Page 4 of Forever Mine
We turn into the parking lot for an apartment complex, and my nerves skyrocket. Jay and I don’t know anyone who lives here, and not many students have returned yet. Classes don’t start until next week, and freshman move-in day isn’t until Saturday.
“Look for his truck.”
“Do you think this is where she lives?” Elijah asks as we scan the parking lot.
“I don’t know.” I don’t know anything anymore.
It’s funny how your entire world can tip over in an instant. This morning started like every other. I woke up with Elijah in my arms and watched him sleep for a while. A habit I can’t seem to stop. Not because he’s beautiful to look at, but because every morning that I get to wake up next to him is a gift.
I fucked up a lot last year. I let my grief control me. It sucked me down a sinkhole of depression I couldn’t escape from. Drinking, doing self-destructive things without considering the consequences or how it would affect Elijah. Taking him for granted.
That’s the thing about depression. It’s pernicious and relentless, and once you’re snared by its barbs, they’re almost impossible to escape. I was drowning. I couldn’t breathe past the pain. And it almost cost me the love of my life. I wouldn’t have blamed Elijah if he left me, but he didn’t. His unwavering love is what saved me. He’s my miracle. I could spend a lifetime making it up to him, and it wouldn’t be enough for the shit I put him through.
Elijah taps my shoulder when he spots Jay’s truck. “Over there.”
I’m out of the front seat before Ry turns off the engine.
“Do you see him?” I ask Elijah when he gets out.
We look up when we hear raised voices. A door to an apartment on the second floor is wide open and hanging off its hinges.
“Oh, fuck,” Ry says and takes off at a run.
Alarm curdles like acid in my stomach. “He wouldn’t.”
My brother wouldn’t be that idiotic.
That thought gets verified when Ryder shouts, “Jay, what the fuck are you doing?”
Elijah grabs my forearm and gets me moving, but it’s the blonde woman who runs out of the apartment and slams into Ryder that gives my feet wings. Holy shit, it’s really her.
My heart seizes. Literally stops beating. I’m filled with the weight of unanswered questions I struggle to comprehend. The memories of waking up to the sound of sirens flood back—Liz lifeless on the gurney, the blood, the tortuous hours spent waiting while she was in emergency surgery, three days later when she was torn from our world. All the months of tirelessly searching for her. All the nights I was haunted by the thought of never seeing her again.
Yet here she is, mere feet away, so close that I could reach out and touch her.
Liz was my best friend, my confidante, and my anchor in the storm of life. Her disappearance had been a relentless ache, a gaping void that swallowed me whole.
Tears choke my eyes as I look at her. I’m unable to move as a whirlwind of conflicting emotions consumes me. The anguish of her absence collides with the relief of her return, and they combine with an overwhelming surge of happiness that threatens to engulf me. I’d probably plummet down the stairs if Elijah wasn’t holding my hand.
“Help me,” Liz pleads.
Needing to make sure she’s real, I brush a hand down her hair in a soft caress.
Her fingers frantically grip Ryder’s shirt. “Please help me. That man broke into my apartment. He grabbed me.”
Her terror is palpable and has my vision hazing with red when I see Jay through the doorway.
Ryder bands his arms around her. “You’re safe, Elizabeth. Nobody’s going to hurt you.”
“Liz,” Jay says, and she physically flinches.
I cut my brother a scathing look to shut the hell up. Something is very wrong. Ryder said Liz acted like she didn’t know him. She’s acting like that now. What in the ever-loving hell is going on?
When she stumbles to get farther away from Jay, Ry reassures her. “I promise that you’re safe. No one will hurt you.”
Liz peeks around him, and deep lines etch her brow when she finally notices me. There’s zero recognition. Nothing. Creases of confusion wrinkle her forehead when she glances over her shoulder at Jay, then back at me.
“There’re two of you? I don’t understand what’s happening.”
