“What the hell is going on?” Isla shouts to Simon.
She heard him admit that he was looking for me and not her.
“Why won’t you answer my calls?” Simon asks me, totally ignoring his girlfriend.
I fold my arms. “Because I’m done talking to you.”
“Well, I’m not done!” he snaps, saliva spitting from his mouth.
Isla steps forward and throws her arms in the air. “Simon, what the hell is this?”
His head snaps to her like he’s just noticed she’s in the room. He’s not at all focused on my sister; it’s all about trying to get me back. He doesn’t have a hope in hell of that. This is going to be good since Isla has just realised exactly what’s happening.
Karma, you beauty.
“You don’t understand,” Simon says to Isla.
“Understand what? What can you possibly want from my sister?” Isla shouts.
I laugh because I’ve been there. “I used to ask myself the same question.”
Isla growls and takes a step toward me. My back instantly straightens. I won’t back down to her. But Kent still steps forward at the speed of light and puts his body half in front of me.
I love him.
“Isla, that’s enough,” Mum says, sobbing at the exchange. “Let’s go. You can sort this out with Simon later.”
Simon growls. “I don’t need to sort this out with Isla. I need to sort this out with Savannah.”
“You’re crazy if you think you need anything from my girl,” Kent snaps at him. “Now, get the fuck out of my apartment.”
His apartment. Wait. How does he know where Kent lives? Unless Isla told him. I did give Mum the address. Or the little weasel followed us. That sounds more like The Colossal Wanker’s style.
He turns his nose up as his beady little eyes take Kent in.
Good luck, knobhead. Kent could crush him with one hand.
“Try it,” Kent warns, his shoulders broadening.
Okay, so, as much as I really do love Kent backing me up, I need to do this. They only know the strong Savannah. They weren’t around for the last three years when I lost myself to grief, so I don’t want to show them I need a man to fight my battles. And I don’t want a man to fight my battles.
I touch Kent’s arm and step around him.
I’ve got this.
“Enough,” I snap. “This is Kent’s apartment, so you’ll play nice, or you’ll leave right now.” I step forward. “I’m going to say this one last time, and I’ll be very clear, so you understand. I don’t want anything to do with you. Don’t call me, don’t message me, don’t stop by. Our contact ends here today, so go home with Isla, and get on with your life.”
Isla’s face turns red, like she’s been holding her breath for the last five minutes. “Simon!” she screeches. “What is going on?”
Surely, he has to come clean now. He has to tell her that he’s not happy. It wasn’t that long ago that he admitted that Isla was a mistake, and he would ditch her for me. Not that I would ever have him back. There’s no way out of this for him.
Sighing long and hard, he throws his hands up. “We’re wrong.”
Kent looks at me at the same time I turn to him. Even though Kent wouldn’t piss on Simon if he were on fire, he still winces at how badly Simon’s explaining things to Isla.
“We’re wrong,” she repeats, tilting her head like she’s testing the words to see if they make sense.
They do to me.
“Everything. What we did, the fact that we stayed together. It’s all wrong.”
Mum and Dad move closer to Isla. I remember what that feels like, though I doubt they’ll move away from her after a few weeks.
“Maybe you could take this outside,” I say. “We’re done here. You can work on your relationship or your breakup elsewhere.”
“Shut the fuck up, Savannah!” Isla snaps. “What did you say to him? You’ve gotten in his head.”
She’s angry, so I’ll ignore her telling me to shut up, especially since she followed it by a question. “Hmm, let me think. What did I say to him? I told him to leave, and I told him never to contact me again. Did you fall asleep for that part?”
“Let’s calm down,” Dad says.
“First, I am calm, and second, I never asked for this. I didn’t want any of you to come here, so for Isla to accuse me of anything is ridiculous. Simon is all hers. Believe me, I do not want him.”
“How can you say that after everything?” Simon asks.
