Wolfe moves to her side and lightly brushes his fingers over her hair. “You got to come back now, you hear? You still owe me for that drink.”
It instantly takes me back to the day I first laid eyes on her. I’m not going to lie; it scares me to think how quickly she gave up on life that day.
Please don’t give up this time.
“Let the guys know I’ll be here until she wakes up,” I state, hoping she hears me.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Serenity
“He’ll be waiting a very long time,” I think to myself, but somehow my mother hears it.
“You cannot stay here, Serenity.” She somehow conveys the message to me without speaking, her energy mixing with mine.
It’s been like this since I first found myself here. It’s like we share the same awareness. I know everything she’s ever been through. I’ve witnessed everything that’s caused her pain, but I can’t feel it. The only thing I’ve felt here is love.
“It’s painful there,” my mind whispers back to her, feeling a slight tug from the lifeless body I’m looking down on.
As if Rage feels it too, he stands and places his hand on my chest. The pull eases, and the warmth of his touch rises above time and space, wrapping me in its sweet embrace.
“He loves you. Both he and Mila need you,” Rage’s mother’s voice strums through me. Her entire life flashes before me as if I’m seeing it through her eyes. Again, I see the life experiences that shaped her. I witness the trauma that pushed her to addiction, but again, all I feel is love.
“Please, can someone here just tell me how to stay?” I ask, feeling so many others around me.
Mr. Johnson reaches for me, and I take his hand. “When you’re ready, all you have to do is let go,” he informs me.
That sounds easy enough, so that’s what I do.
I let go, but I quickly realize my mistake. I didn’t clarify what I was releasing. It feels like I’m being squeezed into a tight container.No, this isn’t the right way.
“You’re ready,” Mr. Johnson assures me as I frantically try to hold on to his hand.
“I’m here, Serenity. I’m right here,” Rage says, his fingers wrapped tightly around mine as he urges me back into my body.
I cough as something is pulled from my throat. This doesn’t feel good, and everything sounds like I’m under a piece of glass. There are other voices here, but I don’t recognize any of them. I begin to cry, but even that hurts.
His hands are suddenly on my face. “It’s okay, baby. You’re doing so good. It’s time to wake up now,” Rage says, his breath hot over my cheek.
I’m so confused. I have been awake.
My eyelids flutter open, but I close them quickly. There is too much going on in the room.
At least that is what I tell myself.
Bits and pieces slowly return to me over the next several days, but I spend most of my time with my eyes closed, trying to get back to the peaceful world I left behind. As they lower my medication, it’s getting harder and harder to remain asleep.
I wake up one time to find Rage sleeping in a chair next to me. I stare at him, and guilt slowly creeps over me. I was going to leave him. His eyes open and I try to look away, but I can’t. He doesn’t push me to talk to him. He just stares at me.
A few minutes later, he walks over to the table beside my bed and picks up the music box I told him to gift to Mila.
“Mila wanted me to make sure I played this for you when you woke up,” he says quietly while winding it for me.
When the duck spins to life, I reach for the notebook lying next to it. He reads as I write, and his normal scowl deepens. “Mila is with Wolfe and Shelly. She’s fine. I’m not leaving you.”
My pen stabs over the words.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”