“He’ll be okay?” Lisa asked.
She’d been doing her best to keep us updated, asking favors from the staff members she knew from doing her nursing placement here.
Colt nodded again. “They said he should make a full recovery, they’ve got him in a drug induced coma. They said his body just needs to rest because his injuries are pretty bad. They’re talking about moving him to the ward some time tomorrow if he comes out of the coma without any problems.”
“That’s good news right?” I offered by way of encouragement.
He took my hand again. “Yeah, it could be worse I guess. It was just a shock seeing him like that, you know? He’s always been my tough older brother, but the way things have been going lately I should have guessed we’d end up here.”
What is he talking about?
“Do they know what the hell happened to him this time?” Reeve asked.
“The nurses said the police were due to check in on his progress within the hour so I guess we’ll find out more when they get here.”
Reeve just nodded, his eyes still fixed on the door to Harrison’s room.
Colt noticed too “I asked, they won’t let you in. I’m sorry man.”
“That’s okay; I didn’t expect to be allowed in there anyway.”
“They did let me open the blind in his window though, I’m pretty sure they can’t stop you looking in.” Colt nodded in the direction of the room.
Reeve jumped to his feet and pulled Lisa up with him. He gave Colt’s shoulder a grateful squeeze and with a nod he made his way over to the small window.
“I’m gonna head back in and sit with him. You can take off if you want to?”
I gave him a small smile. “I think I might just do that.” I squeezed his forearm. “I’m really glad he’s going to be okay Colt.”
“Me too. I can call you a cab?”
“Nah.” I shook my head. “I’m fine, you go back in, I’ll just say bye to Reeve and Lisa.”
He stood quickly, clearly anxious to be back in the room next to his brother. He kissed the top of my head and I tried to convince myself that it was a gesture made between two friends.
I sat for a moment longer, watching his form retreat into the room, I watched as Lisa comforted Reeve, whilst obviously trying to keep her own emotions contained.
Finally I stood and made my way over to them, I hugged them both and told them I’d check in with them tomorrow.
It wasn’t until I turned to leave that my naturally curious nature got the better of me, I glanced into the room and my breath caught in my throat, Colt sat next to the bed, his gaze wary and scared.
But that wasn’t what had my heart racing.
It was the man, lying still, clearly unconscious in the bed next to him. He was shirtless and already covered in black and blue bruises. His torso was partially wrapped with a mixture of gauze, bandage and tape. He was a bloodied, broken mess of a man.
His injuries weren’t what had me pressing my hands up against the glass panel and straining to get a closer look… it was his face, a face I’d never seen before this moment, but felt like I’d known my entire life.
I’d never experienced the feeling of déjà vu before, but I knew it was happening to me now. It was as though my body, my brain… my soul, recognized him on some deeper level. I was drawn to him in ways I couldn’t even begin to explain.
I just knew.
I knew right in that moment that the man lying in that hospital bed held my future in his hands.
Harrison Hunt.
I’d never met the man, I couldn’t tell you what his voice sounded like, how he walked, what his sense of humor was like… but I knew him. His soul called to mine and I could feel the point of no return being crossed.
Harrison Hunt.
Harrison Hunt.
My non-boyfriend's, older, beaten half to death brother.
Fuck.
I turned and fled.
“Years ago, when I saw you for the first time, you smiled and I asked myself if there is something in this world as beautiful as this smile. Now, when the gold of your hair has turned to silver, and the long road is behind us, I look at you and I think, there is nothing in this world as beautiful as you smiling.”
- Author unknown
Epilogue
Ellerslie
I couldn’t see him, and my hearing had gone to hell, but I still knew he was behind me. My skin still prickled when he was near, even after all of these years together.
My love for Lawson Pierce had never wavered. We’d had tough times, everyone did, but the difference was that we came out stronger, we learnt from our disagreements and our relationship blossomed and evolved – we never made the same mistake twice and we listened to one another.
Lawson’s love for me was still more solid than the foundations of the house we lived in. We had lived here for over fifty years. Lawson had asked me every year, for so many years, if I wanted to get a new place, something bigger, something smaller, something newer… I’d answered him the same way every year.
“This is our home. I feel in love with you here, we made love for the first time in these rooms, our children were raised here, as were our grandchildren half of the time, and I intend to grow old with you here, sitting in the rocking chairs on the porch. This is our home.”
He stopped asking once I’d reached sixty five years old, sensing that I was, and always would be, content where we were.
Lawson sat down quietly in the rocking chair next to me and I saw him smile at the children running in and out of the playhouse he had built with his own hands so many years ago. They chased one another around and around the garden, scaling the giant apple tree in the orchard at the end of the chase.
“You be careful up there.” Lawson called out, as I knew he would – he always did.