I deadpan and twist my body to face him. No one else speaks either because, despite what anyone thinks of the situation, we all know he and Isla are ultimately to blame here.
“Did those words actually just come out of your mouth? Are you high or drunk? It’s because of everything that I don’t ever want to see you again.”
His eye twitches, and he shakes his head.
Is there something wrong with him? A breakdown maybe?
He doesn’t seem to register his place in this. For him not to understand where I’m coming from is ludicrous.
“It was always us,” he says.
“Until it was you and my sister. Leave, Simon.”
“This is un-fucking-believable!” Isla shouts. She lunges forward and pushes Simon.
Mum dashes toward her and pulls her back while my dad does nothing. No shock there.
“Isla, don’t,” Mum pleads. “Let’s just go and talk.”
I roll my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Simon says to her. “I tried, Isla, but it never felt right. I only realised that when Savannah left. Everything got so serious, so quickly. Savannah and I were talking about moving in together when we finally went away to uni, and you were there. Then, Savannah got pregnant and lost the baby.”
Savannah got pregnant. Yeah, I did that all on my own.
I grind my teeth. He’s never said that he blames me for losing the baby, and I always assumed he wouldn’t, but he kind of put it all on me there.
You know what? No. I’m not going there.
I’ve only just stopped blaming myself, so I’m not going to allow him to throw me ten steps back.
He can fuck right off.
“You got her pregnant.” Kent folds his arms and raises his eyebrow.
So, I wasn’t going to bite, but apparently, he’s not letting that go.
Simon looks like he wants to kill Kent. “Who the hell asked you?”
“Okay, you need to leave. Right now. Get out.”
Simon takes a step back and pulls something out of his pocket. A knife.
My eyes widen, and I open my mouth to shout at him, but Kent tugs me back behind him.
“What are you doing with that?” Isla asks.
“Son, you need to put that down,” Dad says.
“Savannah, I need to talk to you on your own.” He holds the knife higher.
It’s long, and it has a serrated edge. I didn’t notice it until he was holding a knife, but he looks tired and run-down. His eyes are red and sunken, hair a mess, and his clothes are wrinkled from days of use.
“Not happening,” Kent snaps.
I ignore everyone else in the room because the only person I seem to think is capable of remaining calm is me. Well, my dad, too, but he’s unlikely to do anything.
Raising my hands, I say, “I’ll talk to you if you put the knife down.”
“Savannah—”
I cut Kent off before he can say any more. “Shh!” I hush sharply. “You’ve got my attention, Simon. Put it down.”
He holds the knife higher. “We belong together.”
I want to correct him because we most certainly do not, but I’m not looking to piss off the guy wielding the knife.
“Why now, Simon? After all this time, it doesn’t make sense.”
His wild eyes dart to Isla and then back to me. “She …”
“What?” I repeat.
“She wants a baby.”
“Oh.” Good luck to that kid, having them as parents.
He runs his hand over his face. “All I could think about was how it should have been with you.”
Isla gasps, taking a step back like she’s been slapped.
Definitely no way back now.
“We were a long time ago, Simon. You made your choice the second you allowed things to go too far with her. There was never going to be any way back, not even if we hadn’t lost the baby.”
“That’s not right. It’s not right. We belong together, Savannah. It’s always been us, right from when we were fifteen.”
I look at Isla for—dare I say it—help. But she’s just staring at him with tears in her eyes, devastated. I’m not sure what she expected really. He’s hardly going to be the most reliable since he’s done one of the crappiest things to a girlfriend that you could do.
There’s a shift in the air, a kind of desperation that has the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Simon breathes deeply. His knuckles turn white around the handle of the blade.
It makes Kent sidestep, so he’s protecting more of me.
“We belong together, Savannah.”
Isla snaps, “Okay, Simon, just calm down a minute.”
She’s changed her tune. As angry as she is that he’s just admitted he doesn’t want her, she’s still trying to appease him.
Because she thinks he’s about to do something stupid.
