Nightmares from Within (27 page)

Hearing him talk about Cassie in such a despicable way made me hate him even more. I wanted to reach over and claw his eyes out. The need to cause him immense pain was almost too much to handle.

“You had a sadness that I recognized because it’s a part of me as well. The sorrow just makes your beauty stand out even more. You’re the type of woman poems are written about.”

This man was beyond insane. Just being in his presence disgusted me…but I had to push forward.

I reached my hand out and placed it on top of his and tried my best to ignore the creepy sensation I felt when our skin made contact. “Of course I’m not like them, Bryan. You and I are meant to be together. We’re soul mates.”

“Soul mates,” he whispered in awe.

I told myself that if I could just keep the act up a little longer I could get us out of here and he wouldn’t have the chance to hurt Jordan. I schooled my features in an attempt to look serious. “We have to get out of here. Jordan’s probably looking for me and I don’t want him to find us and take me away from you. We need to leave now.”

The desperation in my voice was for Jordan’s sake and luckily Bryan misinterpreted. “You don’t need to worry, sweetheart. I’ll never let him take you away from me again.”

I stood from the mattress and tried to pull Bryan up with me. I had no clue what I was going to do once I got us out of wherever he was keeping me. Right then, I couldn’t allow myself to think that far ahead. “Then let’s go. We can leave now and he’ll never find us. It’ll be just you and me for the rest of our lives.”

Bryan stood to his full height and pulled me into a tight embrace. The smell of his cologne might have been pleasing on anyone else but on him it just made me sick. “We can’t leave yet, my love.”

I was quickly growing to hate that endearment.

“I can’t risk him tracking us down and taking you away. He has to die.” He seemed so sincere as he spoke. A wave of terror wracked my body, and if he hadn’t been holding me, my knees would have buckled.

“Bryan.” My voice came out weak and pleading. “You don’t have to kill anyone else. You’ve found me. There’s no reason for anyone else to die. Jordan won’t look for me once we’re gone. I promise. It’s just you and me forever.”

“Until death,” he spoke softly as he trailed a finger down my cheek. “Tell me that you love me,” he demanded.

I swallowed past the sudden wave of nausea and looked up at him adoringly. “I love you.”

Everything that was happening was too close to how it’d played out in my vision. I’d played along and acted the part in the hopes of changing the outcome but it had all been for nothing. He cupped my face in his hands and bent to press his lips to mine. I couldn’t stop the tear that slipped down. “Don’t you understand? I’m doing this for us. We’ll never be able to be happy if we’re constantly running.”

I opened my mouth to speak again, but before I could get a word out, a loud crashing sound came from above, followed by the sound of Jordan bellowing my name.

The realization that I was too late washed over me, crippling me where I stood.

“You lying bitch,” Bryan hissed at me as he backhanded me with so much force I went flying across the mattress. I placed both hands over my aching cheek and struggled to get back on my feet. “You’re just like the rest of them, you filthy whore.”

I heard Jordan yell my name again and I knew what was going to happen next. Seconds before the steel door burst open, Bryan pulled an eight inch hunting knife from the back of his jeans. I reacted purely on instinct when Jordan’s figure came into sight and Bryan lunged for him.

“Jordan, get down!” I screamed as I threw myself between him and Bryan just as the knife sliced through the air.

“Taylor, no!”

Searing hot pain radiated through my chest as the air was pulled from my lungs. I fought to gasp for breath, but there was no use. The sound of gunshots reverberated off the walls followed by yelling. The last thing I remembered was seeing Jordan’s face hovering above me. He had tears in his eyes but he was alive. I’d managed to save him and that was all that mattered. His life was all I cared about.

“You’re safe,” I whispered with a smile just before everything faded to black.

I was standing in my childhood bedroom and noticed that it looked the exact same way as it had when I was just a little girl.

“I told you that you were stronger than you knew,” a voice said from behind me.

I spun around and gasped when I saw who was standing behind me. “Granny?” She looked exactly as she had the evening before my seventh birthday.

“I’m so proud of you, my sweet Lydia.” She walked toward me and reached her hand out to brush her fingers over the locket she’d given to me years ago. “I never doubted that you’d do the right thing.”

I single tears slid down my cheek at her declaration. “What are you talking about?”

“You saved that young man’s life.”

I knew exactly who she was talking about. Relief flooded me and I smiled at the knowledge that Jordan was okay. “You love him very much, don’t you, sweet girl?”

I nodded as more tears flowed. “I do. He’s the only man I’ve ever loved.”

Granny smiled and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “He loves you too, Lydia. You’re so lucky to have a man who loves you as strongly and as passionately as he does. That’s all I ever wanted for you, darling.” As she spoke, her tears broke free and I reached to wipe them away. Granny grabbed hold of my hand and wrapped it in both of hers. “Hold on to that and never let it go.”

“I won’t, Granny, I promise.”

She released my hand before cupping my cheeks and placing a soft kiss on my forehead. Then she placed one hand on my stomach and graced me with a beautiful, bright smile. “With the love both you and your young man will give her she’ll never have to live in fear.”

At her words, I let out a sob and covered my mouth with both hands. “You teach her well, my precious Lydia. Stand by her and show that she has nothing to fear. You can be there for her in all the ways I wish I could have been there for you.”

I nodded my head and both of our tears ran freely as I placed my hands over my grandmother’s. “I will. I love you, Granny.”

