Page 55 of The Time It Takes
I turned and walked through the doors before she could say anything else to make me feel less than what I was. Before she could pretend for a moment longer that she understood a single damn thing about me.
A damn thing about us.
Chapter Eleven
Present
OnceIreachthebeach, I dig my feet into the sand with each step, doing my best to ignore the shakiness of my body.
He didn’t know I was there. He never knew.
Beth nervously keeps glancing up at Oliver as I approach with clear intentions. Great, she does remember who I am. I stab my surfboard into the sand and step in front of her. Extending my arm, I introduce myself. “Hi, I’m Willow.”
She eyes me cautiously and hesitantly grabs my hand to shake it. “I know,” she responds slowly.
I’m all too aware of the guys watching our interaction closely. I pull my hand away from her grip. “You do?” I ask, knitting my brows together.
“Of course.” She nods and scowls at me before remembering to fix her face.
I wipe my hand across my forehead, feigning worry. “Phew.I was beginning to think you had dementia, Nurse Wilson.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Oliver straighten. When I cast him a meaningful glance, there’s nothing but confusion looking back at me. The backs of my eyes burn in fury. This entire time I thought Oliver had denied me, but it was her. She never told him about that night when I came to the hospital.
I’m so tired of the lies and being made out as some bad guy in every scenario. I’m tired of all the secrecy. I’m tired of exerting the energy it takes to breathe with everything I’ve been keeping inside.
Silence meets us all. The only sound is the pounding of my heart in my ears until a voice that’s haunted my dreams for the past ten years breaks the echo. “How do you know that?” Oliver asks, his voice quiet. "How do you know her last name?'
I don’t look at him. I keep my eyes trained on Beth as she tells him, “She must have looked me up.”
I let out a disbelieving laugh. My eyes turn pleading against hers. “So, you’re a liar too?” I ask her, nearly choking on my voice.
She shakes her head, though her confidence wanes. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You were supposed to choose right,” I tell her, stepping closer. “You were supposed to be better thanme. It wasn’t your decision to make.”
“Yet you gave me an option,” she blurts.
Oliver turns his body so that he is fully facing her. “Beth?” he asks, his voice carrying a deadly calm. “What is she talking about?”
She looks up at him, tears brimming her eyes. “I don’t know. You know how she is. She’s just trying to get inside your head. Don’t let—”
She stops talking when Oliver’s eyes find mine and there’s something harsh and wild rising within him that I have to force myself not to back away. “Tell me, Will.”
I open my mouth, but my throat closes.
“Please.”
I close my eyes at his plea. “Five and a half years ago,” I say quietly, opening my eyes. “I waited for you outside the hospital, but you never came.” His eyebrows furrow as he takes in my words. “The first clue was that she already knew my name. The second was how she said yours.” My words tremble out of my mouth. “I told her to tell you, to let you decide, but she decided for us. I waited for you, Ollie, but you never came so I thought…” I shake my head, exhaling. “What was I supposed to do when I respected something I thought you chose?”
Bethany drops her head onto Oliver’s chest and says something I can’t hear, but his eyes are locked on me. Slowly he drops his head so that his mouth is next to her ear, and he whispers something that makes her nod.
My eyes fall to the sand as a new weight settles against me.
“Go,” Oliver whispers, and it takes me longer than it should to realize he’s talking to me. “I need to talk to my girlfriend.”
Pain.
The sound of a crack in my chest rings in my ears. It’s funny really; I could have sworn I didn’t have a heart left to break.
