by Box Set
I take his hand from my face and hold it, fiddling with his long, callous fingers. It’s then I see the bloody bandage on my wrist, covering Maksim’s bite mark. My bracelet is still gone. I stare at my wrist where it should be, eyes welling up.
“What is it, Blaire? What’s wrong, baby?” He turns his head and snaps at the doctor, “What did you give her?!”
Dr. Shyam flinches away, obviously scared of Charlie. “It-it was just a strong dose of antibiotics.”
“My...my bracelet,” I croak out, my nose tickling to cry. That silly piece of metal has come to mean so much to me, and I fucking well earned it. How dare Maksim take it from me!
“Hey”—Charlie gently squeezes my hand—“Don’t be sad.” Pressing his foot into the floor, he lifts his hips off the chair so he can dig through his jeans pockets, and shows me my bracelet.
My mouth opens to a huge O. I can't even put it in words how I feel. Despite it all—the suffering and the pain, broken by the thought that James might be dead, thinking I'll never see Charlie again, and killing my master—I think I'm finally happy.
But, do I deserve to be happy?
Charlie unclips the pulse reader from my finger and slips the bracelet over my right hand this time. He then puts the pulse reader back on, clicks the clasp shut on my bracelet, and lifts my hand to his mouth, kissing my inner wrist. We stare at each other in this moment, the rest of the world nonexistent. All I can see is his handsome face and those powerful blue eyes. I care about him so much it’s painful.
“Blaire is ready for the anesthetic now,” the doctor says. “I can administer it but we will need an anesthetist present pretty soon after she goes under.”
Charlie glances at the monitor. I notice the beeping has slowed, but then it picks up as fear belts through me. Some people don't wake up from anesthetic, and given my physical state, I'm frightened I won't make it through the operation. I'm frightened I'll be joining Maksim sooner than I want to and that I’ll never see Charlie or my brother ever again.
“Charlie”—I stare at him in obvious fear—“if I don't wake up, you-you'll take care of James, won't you? You won’t send him away because I’m gone?”
“Hey”—he leans into me so we're eye to eye, his widening in what almost looks like anger—“don't you dare say things like that, Blaire. You're gonna wake up. You're gonna be fine. I'll be there while you have your operation, and I'll be there when you come around. Nothing bad is gonna happen.”
I swallow down my nerves, shakily nodding.
“Don't be scared, baby. You know I won't let anything happen to you.” His eyes examine mine in a desperate attempt to keep my focus. “The sooner the operation is done, the sooner we can leave and go home and everything will be fine. It'll be just like before, except there'll be no one between us, all right? And James will be there. We’ll both be there for him.”
“Okay,” I say in a bated breath. The idea is comforting, so I hold onto it.
“Here, I’d like to do that.” Charlie reaches for the syringe, and the doctor doesn’t hesitate to give it to him. Though, he does help guide the needle in and tells Charlie to press down on the syringe slowly.
I stare at Charlie the entire time, urgently storing the image of his face in my memory, so I can dream of nothing else but him. I don’t want to dream of Maksim and his torment.
My vein burns with cold, the medicine spreading through my bloodstream.
“If you can count down from ten,” the doctor says, I think to me, “it will help you doze off.”
“Charlie,” I breathe out his name, fading toward a foggy vapor. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven...
Charlie cups the back of my head and draws me closer to him, so we’re mere inches from each other. I want him near. His clean musky scent and the warmth of his body calms my nerves. He kisses my lips with the softest of intentions, like if he kisses any harder I might break. My heart squeezes. It's like all those times before when my chest squeezed but I now realize it was my heart all along.
“I love you, Blaire,” he says softly against my mouth. “Now close your eyes, baby, and think of something nice.”
THE END
BLAI2E (Blaire Part 2) available now.
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About Anita Gray
www.anitagrayauthor.com
Anita Gray is an International Top 20 Amazon Best Selling Author with several awards. Her titles are available as audiobooks and are currently being translated in several languages.
In a nutshell, Anita is obsessed with The Walking Dead and The Originals, loves books of all genres, tolerates rock music, and detests TV without meaning. She thanks her readers and fellow bloggers – who she adores beyond words – for supporting her throughout her journey. She admits she couldn’t live without her family, the beating heart to her life. She owes everything to Shane.
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BLAIRE’S WORLD Volume One Authors
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Measha Stone www.meashastone.com
Ally Vance FACEBOOK PAGE
Anna Edwards www.authorannaedwards.com
Skye Callahan www.skyecallahan.com
Kirsty Dallas www.kirstydallasauthor.com
Nikita Slater www.nikitaslater.com