“I love you too, darling.”

My eyes fluttered open but the light in the room made the pounding in my head so much worse. “Too bright,” I croaked. My throat felt dry and scratchy and I hardly recognized my voice.

“Oh thank Christ. She’s awake!” I heard a deep voice declare way too loudly.

“I’ll get Jordan,” another, somewhat raspy female voice exclaimed.

I heard shuffling around the room and the lights thankfully dimmed slightly so I was finally able to open my eyes all the way. Daniel was hovering directly over me, so close I could see my reflection in his crystal blue eyes.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

I let out a groan as the sound of his voice banged around inside my head. “I’d be a lot better if you’d back the hell up. Jesus, I can tell you had onions for lunch.”

Daniel shot up and called over his shoulder seriously, “She’s going to be just fine. The knife didn’t sever the sarcastic artery.”

Seconds later, he went flying out of my line of sight and I heard the sounds of a scuffle going on in the corner of the room. “Is there ever a time of day or night when you aren’t a complete douche hole?” My heart rate picked up at the sound of Jordan’s voice. I tried to turn my head to look at him, but even that slight movement sent pain shooting through me.

“Probably not,” Daniel replied casually.

“Jordan,” I cried desperately.

Instantly, he was standing over me and the sight of his tired, smiling face brought tears to my eyes. “I thought he was going to kill you,” I sobbed.

He ran a hand softly over my head as he made soothing sounds in my ear. “It’s okay, Crimson. Don’t cry. I’m right here. I’m okay, everyone’s okay.”

“I see our patient’s finally awake,” An older, deep voice called from the doorway of the room. I tried to push up but a sharp, shooting pain sliced through my chest causing me to lose my breath. “Slow down, sweetheart,” the older man said as he walked over to my bedside. He fiddled with a few buttons on the side of my bed and I was slowly raised to sitting position in the bed. My eyes took in everyone standing in the room. The first thing I noticed was Benny standing over in the corner of the room, her eyes red as tears streamed down her face.

Gary stood at her side with a comforting arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder. The look on his face was a combination of sadness and gratitude.

Jordan was standing to my right holding my hand firmly in both of his and Daniel stood behind an older man to my left. He was wearing a white lab coat and I could only assume he was my doctor. His handsome features were highlighted by a thick head of dark hair with a smattering of gray around his temples. The best word to describe him was distinguished. If I went for older men—and if I wasn’t completely and utterly in love with Jordan—I might have been tempted to make a play for the silver fox.

Sensing my appreciation of the handsome doctor, Jordan gave my hand a squeeze, pulling my attention to his dark, slightly irritated eyes. “You’ve been awake for all of thirty seconds after scaring ten years off my life. You think you could refrain from giving the doc here come hither eyes?”

My blush came back full force, warming my cheeks to a feverish level. “Sorry, baby,” I muttered. “I love you.”

He leaned over to me and planted a closed mouth, possessive kiss on my lips. “Love you too, Crimson.”

A chuckle to my left pulled me out of my lust filled haze and caused the redness on my cheeks to darken even more. “I’m Dr. Andrews, it’s nice to finally meet you. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we’re very happy you’re finally awake, Ms. Carmichael. You’ve given your friends here quite a scare.”

My mind flashed with images of the last thing I remembered and I started to feel the telltale signs of a panic attack starting, setting off the monitors behind my head. Dr. Andrews stepped over and started pushing some buttons to silence the annoying beeping. “Try and calm down, Ms. Carmichael, you’re safe now. Nothing is going to happen to you here. I need you to try and relax and calm your breathing.”

I sucked in a deep breath and instantly regretted it as that pain ripped through my chest again. My eyes shot down to the white bandage that started at my collar bone on my right side and extended down to the center of my chest. “What happened?” I finally managed to ask.

“Ms. Carmichael, do you remember what happened to you?” I felt tears clogging my throat and couldn’t speak past them so I just nodded. “You were stabbed. And I have to say, you were extremely lucky. Other than severe blood loss and a pretty nasty knife wound, you didn’t sustain any serious internal injuries. We were able to repair the damage and control the bleeding. The surgery took about two hours and you’ve been unconscious since yesterday.”

As the doctor spoke my grandmother’s words echoed in my head. “The baby?” I asked, almost scared to hear his answer.

Dr. Andrews’ hand reached for the hospital blanket that was covering my stomach and pulled it back to reveal a round contraption, held together with an elastic band that wrapped around my abdomen resting on the center of my belly. “This is a fetal monitor Ms. Carmichael. If you look at that monitor right there you’ll see that the baby’s heart rate is just fine.”

My tears broke free and I cried in relief that the baby I didn’t even know existed until just a few minutes before was doing just fine. I turned to my right to see Jordan’s reaction. He’d already had a day to come to grips with the fact that he was going to be a father, but that didn’t mean he was necessarily going to be happy about it.

All of the anxiety I felt at the thought of Jordan not wanting this instantly disappeared as I watched the biggest, brightest grin spread across his face when the doctor talked about our baby.

“The obstetrician will be in later today to speak with you, but so far your little one is a fighter just like its mommy.”

After the doctor checked my vitals and examined the staples he’d used on my wound, he announced that everything was healing beautifully and depending on what the obstetrician said, I should be able to go home in the next few days.