Wanted (Addicted Trilogy Book 3) (4 page)

Sara

I was lost between delirium and reality when I saw him approach. He
looked so broken, like a piece of him died when he rescued me. With each step
he took, I could see the immense love laced in his eyes, but there was also a
great fear lurking underneath.

Knowing he must have been going out of his mind with worry the
whole time he was unable to find me, I wanted nothing more than to comfort him.
I had no doubt he was beating himself up, taking the blame for my abduction.

He was crazy protective over me, and the realm of his sanity had surely
been tested.

“Hi, beautiful.”

I croaked out a response, my throat too raw and painful to provide
anything more than a garble. Pain bombarded me with a fierceness I’d never felt
before; it almost took my breath away. I winced and cringed from the slightest
movement. My arm hurt but since the pain radiated all over, I wasn’t quite sure
where the actual damage was. I also wasn’t in any shape to comprehend even if
Alek explained it to me.

Curiosity won out, though. “What happened? I remember Samuel
standing in front of us as we were trying to leave, but my memory is a little
fuzzy after that.” I flinched one more time, my arm slipping off the propped-up
pillows.

“First things first,” Alek interrupted. “Do you need a nurse?”

“I think so. My arm is killing me.”

“I’ll call someone in, Sara,” Alexa said. It wasn’t until I heard
her voice did I even take notice there were other people in the room with us.

Both Matt and Alexa were patiently standing behind Alek, waiting
for their turn to visit with me.

How did I not see them
standing there?

“Thanks, Lex,” I mumbled, my speech slurring as I spoke.

Fixing my eyes back on Alek, I asked him again about what happened.
I knew something was off because although I was still in pain, my
comprehension, speech and movements were slowed, no doubt from the effects of
whatever drugs were pumping through my body.

 
“He tried to stop us as we
were all leaving. Then you…you…” He trailed off, the end of his sentence too
much for him to recall.

“Who else was there?”

“Kael. You don’t remember him being with us?”

Memories flooded back the more he spoke. I vaguely remembered his
friend being in the house. My brain was still a little hazy, but I think I
recalled him holding my hand as I was lying on the floor.

Bleeding.

Fading in and out of consciousness.

“Sara? Are you okay?”

“What?” I asked, still having difficulty focusing. “Yeah, I’m
fine. It’s taking me a little while to remember. That’s all.”

“Why don’t we discuss this a little later? After you’ve had time
to recuperate more?” I could tell
he
was the one who didn’t want to talk about what happened. Before I had the
chance to answer, Alexa came back into the room, a nurse following behind her.

“Look who I found! And it looks like she has the good shit with
her, too.” She winked, trying her best to lighten the mood. When she rounded
the bed and stood beside me, she reached down and clasped my hand. The look on
her face was sad although she was smiling.
 
She was doing her best to make me forget, even if for a moment, and I
couldn’t be luckier she was my best friend.

I knew they were all scared. Shit,
I
was scared and I’d been the one to live through it. Twice.

When Alek saw the nurse was attending to my pain, he physically
relaxed. Whatever the wonderful woman had put in my IV, it was taking effect
and fast. My eyelids became heavy, the pain in my arm dwindling to a mere
throb. I was suddenly tired, and although I wanted to visit a while longer, I knew
my body had a different plan.

Alexa squeezed my hand before giving me a quick hug. “I’ll come
back tomorrow, Sara. You need to rest. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” I grumbled, the drugs kicking in full-force.

Giving both men a hug, she made her way toward the door. Before
she could disappear, Alek called out to her.

“Alexa, wait. I’ll walk you out.” He was such a gentleman. I knew
Matt would have walked her out, but I could tell he wanted to spend more time
with me. “I’m running to the cafeteria on my way back up,” he mentioned,
turning his attention fully on Matt. “Do you want anything?”

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Even in my hazy
state, the mere fact he was so pleasant with my friend was astounding. I’d seen
subtle changes over the past couple of months when it came to dealing with Matt,
but to witness it in such an obvious way threw me for a loop.

“Nah. I’m good. Thanks, though.” Matt nodded and turned his
attention back on me as Alek and Alexa exited my hospital room.

“When did you guys become best buds?” I whispered, falling into a
coughing fit because my throat was so damn dry. Matt instantly poured me a
small glass of water, stepping closer to my bed and holding it to my lips so I
could drink.

“Are you all right?” he questioned. I hated I was the one who
caused him to worry about me. All of them. At the same time, though, I was
beyond grateful I was surrounded by such wonderful people.

After my throat had been soothed with cool liquid, I was able to
speak a little better. More coherently. “I’ll be fine. Stop worrying about me,
Matt. I can see the look on your face.” I reached for his hand. The moment we
touched, his eyes became glassy, fear for me suddenly overwhelming.

