Chapter 26

 

 

Levi

 

Those beautiful fucking eyes.

I was certain I was going out of my mind because I hadn’t seen those eyes.

My girl.

My little ray of sunshine.

Seeing her lying there on the floor of the kitchen, unmoving, is something I’ll never forget for as long as I live.  Crouching down next to her, feeling her squeeze my hand, and watching the tears fall from her eyes, I wanted to take it away from her.

The pain. 

Not physical pain. 

No.

I knew Elle, and I knew that deep down she was hurting.  Elle learned that the person she considered to be her best friend since college was her stalker.  Not only was Leah stalking Elle, but she attempted to kill her.  Once we got Elle past the physical trauma she suffered, I knew it’d take a lot of time and effort to help her get past the emotional wounds she just received.  This was bound to cut her deep.

I was pacing the waiting room of the hospital, daydreaming about her eyes, when Cruz and Dom walked in.

“Have you heard anything?”

“Nothing yet, Cruz.  I’m going out of my fuckin’ mind.”

A minute later, Wes, Charley, Zane, and Emme and rushed in to the hospital.

Despair. 

Nothing but despair in their faces.

“What happened?” Zane asked the minute they were standing in front of me.

“I shouldn’t have left her there with that bitch,” I declared.  “She didn’t move.  She couldn’t move her body.  She couldn’t even open her eyes.”

I was getting worked up and they all knew it.  Every second that passed that I didn’t get to look in those eyes was absolute torture. 

Emme was immediately wrapping her arms around me.  I held on tight to her. 

“She’s going to be ok, Levi,” Emme attempted to reassure me.  “She’s a strong woman and she is in love.  That’s what will get her through this.  Your love will get her through this, but you’ve got to keep it together for her.  Be strong for her.  I know you can do it because your brother did it for me.”

My throat was so tight, it was a wonder I could say anything.  “Emme, I just want to look in her eyes again.”

“You will.  I promise.”

“Cruz, what happened?” Zane pressed.

“Leah.  Leah was Becky.  Leah was the one stalking her.  She was obsessed with her,” Cruz explained.  He then went on to explain everything from Leah staying at my place last night to our meeting at the office this morning.  Cruz described the most recent social media post and phone conversation I had with Leah.  “Leah explained that she had given Elle a sedative and that even though we were already on our way, she knew she had ten minutes before we’d be back there. She said it would be plenty of time for her to administer something that would stop her heart.”

Cruz paused a moment giving everyone some time to take in what he just said.  Wes was gutted.  Charley stayed pressed to his side, the two of them trying to support each other.   

Cruz continued the story.  He let them know about everything including Dom getting to my place first and the horrific scene we encountered when we finally arrived back at my place and saw Elle on the floor.

“Jesus Christ,” Wes choked. 

Seconds later, the doors opened and the doctor came out into the waiting room.

“Family of Elizabeth Blackman,” he called out.

All of us walked toward him.

A little taken aback, he asked, “You’re all her family?”

Wes stepped forward, “I’m her brother and, yes, we are all her family.  How is she?”

“We’re still waiting to get a few tests back, but as of now it appears as though she was only given a very strong sedative.  It’s going to take some time for it to fully wear off, but I expect, pending the results of the remaining the tests, that she’ll be fine.

“Has she woken up yet?” I asked.

“I’m afraid not.  It’s just going to take time.  She could wake up in the next five minutes or it could take her a few hours.”

“Can we see her?” Wes questioned.

“Sure,” the doctor started.  “They just transferred her from the emergency room up to the fourth floor.  She’s in room four seventeen; she’ll be spending the night.  If all her tests come back negative and there aren’t any further complications, she should be able to go home tomorrow.  Follow me and I’ll show you to the elevators.”

The doctor turned and we followed behind him through the doors and down the hall to the elevators.  We piled on and made our way up to the fourth floor.  We made it to Elle’s room, where Charley, Wes, Emme, and Zane entered ahead of Dom, Cruz, and me. 

Then, I saw her.

My beautiful girl. 

Hooked to an IV, her eyes were still closed.  I never felt such tightness in my throat before that moment.

I moved by everyone and walked up next to Elle’s bedside.  I took her hand that didn’t have the IV in it and kissed the back of it. 

Wes walked over to her on the other side of the bed as Charley followed behind him.  He put his hand to her forehead and brushed her hair back before he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Elle, we’re all here for you,” Charley said softly.  “Wes, Levi, Emme, Zane, Cruz, and Dom.  We’re all here.”