The years had made me predictable to him too. As I reached out for his hand, he turned his over, almost at the same moment, waiting for mine to nestle in his.
“Ouch, shit!” A little voice rang out from in the tree.
I stifled a laugh.
“That’s on you Ellerslie.”
“Me?” I hissed. “Now that’s bullshit.”
Lawson chuckled deeply. His laugh hadn’t changed a bit. “See what I mean?”
I laughed with him and held onto his hand.
“You know pretty girl…”
I smiled; he’d called me that for as long as I could remember.
“… I think we’ve done about all we could with this life. I have the most amazing memories.”
I looked into his eyes, now surrounded by creases, but still as green as the day I met him.
He ran his thumb lightly over the back of my hand.
“You know what Lawson; I think you just might be right.”
Thank you!
Thank you for reading Pierced! I hope you enjoyed it.
If you did enjoy it, please consider leaving a review, they give authors valuable feedback and help other readers find new books and I’d really appreciate it!
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Thanks again!
Other books by Nicole S. Goodin:
Love like Yours Series
Rushed – Book 1
Pierced – Book 2
Hunted – Book 3
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all my friends, family and readers for your support and inspiration. Every message, post and comment I’ve received fuels my fire even more and I have you guys to credit for getting this novella out.
Thank you!
Book #3 – Love like Yours Series
Quinn and the Hunt Brothers story continues in ‘Hunted’, due out in 2017
I sniffed and tried to wipe the tears from my face. “I just feel so fucking cruel El. But I can’t help it. I see you and Lawson and I want… I want a love like yours. He just wasn’t the one, I never wanted to hurt him, b
ut he just wasn’t the one.” I hung my head and let the tears fall, letting the guilt pour out of my body.
Quinn was prepared to let Colt go. What she wasn’t prepared for was the inexplicable pull she feels towards his brother, Harrison Hunt.
Harrison lies bloodied, broken and bruised in a hospital bed. He knows how he got there, how badly he’s hurt… how close he came to death. The one thing he doesn’t know is who the girl with the piercing green eyes is, or why she frequents his dreams every night.
Colt doesn’t want to let go, but Quinn can’t hold on anymore. Her infatuation with a man she’s never met has made it impossible.
Harrison has a secret he’ll guard with his life, can he move out of the darkness and open up to Quinn? Or will the fact that his brother is in love with her be too much to live with?
I still had no idea how to deal with my brothers feelings for the beautiful woman in front of me. And call me an asshole, but right now, with her standing there in her underwear, it’s the least of my worries.
The scars marring my body, that she’ll see any moment, are the source of the fear that slices through my veins. I know she’ll ask. One thing I do know about her is that she leaves nothing unsaid.
The question is… am I willing to lie just to keep her?
Playlist
A Thousand Years – Christina Perri
Better Together – Jack Johnson
Count On Me – Bruno Mars
Golden Love – Midnight Youth
Good Life – OneRepublic
I Run to You – Lady Antebellum
I Won’t Let You Go – James Morrison
Just the Way You Are – Bruno Mars
Like I Can – Sam Smith
Love Like This – Natasha Bedingfield & Sean Kingston
Marry You – Bruno Mars
Mothers Eyes – Six60
Never Be Like You – Flume & Kai
Nothin’ On You – B.o.B (feat. Bruno Mars)
Photograph – Ed Sheeran
Show Me What I’m Looking For – Carolina Liar
Story of My Life – One Direction
Two is Better Than One – Boys Like Girls & Taylor Swift
This Love – Julia Stone
Unbreakable – Evermore
Cherry Wine – Hozier
Heartlines - Broods
You Got Me – J. Williams (feat. Scribe)
You’ve Got The Love – Florence + The Machine
You And Me – Lifehouse
This Year’s Love – David Gray
Love Me Like You Do – Ellie Goulding
Wasn’t Expecting That – Jamie Lawson
The Book of Love – Gavin James
Stand By You – Rachel Platten
Work Song - Hozier
About the Author
NICOLE S. GOODIN is a twenty-eight-year-old mother of two from Taranaki in the North Island of New Zealand.
Mid 2015, she started to write about a group of characters who wouldn’t get out of her head. Her first book, Rushed, was published in mid 2016, Pierced late 2016 and Hunted early 2017.
Nicole enjoys long walks on the beach, pillow fights and braiding her friends hair. She dislikes clichés, talking about herself in the third person, and people who don’t understand her sense of humor.
Please feel free to contact her either via email, Instagram, Twitter or on her Facebook page, she would love to hear your feedback. If you’re feeling really game, you can even sign up for her newsletter HERE.
Upcoming titles by Nicole S. Goodin
Upcoming titles in the Love like Yours Series
Hunted – Due out 2017
Granted
Chased
Jaded
Pierced (Love like Yours Series Book 2) Page 10