Chapter 85 TIME IS RUNNING OUT

Chapter 85 TIME IS RUNNING OUT

Kennedie

I could not help pacing in front of the doors.

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking no matter how hard I tried to curl them into fists. Every few seconds, I glanced up at the red sign glowing above the doors, as if staring hard enough might make it change. Might make them open.

Maybe soon enough one of the doctors was going to come on out and tell me that he was fucking fine. That he was not seriously hurt.

The doctors wouldn’t let me in, not until they were done with him, I was total mess.

“We’re working on him,” one of the doctors had said… his voice was so calm.

And I know that was their job to be composed and professional and all of that shit. If only he knew the emotional turmoil that I was going through right now. Desmond was just lying there on a table somewhere with broken ribs and blood on his face.

I was feeling absolutely terrible, and the guilt, how would I be able to live with myself if-

No, he had to be alright, there was no other alternative apart from him being perfectly fine.

Why, just why did Desmond have to do that?

Why did he have to angle the car and take the hit that was meant to be for both of us?

If he did, then just maybe he would not be in this critical condition.

Fucking hell Desmond, why did he always have to put me first, even if it was at his own detriment?

I pressed my palm to my chest, trying to breathe past the tightness there.

I stopped pacing long enough to drag my hands through my hair. My fingers came away trembling.

I picked at my fingers, over and over again until I felt it bleeding.

I squeezed my eyes shut, and suddenly I was back in that car again.

I remember my hands trembling as I tried to get my phone, I looked at Desmond and he looked so fucking still.

My vision was blurry, tears filled my eyes and my breathing was so short. The longer I stared at the screen, the more every name looked the same.

Graham.

My thumb had hovered over his name for half a second too long before I pressed call.

“Graham,” I’d breathed the moment he answered, my voice shaking so badly I barely recognized it. “There’s been an accident. Desmond— the brakes— we—”

“I’m on my way,” he’d said. “Just stay still”

I hadn’t even realized I was crying now.

I felt a soft hand on my shoulders bringing me back to reality “You should sit down Kennedie,” he said gently. I don’t know if I could handle the way he looked at me, like I was unstable.

“You are not doing too well yourself”

“I’m fine,” I snapped, my voice was sharp.

He nodded once and walked away from me. Another nurse walked up to me next. What was up with everyone and why for the love of god could they not just leave me alone.

“Miss, you did hit your head,” she said softly. “We really recommend you rest. What if you had a concussion?”

“I’m not fucking leaving,” I said, my voice trembling despite my best effort to keep it steady. “I’m not sitting. I’m not resting. I’m staying right here until he is fine.”

Because if I sat down, I might fall apart.

If I closed my eyes, I would see it again. The way Desmond’s body had twisted toward mine. The sound he made when the car hit. The sickening crunch that echoed through my bones.

And I would remember the look on his face, like he was some sort of martyr or something saving the world...

I pressed my back against the wall and slid down until I was sitting on the cold floor anyway, my knees drawn up to my chest. I wrapped my arms around myself, nails digging into my sleeves as if I could hold myself together by sheer force.

Why?

It was just one simple question, but it had been haunting me ever since… and the moment that he wake up, which he will definitely…. I was going to give him a piece of my mind.

He said he was happy that I was ok, yeah no shit Sherlock… I was ok, but of the cost of me being alright was the fact that I was in so much pain… I knew that this was what he was going to do then I would have never let it happen.

If only I could turn back time, I would have looked at him just once… told him again how much he meant to me.

I would though, the moment he woke up because he was going to be fine.

A nurse approached again, crouching in front of me this time, her voice dropping into something softer, more personal.

“Sweetheart, you’re pale,” she said. “Let me at least check your pupils again.”

I shook my head. “After. When he’s out.”

Her mouth pressed into a thin line, but she nodded. “Okay. But if you feel dizzy or nauseous, you tell someone immediately.”

I nodded without really hearing her.

Time stretched painfully.

Minutes blurred long gruesome hours and every time the doors swung open, my heart leapt into my throat, only to sink again when it wasn’t his doctor bringing news about him.

Graham moved closer and crouched beside me, resting his forearms on his knees.

“Our Alpha is a fighter” he said quietly. “You know that.”

“I know,” I whispered.

But he was too over confident at the same time, cocky enough to think that his life was as important as mine.

My fingers curled into the fabric of my jeans. “He just turned the car and got hurt like he meant nothing” I said crying.

Graham didn’t answer right away. His eyes were bloodshot, he was upset as well. When he did answer, his voice was rougher than before.

“He did think,” he said. “His life meant something Kennedie, you just mean so much more to him.

That didn’t make it better.

It made it worse.

I just turned away briefly and when he realized I had no reply, he walked off.

My phone buzzed suddenly in my hand, the vibration loud in the hush of the hallway. I flinched, my heart stuttering painfully before I looked down at the screen.

Unknown Number.

My stomach twisted.

I stared at it for a long second, suddenly there was this overwhelming feeling of dread that came over me. My thumb hovered, then, against my better judgment, I answered.

“Hello?” My voice came out hoarse.

There was a pause on the other end.

Then a familiar voice slid into my ear like a blade wrapped in silk.

“Tick tock, darling.”

My blood ran cold.

I pushed myself to my feet so fast the world tilted, the edges of my vision going dark for a second. I pressed my shoulder to the wall, steadying myself.

“You”

“Time is running out,” he continued softly, almost amused. “You have to make a decision.”

My grip tightened around the phone, my hand shaking violently now.

“Leave me alone,” I whispered.

He laughed quietly. “Things will only get worse if you don’t chose quickly”

My heart slammed against my ribs “Listen up you-”

“Act fast darling because this is only the beginning”

And then the line went dead.