Page 84 of From That Moment

“Oh my God, Prior. Stay with me.”

What was she talking about? I was with her. I was totally with her. Wasn’t I?

Time passed, and then there was crying, tears seeping into my shoulder, and I was on my side, someone pressing something to my back, but I didn’t know who or what. The two bodies around us weren’t moving. Were they dead? Was I?

I didn’t know. Then my head was in Paris’s lap, and she was crying, speaking to me. I couldn’t understand.

She simply held me, whispered my name.

And all I could think of was that I hadn’t done much. She had protected herself, and all I had done was get hurt.

“You saved me,” she whispered. “You saved me.”

“You saved yourself.”

At least that’s what I thought I said. It came out as a garbled mess, and Paris tried harder. Her tears were salty on my face, or maybe that was the blood pooling in my mouth.

I wasn’t a hundred percent sure anymore. Everything hurt.

I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want this to be the last time I saw Paris. I wanted to be able to say goodbye to the people that I loved. To tell her that I loved her.

I didn’t think I was going to get that chance. The last thing I heard before I fell back asleep, at least I hoped it was sleep and not death, was a whisper.

It couldn’t be true. I must’ve been imagining things. “Don’t die. I love you, too.”

And then there was nothing. Only darkness.

At least the pain had gone away.

Chapter 18

Paris

I paced backand forth in the waiting room, the cut over my eye bandaged from where I had somehow hurt myself when I fell. I was bruised, sore, and would have trouble speaking for the next few days because of the bruises around my neck. But I was alive. All because of the man that I loved. The guy who I wasn’t sure would survive.

Because, somehow, he had walked into a nightmare,mynightmare, and had almost died. Was still in danger.

I would never forgive myself if he didn’t make it out of this. Fuck, I might not ever forgive myself as it was.

“Sit down,” Macon growled, and I looked up at Prior’s brother, startled.

“Did you just growl at me?” I asked.

“Now sit your fucking ass down.”

“Don’t curse at her.”

Macon raised at brow at Dakota’s tone.

“I’m sorry. How about you sit your pretty ass down?”

That made me snort, even as Dakota’s eyes narrowed.

I did, however, sit my ass down in a chair. I gripped the edges of the seat, my hands shaking, practically in my own world as I fought for air.

I had already spoken with numerous doctors and nurses and the police. They had taken my statement and had questioned me for over an hour.

They’d been very apologetic, quite understanding, actually.