He’s not paying any attention to her though. He’s watching me like no one else is around. I fucking hate it, but again, he has a knife.
Kent’s forearm muscles flex as he clenches his fists.
He wants to finish this. He wants to grab Simon and punch him. I do, too. I’d love nothing more than to whack Simon around the head with his own knife—handle end, of course, as I’m not a monster—but that wouldn’t be smart.
“What we did wasn’t right, Isla.” He turns toward her and points the blade at her chest. “It wasn’t right. You kept telling me it was, that it was okay because we had fallen in love, but it wasn’t okay.”
My heart drops. She’s a bitch, but I don’t wish her dead.
“Simon, look at me,” I say. “It is okay now. A lot of time has passed, and I know you’re sorry. Please put that down and talk to me.”
He turns his head but keeps the knife pointing at Isla. “You don’t want me.”
My body tenses. I can’t lie. “No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”
“No. No, no, no, no!” he raves, the veins in his neck popping through the skin. He walks toward the door.
No one moves because none of us really knows what to do. I’ve never seen him like this before.
When he stops, his back hunches, and he slowly turns around. There are tears in his empty eyes.
“I can’t live without you,” he rasps.
His words turn my blood to ice.
“Simon, don’t!” I shout, lunging forward as he turns the knife to himself.
Kent’s arm wraps around my waist and yanks me back. Simon looks up, his vacant eyes burning into Kent, his lip curling, furious that Kent thinks Simon is a threat to me.
“Let her go. She’s not yours,” Simon says, voice low and chilling.
I am Kent’s in every way possible, but that’s only going to add fuel to the fire.
Kent’s arm tightens around my waist.
Simon raises the knife, so it’s pointing in the air.
“Can you put that down, please?” I say, holding my hands up. I nudge Kent, and he lets go, but he doesn’t move even a millimetre away from me. “Simon, give me the knife, and we’ll talk.”
His eyes flit between everyone in the room, spending a fraction longer each time he reaches me again. He looks lost, scared, and empty. Like he has nothing left to lose.
“Simon,” I repeat, “can you give me the knife?”
Turning from Isla, he looks at me and nods. “It’s really over.” His voice is a whisper. He’s talking to himself, finally realising that there’s no way back for us.
“Simon, hand Savannah the knife, son,” Dad says.
I want to roll my eyes. I’ve almost defused the situation, so now, he talks up. Where was he when Simon turned the knife on himself?
Everyone ignores my dad, besides Kent, who I feel tense even more beside me.
I focus on Simon because he’s so close to handing the knife to me. He shuffles forward a step, eyes staring into mine like he’s trying to tell me something. I don’t know what it is because he’s so emotionless. His facial expression is blank.
“That’s it,” I reply and hold my hand out.
Kent takes a step forward, so he’s slightly closer to Simon than I am. I don’t even think Simon noticed, as he’s not looked away from me.
“Sav,” Simon breathes, “it’s never over.”
In the blink of an eye, Simon lunges at me. Kent shouts something and grabs me, but it’s too late. Simon is in my face. I feel the sharp coldness of the blade in my abdomen.
There’s a flurry of reactions, but I seek Kent.
Oh God.
His eyes are wide and mouth parted as he grips my upper arms. “Savannah!”
Pain blasts through my stomach, and my legs go weak. Kent catches me as my knees give way.
“It’s okay, babe,” he whispers, kneeling down and cradling me against his chest. His hand pushes down on my stomach.
“Ahh!” I cry out, pushing my face into his chest as my abdomen catches fire.
“Shh, I’m sorry, baby. I need to stop the bleeding. Look at me.”
The pain is overwhelming, stealing my breath and slowing my heart, but with effort, I still manage to tilt my head.
I instantly wish I hadn’t bothered. Kent’s beautiful turquoise eyes are glazed with unshed tears. My mouth drops, ready to tell him to stop, to convince him that I’m fine, but I can’t speak. Nothing will come out.
