I reach up and run my knuckles down the side of her face when her body starts thrashing. I start yelling her name, and Case informs them she is seizing as my chest tightens and tears sting my eyes. I was too late. I failed her, and now, I’m going to pay the price by losing her forever.
EPILOGUE
BRECKEN
SIX MONTHS LATER
I sit on the back porch of my parents’ house as six months ago runs through my mind. Memories seem to come more often than I want, but I can’t stop them. Losing someone you love will do that to you.
Case comes to a screeching stop at the hospital entrance. Nurses and doctors are already waiting for us as I remove Skye’s motionless body from the backseat of my car. They say things like “no pulse,” “head trauma,” and “gunshot wound.” And then a doctor sticks a tube down her throat to intubate her as another crawls on top of her gurney and starts compressions.
I stand there and watch them wheel her away as people in blue scrubs stand around me. “Sir? Sir, are you okay? You’re bleeding, sir.”
“It’s not mine,” I whisper as I shake my head.
I see Doc run out, and he spots me. “I heard the call. Where is she?” he demands.
“They just took her in,” Jet says standing beside me.
“She wasn’t breathing,” I say not able to move. My hands shake from performing CPR in the back of my SUV.. She had started seizing and then she just stopped. There was no movement. No breathing. No nothing.
Doc takes off running after her, and I stand there. “Come on, man,” Jet says tugging on my shirt.
I shake my head. “I should have never let her gone,” I say, and my throat closes in on me.
“You couldn’t have stopped her. We both know that,” he reassures me. “She would have found a way, and it could have gone worse.”
I slowly turn to face him. He has blood running down the side of his head. Oscar had seen him try to get in the back and hit him in the head with his gun. Knocked him out cold. I don’t know what would have happened if Case wouldn’t have shown up. “Worse?” My voice is hoarse from screaming Skye’s name as I pounded on her chest. “Worse?” I repeat the word. “I watched him shoot her. I watched the life drain out of her. How could it have gone worse?” I demand.
I blink, and I’m back on the porch looking out over the green grass as the sun starts to rise. The smell of fresh cut grass hits my nose, and I sigh.
Skye was in surgery for five and a half hours. She coded twice. The bullet went all the way through her thigh, nicking her femur in the process, causing a hairline fracture. It probably wouldn’t have been so severe if she had been cared for right away, but instead, she lost too much blood, which caused her body to shut down. The seizure was due to the lack of oxygen to the brain. And her body went into shock.
I stand when I see Doc coming toward me. Jet jumps to his feet and so does Case; his wife, Taylor, lays across two hospital chairs asleep.
“Is she gonna be okay?” Jet asks in a rush. I feel sorry him; he lost his wife to a gunshot wound, and he still blames himself.
Doc sighs heavily as he removes his scrub cap; I’m thankful he was here and took over her care. “She’s lost a lot of blood,” he says, and my heart stops. “It’s gonna be a long road, but she’s stable,” he says.
I let out a long breath that I was holding. “I wanna see her,” I say as Jet pats me on the back.
“She’s in recovery. Give me about thirty minutes and I can sneak you back there. Okay?”
I nod. “Thanks, Doc,” I say, and I grab him and pull him to me for a hug. “Thank you,” I say again and then pull away.
Jones stands over in the corner on the phone with our alibi. I’m not sure how he’s gonna get us out of this one, but I’ll go to jail and pay my time as long as she survives.
I blink as the grass comes into focus again, and my shoulders relax. I lift my arms and stretch them out, placing them on the back of the swing.
“Babe?”
I look up to the right and see the love of my life smiling down at me as she comes outside. “What are you doing up, sweetie?” she asks.
“Come here,” I say, and she sits down beside me. She brings her legs up and curls underneath my arm, laying her head on my chest. “I wanted to watch the sunrise,” I tell her.
“Can I watch it with you?” she asks softly as she yawns.
I lean down and kiss her hair. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I lay my head on hers as we watch the sun slowly rise.
It’s been six months since she was shot. She had a brace on for twelve weeks while on crutches with no weight bearing until Doc told her she could. I am very thankful for how much he has been there for her, helping her through this process of healing. She still has numbness in a couple of spots, but she swears it doesn’t hurt her. I watch her all the time, and she never acts like it hurts. It bothers her, but the thought is always there in my mind; haunting me.
Now that Cricket is dead, she sleeps like a baby, and I’m the one who wakes screaming her name and dripping in sweat. She’s able to sleep in darkness, and I prefer to sleep with the light on so I can reassure myself that she is there with me.
“What are you guys doing out here?”
Skye sits up, and we look over to the door as Jet walks outside. “We’re watching the sunrise.”
“Why?” he asks sounding confused. “The sun shines all day every day.”
Skye laughs and the sound makes me smile. There were so many times I thought I would never hear it again. “It’s not the same.” She hits me in the arm. “Explain it to him, babe, while I go and help your mom make breakfast for everyone.” She leans over and gives me a soft kiss. “I love you,” she says with a smile.
“I love you.” I tell her and then she walks inside as Jet sits down beside me.
“She seems to be doing great,” he says as he looks over the backyard.
“She says she is.”
“Do you believe her?”
