoughts. But I couldn’t. Everything I wanted to say kept getting stuck in my throat.

  “Phillip tells me that you put humpty dumpty back together again.” His smile started to appear, and I felt my knees wobble slightly.

  I didn’t initially realize what he meant, but connecting the dots from the old nursery rhyme to his situation, I guess he meant that he was humpty dumpty in this scenario.

  “I couldn’t let you die.” And I didn’t.

  “Right. Well, thank you for that.”

  Again, we fell silent, and I couldn’t decide which I wanted more: to run out of the room and away from the awkward quiet, or run over to him and kiss the memories back into his mind. It worked in the fairy-tale movies that Emily liked to watch at home…maybe true love’s kiss would bring back his memories.

  My feet started to move toward him, my focus on him and his lips, praying this worked, and that magic was real.

  “I’m sorry I don’t remember you.” He looked sincere as I sat on his bed, and that look made my bravado fizzle. He would think I was a crazy woman if I just leaned in to connect his lips with mine. I’d be kicked out of the hospital for harassing him, and then it would be over.

  “I’m sorry, too. It’s probably better this way. I’m a hot mess to deal with.”

  This was it. The moment I realized that this was the best and easiest choice for him. I had Emily, and a new life that I was still adjusting to. There was no way I could try to win his heart again while dealing with my own issues. It would be too much for him, and I’d lose him all over again.

  Taking a chance, my breath stuck in my chest, I gripped his hand then leaned over and lightly touched my lips to his forehead in goodbye.

  I felt my heart reaching out for his, speaking their love language desperately. But there was nothing but silence from the man beneath me.

  “Goodbye, Arthur.”


  I pulled back to look at his face one more time. Feeling so much love and sadness curling inside my chest. This was the right move. To let him go, so he can have a normal, easy life.

  He was looking at me with sorrow in his eyes, maybe he wished he could remember me, maybe he was happy I was leaving. I’d never know now. It was the right decision. My lips tried to lift into a smile, that it was okay to part ways. That I wanted this. But the most I could do was an almost smile.

  My fingers let go of his as I turned to leave.

  But his grip tightened, and I was stuck.

  My gaze swung back to him, to see him staring at me with a blank expression on his face. But he wasn’t letting me go.

  “Arthur?”

  His mouth parted and then his hand pulled me closer. What was happening?

  “Gwendolyn?”

  I nodded, even though it looked like he was looking through me and not at me.

  “Marry me?”

  Every muscle in my body froze. Did I just hear him say what I think he said?

  I tilted my head to look into his eyes, trying to feel what was going on in his head.

  “I promised myself that if I somehow made it out of the ocean, I wasn’t wasting anymore time without you being my wife. My world. My goddess.”

  “You remember me?” Dammit, now I was crying again.

  “My mind may have had a temporary relapse, but my heart knew who it belonged to the whole time. It needed to remind my head, so we didn’t lose you again.”

  There was no awkward silence now, and I had no issues lunging for his lips, connecting us at last.

  “Be my wife, Gwendolyn. I’m not walking out of the room without you saying yes,” he murmured against my lips with a smile.

  “Yes.”

  We kissed and cried together before the rest of our family interrupted our reunion with congratulations on the engagement and celebrating Arthur’s second rebirth.

  “What made you remember everything?” Lilith asked, and Arthur rested his head to the side of mine. We hadn’t stopped touching since his memories returned.