“I was so scared something bad happened to you, Sara.” He shook
his head, gripping my hand tighter. “I mean…more than that psycho snatching you
up. When I got the call you’d been found but were rushed to the hospital, I immediately
thought the worst.”

I tried my best to comfort him. I found it funny I was the one
lying in the hospital bed, my shoulder all mangled to hell, yet I felt bad for
making everyone else worry about me.

The more the minutes passed, the sleepier I became until I could
no longer keep my eyes open. Matt had stopped talking, knowing I wasn’t paying
attention any longer. I hoped he wasn’t offended, praying he realized my body
wasn’t my own any longer.

The last sight I saw before my lids closed was Alek strolling
back into the room, his attention solely on me as I drifted off into a healing
sleep.

Alek

I knew damn well once Sara woke up and was lucid enough she was
going to want to know what happened. The full story. Doing my best to prepare
myself for when the time came, I squared my shoulders and paced the room.

She’d been asleep for six hours. I saw her stir at one point, her
face contorting in a bad dream. I prayed she wasn’t reliving the very real
nightmare she’d recently endured. I couldn’t protect her in her dreams, and it
killed me.

“Alek,” she called out, causing me to instantly rush to her side.

“I’m here. How are you feeling?” I reached for her hand and the
instant we touched, I was calm. Constantly being on edge was starting to wear
on me. I knew I had to take it easy, but it was hard to convince myself to do
so. Reminding myself Sara was alive and would fully recover should have been
enough for me to relax. But it wasn’t.

An odd thought crept in, one I’d had before when I was on my way
to save her from Samuel. A feeling I pushed to the back of my mind, not having
enough emotional energy to deal with it in the moment.

She was safer before you
barged into her life.

Pushing everything aside, I focused all my attention back on
Sara.

“My shoulder is killing me but otherwise, I’m okay.”

Trying to dislodge my hand from hers, I offered, “I’ll call the
nurse so she can give you something for the pain.”

She held tight, her strength surprising me. “No. I’ll deal with
it. While the meds dull the pain, I can’t focus and all I do is drift off to
sleep.” She squeezed my fingers. “I want to talk to you about what happened. My
mind is still a little fuzzy.”

I averted my eyes, not wanting to have to relive what she’d gone through.
Hell, what
I’d
gone through.

“Alek. Please, tell me what happened. Help me remember so I can
move on.” My lips parted and I inhaled a deep breath but before any words
slipped out, Sara’s breathing changed and she started shaking.

At first, I thought she was having some kind of reaction, her
body convulsing in warning. But the closer I looked, I saw the fear in her eyes,
and it had nothing to do with what was going on with her physically.

She was remembering something, and it was freaking her out.

 
“Where is he?” Where is
Samuel?” She closed her eyes and waited for me to respond. I took some time
before answering, trying to figure out the best way to tell her what I’d done. “What?
Where is he? Oh, my God, did he escape?” Her eyes remained closed as she fired
off question after question at me.

Stroking her hair in an effort to try and comfort her, I leaned
in close and hovered above her.

“He’s dead.” She remained silent, for countless seconds. “Did you
hear me, Sara? Samuel’s dead. He’ll never harm you again, baby.”

Still nothing. Her chest was barely moving and for a second, I
thought she’d fallen back asleep, right in the middle of her paranoia.

“How?” she asked, her eyes finally opening and focusing on my
face.

I didn’t hesitate. I had no regrets about taking his life. None
whatsoever. I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant she would be safe.

 
“I killed him.”

The gasp which fell from her lips broke my heart. She seemed
conflicted, not sure what she should feel. She had to be relieved he was no
longer a threat, but I think she was also concerned for me, for what I’d done.

Tears instantly streamed down her face, followed quickly by
uncontrollable sobs.

Running my fingers over her cheeks and trying to catch her tears,
I tried my best to soothe her. “Please, don’t cry, Sara. It’s over. It’s done.”
My voice was as calm as I could manage, and I think my composed tone was what
finally settled her.

 
“Talk to me, baby. Why are
you crying? You’re safe now. He will never threaten you again.”

She finally spoke, a breath of relief rushing out of me.

 
“I’m relieved he’s no
longer here, Alek, but the fact you were the one to end his life is what I’m
upset about.” I was going to interject, but she instructed me to let her finish
with a simple glance. “I never wanted you to be the one who would have to live
with the regret of taking his life. It should have been me. I should have put a
stop to this…to him.” Her look was pitiful and I almost chastised her,
demanding she stop blaming herself and allow me to carry the burden. “I’m so
sorry,” she whispered.

“Stop it right now. I don’t ever want you to be upset about what
I did. I chose to end him, Sara, and I would do it again in a heartbeat, over
and over if I had to. He threatened your life for the last time. I did what had
to be done. Plus, I couldn’t live with myself if you’d been the one to pull the
trigger, because I would never want
you
to bear that burden.”