I shrug. “I don’t want to not believe her.” Do I think she would tell me if she was hurting? No. But that’s why I watch her. I watch her when she doesn’t even know I’m there. I’ll come home early from work, or try to sneak into the bathroom quietly while she takes a bath, and just watch her like a peeping Tom. She acts as if everything is fine.
“It sure is beautiful here,” he says looking over my parents’ backyard.
“Yes, it is,” I agree with him.
I told Skye that once she felt like herself again, I would take her anywhere in the world. The beach, Paris, hell, I would have taken her to the moon. She chose my parents’ house. She wanted to come back and be with them. See your family, she had said. I couldn’t deny her that, and to be honest, I wasn’t nervous about coming home again. I didn’t have to bribe the flight attendant for more drinks. And the best part is my best friends came. We told everyone one night at our house that we were going to go back to my hometown to visit my parents. We were both surprised, but excited when they all said that they could use a little time away. Case and Taylor are still in there sleeping, I’m sure, and Jet tagged along ‘cause he said he had nothing else to do this weekend. He’s like the little brother that we have adopted. So we hopped on a plane and came here.
Jet’s phone rings, and he pulls it out of his pocket. “Hello?”
“I’m out of town right now,” he says slowly. “Yeah, I’ll be back on Monday.” He sits silently as someone speaks to him, but I can tell his demeanor has changed. His body is tight, and I watch his finger press the volume button down on his phone so I couldn’t hear what the person on the other end was saying. “Okay.” He nods to himself. “I’ll see you first thing Monday.” He hangs up.
“Everything okay?” I ask him,
He nods placing his phone in his pocket. “Yeah,” he says standing. “Man, I’m starving. Let’s go see what the girls are cooking,” And then he goes inside.
I stand up slowly and follow him. Everyone is awake and in th
e kitchen. My dad and Case sit at the table drinking coffee. My dad reads the newspaper while Case plays on his phone. Skye and Taylor are standing in the kitchen along with my mother as they each do a task to prepare breakfast. They’ve become really close, Skye and Taylor. Taylor has helped me out a lot with her. And she does many girl things with her. I know she hasn’t replaced Tiffany, but I’m glad that she has a new best friend. Skye has also started school. She goes to the college three days a week and takes online courses from our home the other two days. She an entirely different person; always smiling and laughing. I can’t help but stare at her all the time and think of what our future holds, because for once in my life, I know I have one and it’s with her.
Jet walks up to Taylor and places his hand on her belly, and she swats it away.
“Hey, you can’t just touch a woman’s belly,” she tells him as she points a cutting knife at him.
Jet throws his hands up. “I wanna feel him. Is he kicking yet?” He pushes his bottom lip out.
“It’s a she,” Taylor corrects him with a laugh.
Case sighs from the table. “Jet, we talked about this. No touching,” he says as if he is talking to a child. Six months ago, Case would have punched his lights out for touching Taylor, but we all know he’s harmless.
They all laugh, and I watch as my mother hugs Skye. They laugh some more as they make fun of Jet.
I never thought I’d be here. In love. Ready for a life with another. I had left Skye only once when she was in the hospital; it was the following day that she had been shot. I went home and grabbed some clothes and the stuff I would need to stay with her for the days and nights to come. And then I went to a jewelry shop. I bought a wedding ring and have been waiting for the right time. Tomorrow night, I’m gonna propose to her in front of my parents and friends. Just the seven of us, here in my parents’ house, as I ask her to be mine forever. And if you ask me, forever can’t get here fast enough.
THE END
Make sure to add Jet’s book, Confession to your TRB list. Coming soon!
About The Author
Shantel is a Texas-born girl who now lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with her high school sweetheart, who is a wonderful, supportive husband and their five-year-old little princess. She loves to spend time cuddled up on the couch with a good book.
She is the Amazon Bestselling author of the Undescribable series and is currently working on her fourth book Unforgettable, which is set to release September 23rd. She considers herself extremely lucky to get to be a stay at home wife and mother. Going to concerts and the movies are just a few of her favorite things to do. She hates coffee but loves wine. She and her husband are both huge football fans, college and NFL. And she has to feed her high heel addiction by shopping for shoes weekly.
Although she has a passion for writing, her family is most important to her. She loves spending evenings at home with her husband and daughter, along with their cat and dog.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First I would like to thank Jenny Sims, my wonderful editor. I love you to pieces, girl. Thank you for all the help. I truly appreciate it.
My assistant Amanda Wooden, I couldn’t imagine not having you as a friend. I love you!
I want to thank, Sommer Stein at Perfect Pear Creative for making me such a beautiful cover. Love you princess and thanks again.
I want to thank my wonderful friends Genevieve Wilkerson-Migala and Kelly Tucker. You two ladies fucking kick ass and I can’t tell you thank you enough for being such great, supportive friends! I’m lucky to have you two as not only readers but friends. I love you ladies.
I want to thank my awesome street team, Shantel's Entourage. I love these bitches! This lovely group of ladies are awesome at pimping and making me laugh. It’s amazing how you can become so close with someone when they live halfway around the world. These girls are my sisters, and I love them very much.
Obsession (Seven Deadly Sins Book 2) Page 42