Chapter 80 CHAPTER 083
"Yes. Trust me." He says.
"Okay. Thank you. She took the worst of it." I try to sit up but my body is heavy, like I weigh a thousand pounds. My head is heavy too. Dull. I look around the sparsely decorated hospital room, it is spacious enough for two beds.
"I know and I can't apologise to her enough. I doubt I will ever make it up to her. Or you." Linc says looking away from me for a second. I see the regret pronounced on his face so clearly, it tugs at my heart.
"Can I see her? I want to see her." I don't know how I would do it, but I intend on walking down to her room right now. My body just refuses to cooperate. But I will go see her even if I have to wrestle with my weak body.
"Are you sure?" Linc asks with a raised brow. I do a double take at his face, he looks ruggedly handsome. The man can pull of anything. Even extreme stress. How is he middle aged with that spotless face?
"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asks, no trace of teasing in his tone. He is too far inside his head to flirt back. I don't blame him. Considering our present situation, I am insane for even admiring him right now.
"Nothing. Yes, I am sure." I try to move my legs but they won't budge. When they finally do, I am breathing hard out of exhaustion, and my legs are dangling off the edge of the bed. Nowhere.
Linc just watches me. He does his hardest to keep his amusement to himself.
"You need to rest, you will see her tomorrow." He says, his tone is light but not mocking, he leans over me as I stare up at the ceiling trying to catch my breath, he tucks me in. That is when my eyes catch the night outside through the high window. My perception of time is so messed up, I can't even argue with him.
"Okay." I say, a yawn escapes me.
I snuggle deeper into the soft warm sheets, feeling high and sated.
"Did you find him?" I say, hating how my pulse picks up at just the mention of him.
"No." A dark cloud passes over his features. I really want to reach out and touch his full stubble, his face, his mouth, trace the drawn line of his brows, but I am so tired. I can't move anything but my eyelids.
"But you are safe. He won't ever touch you again. I would never leave your side till we find him. The hospital is surrounded with security. You are safe, Amelia." Linc's features soften as he looks down at me.
"Okay." I whisper, fighting the warm darkness pulling me in.
"You need to rest too. You look hot but also really tired." I say before my eyes flutter shut.
I hear his quiet chuckle and it makes me smile as I drift to sleep.
♠︎♠︎♠︎♠︎
I wake up to Linc asleep on the armchair beside my bed. He is all cramped up uncomfortably on the small chair, it is hard to watch, but he holds onto my hand protectively.
He never let go once all throughout the night. I can just feel it. Someone wheeled in a bed sometime last night but Linc obviously refused to use it. My heart aches at the sight of his tense sleeping face. His brows are knitted close together, the lines around his mouth more pronounced, I can see clearly now, the full effect of the past four days on him.
It must have been hell. I don't know if he is this way because of the guilt or something else. He knows I love him. There is no hiding it. I am an open book with him. I have let it slip before.
Watching him sleep this uncomfortably just so he can hold onto my hand as I sleep, to be assured of my safety, I feel my heart swell with so much love for him. So much. It bubbles to the brim for him. I want to wake him up and yell it into his ears. To scream it from the top of a mountain. I want the whole world to know I am in love with this stunning man.
I want it so much, I ache with the intensity of it. But I have to remind myself that the world wouldn't want to hear it.
They would persecute me for it. Just like Tyler did. They would judge and hate me for it. He is my late mother's husband. Or he was. They separated, though privately. Nobody would care about the details. He was Kathryn's and would always be. He is my stepfather. My legal guardian. He is two decades older than me. How much more taboo can a situation get?
But I love him. So much. My heart beats hard and true for him. How can this be wrong when it feels so right?
When I sunk so low in that warehouse where Tyler held me in, and I believed I was going to die there, all I could think about was Linc. All those lonely scary hours, all that kept me waking up from my unconsciousness was thoughts of Linc. How he would cope if I died.
I know he cares a great deal for me, I am not daft. I also know he couldn't possibly tell me he loves me. He wouldn't cross that line. That is why he is graceful enough to not bring up the time I whispered it to him. That is why he offered me the lifeline all those weeks ago, when he said he expected me to be the one to end things between us when I left for college after my three months was up.
But so much has changed now. Tyler is out there. On the run. I doubt Linc would be letting me out of his sight till that loose end is properly tied. And even when it does, I don't think I want to leave him ever again.