“Don’t. It’s okay,” he says, noticing the battle I’m having. “Don’t talk. Focus on me. Stay with me. Your mum is calling for help. Paramedics will be here soon.”
I nod, but the action is agonising.
“You’re going to be fine, babe. I promise.”
My eyes are heavy. The blistering pain is tugging me toward sleep. I want to go. Right now, I would go willingly, but I’m too scared that I won’t wake up. I don’t want to leave Kent.
“Hey, hey,” he says. His face blurs out of focus. “Savannah, listen to me.”
I can see him better again. I raise my arm and grip his chest, needing something to hold on to.
“That’s it. Keep your eyes open, okay? When we get out of the hospital, we’re going to the Maldives.”
His eyes flick to my belly, and for a nanosecond, they portray blinding fear. I feel more pressure as he pushes his hand harder on my stomach.
How long until the ambulance is here?
Where is everyone else?
All I see is Kent.
He looks back up and smiles. “It’s not that bad.”
Now, you’re the one lying to me.
“They’re going to fix you up, Savannah, and then I’m bringing you home. I’m going to look after you, and I swear on my life, no one will ever hurt you again.”
It’s so cold in here. My body is heavy. I can feel Kent’s arm tightening under me as he takes more and more of my weight.
“Baby, hey,” he says, pressing his forehead to mine, “stay with me. I need you to do that.”
He’s out of focus again.
Kent? Come back.
My heart races. I don’t want to leave him, but everything is slowly turning black.
“Savannah!” he snaps. “Look at me.”
I’m trying.
Kent!
“Hey, come on, you can do it. I’m here. Listen to my voice. Help is on the way. I can hear them. Baby, please, look at me.”
I can’t.
Darkness.
I don’t know if my eyes are closed, but I can’t see.
Cold creeps up my spine and branches out to each limb.
“Savannah!”
I love you, Kent.
38
Kent
“Savannah!” I shout.
She’s limp in my arms. Eyes closed.
My world stops.
“Savannah!”
Her dad and sister are holding Simon down on the floor, but he’s not even tried to move. Her mum is on the phone by my front door, waiting for help.
“Wake up, baby. Savannah, wake up!” I shake her because I can’t move my hand to tap her face. “Fuck, Savannah, wake up!”
My heart races, hands shaking. Her chest is rising and falling still, but she won’t wake up.
Why the fuck won’t you wake up?
“Savannah, can you hear me? I know you can.”
She’s breathing, so I have to believe that she can hear me.
“I know I’ve said it a thousand times before, but I really do love you. I’ve always known what love is. My parents shower me in it, I have two sisters I’d do anything for, and I have friends who are more like brothers. But then you came along. Fuck me, Savannah, I was not prepared for it. Falling in love with you hit me so hard.”
Her blood is warm and slippery against my hand, leaking through my fingers. I’ve stemmed the flow considerably, but I can still feel it dripping further down my wrist.
Is that why she’s out of it? Because of the blood loss? She just needs a transfusion and she’ll be okay.
“There’s supposed to be a very fine line between love and hate. Before you, I never believed that. I thought that love was love, and hate was hate. Stupid of me to be so black and white about something really, but you came along and threw a whole bunch of stormy grey in there.
“You changed my world, Savannah, and there is still so much I want to show you, so many places I want to take you. And I still need to marry you. So, you’d better just be taking a fucking nap right now, babe. I’m not doing this without you.”
I can feel her stomach moving where she’s breathing. I don’t know if it’s fear talking, but it’s getting shallower.
My muscles bunch.
“Savannah.”
“They’re here!” her mum shouts. I hear her run out the door, ready to meet them off the lift.
Thank fuck.
“Did you hear that? The paramedics are here. I need you to hold on, babe. Stay with me. Keep listening to my voice. I’m not going anywhere, not ever, so you can’t either.”
Lie to Me Page 29