Chapter 32
Greatest Love Story
Amberly
I had called Bryant ten times. Ten. Times. I’d ended up leaving two very cringe-worthy voicemails. He had said he wouldn’t be out long, but it was going on two hours now and I hadn’t heard from him.
Sighing, I slammed my phone down on the bed next to me, it was pathetic and didn’t make quite the sound I had wanted it to. Not quite the satisfaction of if I’d had thrown it against the wall or something. Rational thoughts prevented me from doing that though, knowing I wouldn’t hear from him at all if I did that. I sulked for another thirty minutes before calling Cricket.
“Hey, I don’t mean to bother you, but I haven’t heard from Bryant in over two hours. Can you come up to the hospital?” I hung up after Cricket told me she was leaving the apartment and could be here within the next twenty minutes.
I couldn’t have asked for a better friend. I’m sure a lot of people say that about their friends, but Cricket was an angel in disguise. She thought Bryant was the reason I had come out of my funk and finally decided to face the world. What she didn’t know is that I would’ve never come as far as I had without her help as well. She had done so much for me and she had no idea how grateful I was for that.
I started channel surfing, hoping to pass the time until she walked through the doors of my room. I couldn’t help but watch the hands on the clock, moving slower than I had ever seen them move. Then again, I’d never watched a clock with such intensity as I was now. Every time I looked at it, another minute ticked by, reminding me twenty minutes took much longer when you counted them down. She made the drive in fifteen minutes.
“Stop watching that clock, Amby.” Cricket scolded me as she entered the room without a knock.
I smiled at her, a very weak smile.
“I give you an A for effort.” She sat down on the bed and slid an arm around my shoulders, giving me a slight squeeze before moving to an empty chair in the room. “Did he say where he was going?”
I shook my head, pushing the power button on my phone so it would light up. No missed calls. No missed texts.
“Maybe he decided to grab some clothes from his house.”
“For two hours?” I grumbled, taking a calculated deep breath in. Every single part of my body was in pain and even breathing aggravated it.
Cricket leaned back and crossed one ankle over the other. “He was pretty messed up when they brought you here by ambulance. I’ve never seen anyone that scared in my entire life.” She was staring up at the ceiling, her admissions were merely outspoken thoughts. “That man loves you. He is doing everything he can to get to the bottom of it all. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he’s being framed. In fact, Adam had told me about Bryant right before he started. Adam was worried about him and that’s when I’d found out that he had all but gotten fired from his position with the police force.” She uncrossed her ankles and sat higher in the chair, straightening her spine and looking at me head on. “This goes deeper than someone wanting it to look like he was responsible for the death of Haylie in some shape or form. And, according to Adam, he will stop at nothing to prove his innocence. Anyhow,” she clapped her hands together and stood up to look out the window, “Adam went looking for him.”
When she turned around, I was in a heap of tears.
“Oh, Amby, I didn’t tell you all that to make you cry or make you worried. As a matter of fact, I know that Adam will find him before anything bad happens to him.”
“I can’t lose him, Cricket. I have been so stupid these last few days, accusing him of things he had no part in.”
She took a seat next to me again and picked up my hand. “You’re not stupid. Any logical person would’ve done the same thing. Your first priority should always be about Haylie. No one in their right mind would fault you for that.”
“Do you think he’s doing something he shouldn’t be doing?” I asked but didn’t want to know the answer.
Cricket shrugged then nodded. “Love will make you do crazy things. I’m praying Adam finds him before something happens.”
I felt my heart pick up speed, thousands of scenarios playing like little movies in my mind. The machine alerted anyone within ten feet, ratting me out.
“Amberly, calm down. Adam is going to find him. You need to let me handle the stress, it’s not good for you. Especially since you’ve just had extensive surgery.”
I steadied my breathing, doing as Cricket told me to. She’d been aware of my condition for quite some time. I had felt obligated to tell her. “Don’t tell Bryant okay?”
She lowered her gaze, avoiding me. “I have to admit, I almost told him. When you were in surgery, I almost broke down and told him. Adam stopped me. He threatened to leave me if I told him.”
I grinned. “No way. Adam break up with you?”
Cricket laughed before forming her stone face once more. “I wanted to tell him because I felt he had a right to know. One of these days he’s going to be your husband, and he’s going to have more of a right to know than me or Adam combined.”
“I know. I plan on telling him. I guess I am afraid of what might happen when I do. What if it scares him away?”
Cricket cleared her throat. “It will not make him run away. A guy like Bryant doesn’t get scared by something like that. In fact, there’s a chance he may be even more protective of you than he is now. He won’t even let you pee without him being within a foot of you.” She joked, causing me to laugh at the ridiculous possibility. “What I’m trying to say is, tell him. Tell him before you have an episode and he won’t know what’s going on or what to do to help.”
I sighed. She was right. It was time for me to tell Bryant. I picked up my phone but she stopped me. “Not like that…”
Her phone started ringing, interrupting her. She answered it, getting up from the bed and pacing around the room. “Okay good. Be careful. I love you too.”
“That was Adam. He found Bryant’s truck.”
Relief passed over me. I clutched my chest and tears fell down my cheeks.
“Amby! Amby! What’s wrong?”
I peered up at her, unable to control my breathing. The weird pain in my heart increased. I could feel the prickling of panic form, invading every single portion of my body. Everything got quiet. Cricket’s mouth was moving, but I could no longer hear anything she was saying. She was shouting, I could tell by the expression on her face. She ran to the door and then came back to my side. The fine lines outlining everything and everyone now in the room became blurry. Cricket turned into two people. I no longer had the strength to stay in the upright position. I let myself fall back against the bed and the room started spinning. I struggled to breath and I couldn’t tell if that was because of the panic attack I was experiencing or if something more concerning was causing it.
Before long I had more than a few blurry figures standing above me. I tried my hardest to keep my eyes open, to stay alert. It was no use. Images of Bryant and Haylie emerged from the darkness behind my eyelids.
They say the last thing you see before you die was what meant the most to you. Bryant had become my everything, much in the same way Haylie was. Now, I wouldn’t get to make more memories. I had to accept the fate I was dealt. I was never meant to check out of the hospital once they admitted me. However, I was going to die with the peace of knowing I had finally learned to live without Haylie in my life, that I had allowed myself to feel love again. I was going to die happy. Happy and free.