Emme came and stood next to me.  She rested her hand on the blanket covering Elle’s leg.  Her voice was quiet when she spoke.  “We all love you, El.”

I felt a twitch in Elle’s hand and looked at her face.  Her head fell to the side toward me and she slowly opened her eyes. 

Those eyes. 

I’d never seen anything more exquisite in my entire life.  As beautiful as it was to see her eyes, I hated seeing the sadness.  It hadn’t even been a full minute that her eyes were open when tears fell from them. 

“Sunshine,” I rasped. 

My heart broke for her.  Not only had she just gone through some physical trauma with what the sedative did to her body, but worse was the fact that today she realized she lost her best friend.  I despised Leah for what she did, but it didn’t change the fact that for years she was someone very important in Elle’s life.  There was a long road ahead for her.

She held my eyes a few more moments before she moved them to everyone else in the room.  She started at Emme, went to Zane, then to Cruz, followed by Dom, Charley, and finally, Wes.  I watched as her chest rose and fell rapidly as she looked at her brother. 

Wes’ face softened when she first brought her eyes to him, but once she started to break down, he struggled to remain unaffected.

He brought his hand to her forehead again and reassured her, “You’re ok now; just relax, Elle.”

Her eyes left Wes and went back to Dom.  That’s when she spoke her first words since waking up.

“Thank you,” she croaked.

“It’s nothing, El.” 

What else could he say?  This hadn’t been easy on anyone.

Her head fell back to the side and she looked at me.

“I’m tired,” she whispered.

I dipped my head at her statement.

“We’ll head out and let you rest, darlin’,” Zane offered.  “You need anything at all, we are here for you.”

“Thank you, Zane.”

“We’ll call later and check in with Levi,” Cruz explained.  “In the meantime, Dom and I will update the rest of the team.  They’re all worried about you.”

“Thanks, Cruz.”

Just as they were about to walk out of the room, Elle called out, “Dom, wait.”

They stopped and looked at her.

“I’m sorry,” she lamented.

“Sorry?  For what, rock star?” Dom asked, clearly just as confused as the rest of us were as to why Elle was apologizing to him.

“Last night, when I sat with her to catch up, our conversation drifted to her non-existent love life.  I might have mentioned that everybody on Levi’s team was single.  She thought you were hot.  I had planned on trying to set you up with her today…” Elle trailed off. 

She took in a deep breath and finished, “You’re too good for her.”

Dom gave her a look that told her he understood she was struggling with what her friend did to her.  He knew that saying anything negative about Leah now wouldn’t help the situation. 

At that, Dom, Cruz, Zane, and Emme walked out of the room.

“I’ll call Mom and Dad,” Wes stated.

Elle shook her head and begged, “Don’t ruin their vacation.”

“I’m not keeping this from them, El,” he started.  “I’ll make sure they know you are going to be fine and that you insist they enjoy their vacation.  Don’t worry about them; I’ll take care of it.”

Wes and Charley each gave Elle a hug before they left. 

As the door closed behind Wes and Charley, I brought my eyes back to Elle.  She looked tired, but she was devastated.

“What can I do for you, sunshine?”

“Will you climb in this bed and hold me while I sleep?” she asked.

I gave her a small smile and explained, “I think it’d be frowned upon by the staff for me to do that.”

She closed her eyes and insisted, “I don’t care.  I’ll deal with that when the time comes.  Right now, I want you to be next to me, holding me and keeping me safe while I sleep.”

I kicked off my shoes and slid in the bed beside her.  Her body was still very weak and she struggled to turn toward me.  I helped her to turn, being careful not to disrupt her IV, and wrapped my arms around her. 

It felt so good to have her in my arms again knowing that she was going to be ok, at least, physically.  The emotional trauma was going to be another story.

I kissed the top of her head and did my best to offer her comfort when I knew that, more than anything else, her heart was hurting.

“I love you, Elle.  And I’ll do whatever it takes to help you get through this.”

She burrowed her face further into my chest.  Within minutes, her breathing evened out and she was asleep. 

 

*****

 

It was late the next morning when we received Elle’s discharge paperwork.  She could go home.

Yesterday, she fell asleep in my arms and I held her until she woke again just over an hour later.  We spent the better part of the day in her bed, watching television, though Elle drifted in and out of sleep throughout the day.  Emme and Zane stopped by again just before dinner time.  Emme loved to cook and figured we’d prefer a home-cooked meal over hospital food.  She wasn’t wrong.  Zane took Emme by my place and got Elle some of her own clothing so she’d be more comfortable.   