Our eyes locked. It was as good a time as any to fill in whatever
blanks she had about what happened. So I dove right in, telling her all the
horrible details, making sure to express how upset I was with her for putting
her life in danger, to which she simply smiled and stroked my cheek.
 
When she questioned how Samuel had even found
her, I hung my head in regret.
 
He was
able to locate her whereabouts because of my carelessness.
 
I’d been selfish.
 
I’d been the one to drag her out to the
charity event.
 
At the time, Samuel had
been securely locked up but I still should have known better.
 
I hadn’t given it a second thought when the
paparazzi snapped photos of the two of us.
 
Not protecting her identity had been one of my biggest mistakes
.
 

A little while later, after all questions had been answered, she
decided she needed the pain meds after all. It didn’t take long before she was
drifting off into what I hoped was a peaceful sleep.

Sara

My stay in the hospital lasted for a
total of eight days. Initially, I was healing rather well but on the fourth day,
I developed a pretty nasty infection in my wound. Luckily, it was able to be flushed
with a heavy concoction of antibiotics, taking until day six to feel somewhat
normal again.

Thankfully, I was given the all-clear
to go home two days later and boy, was I ready.

I was so sick of lying in that uncomfortable bed. I was tired of
people having to go out of their way to come see me, the only purpose being to
check in and see how I was coping. Alek stayed with me the entire time, only
leaving to attend meetings he simply couldn’t cancel. I argued with him to go
home and rest, but he wasn’t listening to me. He would placate my demands with
a simple nod. Then when I fell asleep, he pulled the cot the nurse had brought
in for him close to my bed, holding my hand until he drifted off.
 

Alexa and Matt had come by many times to say hello and check on
me. I appreciated their concern, but I wanted everyone to stop fussing already.
I was going to be fine. I’d survived worse.

Or was that the worst of
it?

The weeks after my hospital stay were a blur, my time eaten up
with physical therapy appointments four times a week. The thing which
frustrated me the most was there didn’t seem to be an end in sight.

Trent, the therapist assigned to me, informed me it could take up
to six months before my arm was back to normal. He was optimistic I would have
full range of motion, but only if I was faithful in keeping up with all of my
set appointments. Otherwise, I could suffer slight immobility. There was no way
I was going to let that happen, though. Wanting all traces of what had happened
to be gone, I grunted through each session.

 
But no amount of therapy
would erase the scars which were left behind.

Both physical and emotional.

Alek was extremely tolerant the entire time, which I really
appreciated because there were times when I wasn’t the best patient. He drove
me to and from my appointments, insisting he stay the entire hour.

I knew some of his reason was due to the fact my therapist was a
man, who was also easy on the eyes. Alek’s whole body would tense up when Trent
had to touch me, but it was his job. He had to ensure I was properly stretching
and completing all of the rotation exercises.

Each time his hand made contact with my shoulder, or any other
part of my anatomy, I would glance over at Alek and watch as his chest
expanded, his hands balling into tight fists as he stared at us. Once he caught
my eye, he would give me a tight smile, silently telling me he was working on
his jealousy issues.

One time, when he thought Trent was too touchy, he approached him
and threatened physical violence. I apologized and had to take Alek into the
back of the room to chastise him.

“You have to stop this. Now. He’s not being inappropriate with me
at all and you standing there, brooding the whole time, is not helping me. And
it’s not helping Trent do his job properly. Don’t you want me to get better?” I
was beyond irritated with him, with my recovery…with everything.

“Of course I do!” he hollered, his own frustrations barreling off
him.

“Then stop acting like a jealous teenager,” I chastised.

“Then tell him to stop groping you.” He stood his ground and
waited for me to back down. Well, it wasn’t going to happen.

“If you don’t knock it off, Alek, you’re going to have to leave.”
When my threat did nothing to dissuade him, I decided to try a different
approach. Moving closer, I placed my hand on his cheek. He leaned into my touch
and for a brief moment, I thought he was going to loosen up. But he remained as
stoic as ever. “I’m not attracted to Trent, not in the least. All I’m thinking
about the whole time he’s working on me is how I’ll be able to throw my arms
around you and hold you tight.” Dropping my hand from his face, I took a step
back. “But if that’s not something you would like, then please, keep acting
like a jealous fool.”

He showed his surrender to the situation by simply nodding,
giving me a quick kiss and retreating to lean against the wall.
 
He shoved his hands deep into his pockets but
I could tell he was still clenching his fists, the fabric of his pants bulging
with every action.

Alek was acting exactly how I knew he would. It didn’t excuse his
behavior, but I understood where his head was at. I knew how I would have felt
if the situation was reversed and a beautiful woman had her hands all over him,
even if she was acting in a professional manner.

Yeah, I would much rather
be on this side of the fence.