Rays of sunlight were hitting her hair making it look redder rather than reddish-brown.

I found myself at odds with how that same light projected the dark circles underneath her eyes. They looked like bruises tinged with red.

It had been more than a week since the accident and Ciaran hadn’t been sleeping well.

The first night home from the hospital I had been reading in a chair across from the bed as she slept. I took comfort with every breath I heard her take until she woke up screaming from a nightmare. Rushing to the bed, I wrapped her in my arms but it had taken several minutes to assure her she was safe.

It had been that way practically every night since.

Which is why, an hour earlier, when she fell asleep while she watched the television, I tried to close the curtains. I was afraid the light was going to wake her but she murmured for me to let them be. Even in her unconscious state, she was afraid of the dark. It infuriated me because I had been hoping to keep her safe so that she felt secure. And here she was plagued by something I couldn’t control.

As soon as her doctor had informed me they were going to release her from the hospital, Thad and I moved all her things into my apartment without even asking. It was presumptuous but I was selfish. I didn’t want to exist another second without her permanently in my atmosphere.

I had even gone as far as to solve the issue of Melany by taking over the payments of the apartment they lived in. That way Melany would still have a place to live. Their relationship was an odd one, seeing as how Melany had spent her life maxing out every metric for selfishness, immaturity, and neediness, usually at the expense of her child. But I knew if Melany suddenly became homeless, Ciaran would worry, which would be the complete opposite of what I wanted.

I had gotten Ciaran home and had held my breath. I had been concerned she was not going to approve of us living together. My girl was stubbornly independent. It was one of the things I loved about her but her rejection of the idea would’ve gutted me.

My concern wasn’t warranted.

Her response had been a single giggle. It was a sweet sound, one I hadn’t heard her make before and seemed so ironic coming from her black and blue body covered in bandages. I made up my mind right then and there I would live the rest of my life doing everything in my power to hear that sound repeatedly.

The front door opened and Thad walked in. I shot him a warning look, silently ordering him to be quiet.

With his long-legged stride, he walked towards me. A closed lip smile spread on his face when he spotted Ciaran asleep on the sofa. In the short time she had forcefully inserted herself into our lives, she had pierced her way through the tough shell of my best friend. He was just as sensitive and drawn to her as I was.

He pointed a finger towards the kitchen so I would follow him as he headed in that direction.

“Well?” I asked.

“The police haven’t been able to find the car that pushed her off the road. The guy at the service station is still sticking by his guns that it was a dark gray, four-door sedan with tinted windows, but it peeled out of there so fast that was all he could remember. The security cameras for the station only caught the edge of the accident, not enough to see a license plate or anything.”

“Thad, this needs to end. We have to catch this guy. I’m convinced it’s Whitman,” I stated angrily.

Thad looked agitated as he glanced over my right shoulder towards the living room.

“I’m not so sure it’s Whitman. I’ve got several of my connections watching for him but the guy hasn’t shown up on anyone’s radar. It’s like he disappeared off the face of the planet.” Thad walked over to the fridge, pulled two beers from inside and handed me one.

“Shit, Thad. I could have lost her.”

Thad looked thoughtful for a moment. “What if it wasn’t her they were after?”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it. She was driving your car with tinted windows at night. No one would be able to tell you weren’t the one driving. They would automatically assume it. She grabbed your key fob by mistake.”

They thought I had been driving the car. That fucking bastard wanted me dead and almost killed her by mistake.

I looked in the same direction Thad was staring in.

I was frustrated I hadn’t thought of it to begin with. With everything that was happening, my brain didn’t seem to be firing on all cylinders. I was missing details here and there, which was not only dangerous for a surgeon, but also because I was trying to keep Ciaran safe. I needed to remain sharp and focused.

“What’s our next move?”

Thad took a swig of his beer before answering. “I’m not so sure it’s up to us.”

I looked back towards the living room where Ciaran was shifting as much as the cast on her arm would let her.

“Are you fucking telling me we have to wait until he comes after us?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“No way. Thad, I love her. I’m not about to put her at risk because some lunatic wants me dead.”

Thad tossed his empty beer bottle in the trash and turned to face me. “Unless you cut all ties with Ciaran, it’s out of your hands. We both know that’s not even feasible anymore. Whoever this is isn’t going to stop until they get what they want. She is at risk. There is nothing you can do at this point but keep her safe and hope this fucker flounders and exposes himself. At least between the two of us, we can keep her safe.”

The beer suddenly tasted rancid in my mouth. I set the half full bottle on the counter and looked back towards the sofa.

I would risk everything to protect Ciaran including my own life. The only thing making me feel slightly better was I knew the man standing at my side would also do the same.