While this helped Elle’s mood a bit and she was thankful for the thought, she wasn’t her usual bubbly self.  It killed me to see her so downtrodden.  Part of me wished I could see inside her head and know what she was thinking.

Zane and Emme had dinner with us and left.  Charley and Wes called to check in on her as did Cruz on behalf of the entire Cunningham Security team.  My parents, David and Trisha, found out about what had happened and called me to make sure I was doing alright.  Of course, my mother insisted that as soon as Elle was back to feeling like herself, she wanted to meet her. 

We also received the results of the final tests the doctors were waiting on yesterday.  Everything came back negative and it seemed that nothing other than the sedative had made its way into Elle’s system. 

Now, she was ready to go home.

Elle was very quiet throughout the day yesterday, but she seemed to be in slightly better spirits this morning.

“I can’t wait to get out of here and get a shower,” she sighed as we walked out to my truck.  Thankfully, the other thing Emme and Zane brought yesterday was my truck.

“Can’t say I disagree with you on that one,” I noted.

We got in the truck and I drove us back to my place.  I pulled into the garage, turned off the truck, and came around to help Elle out. 

As we walked in through the man door into the house, I tensed.  I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction she’d have to being back for the first time after her whole ordeal.  Sure enough, the second Elle entered the kitchen, she stopped and stared at the floor.

I put my hand on her back at her shoulder blade and stood with her.  I stayed quiet and let her process whatever it was she needed to process in her head.  After a few minutes passed, she turned to me and stressed, “I’d really like to take a shower now.”

I nodded and expressed, “Whatever you want, Elle.”

She walked out of the kitchen, her pace much faster, and went up the stairs.  After she entered the bedroom, she moved through it to the bathroom, where she immediately turned on the water in the shower.

“Elle?” I called.

She turned and looked at me.  There was anger in her eyes.  I knew it wasn’t directed at me, but I hated the look.  This wasn’t her. 

“What can I do for you?”

She shook her head and replied, “Nothing.”

I heard her say the word, but I could tell deep down it wasn’t how she really felt.  She was standing right in front of me; yet, she was so far away.  Still, not wanting to upset her further I motioned with my head toward the bedroom.  “I’ll be right out here if you change your mind.”

She lifted her chin in acknowledgement. 

I turned, walked out of the bathroom, and sat on the edge of the bed.  My elbows were resting on my thighs and my hands were clasped over my knees.  As I sat there staring at the floor, all I could do was agonize over how to best help her. 

Had this situation played out the way it did with a total stranger, I knew Elle would not be so far removed from everyone from an emotional standpoint.  It would have been easier for her to accept what happened and move on from it.  The fact that it was her best friend was weighing on her mind.

Other than what she said to Dom yesterday in the hospital, she never brought Leah’s name up again. 

I must have been sitting there for a good ten minutes when it dawned on me that the water in the shower didn’t sound right.  It sounded like it was on, but nobody was in there.  Worried, I walked over and gently pushed the door open.  When I looked at the reflection of the shower in the mirror, my stomach sank.

My poor girl was sitting on the floor of the shower with her knees up to her chest, her head resting on her knees, crying her eyes out. 

I stepped inside the bathroom, stripped out of my clothes quickly, and went to her.  Sitting down beside her, I wrapped one arm around her back and the other under her knees.  Then, I settled her in my lap, where I let her cry it out as I stroked her back.

Elle cried for a long time.  I didn’t try to stop her.  I couldn’t imagine the pain she was feeling at what she had just been through.  Not only had she face the fear of being so close to death, but also coming to terms with the fact that it was the person you thought was your best friend that put you in that position. 

It was a long while later when she finally quieted herself and began to calm down.  I waited for her to give the signal and indicate what she needed from me next.  Eventually, Elle pulled her face from my chest and looked up at me.

“I’m sorry.”

My eyes searched her face as I brought a hand up to brush a wet strand of hair from her forehead and cheek. 

“Sweetness, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” I said gently.  “I don’t know how you kept it together this long.”

“I have a feeling I’m not done crying about this.”

My face warmed, giving her what I hoped was a bit of sympathy, and I remarked, “I didn’t think that you would be yet.  If you need to cry, I’ll be here to hold you through it.”

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.  When she opened them again, she suggested, “We should probably finish in here before you run out of hot water.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.  “You sure you’re alright?”

She was honest when she replied, “For now.”

At that, we got up off the floor, finished in the shower, and got out.  Thankfully, we were out before we were out of hot water.