“Drew…” he said quietly.
“Yeah,” I croaked, relieved that I could say anything at all.
A slow smile crept onto his face, his eyes shining with a knowledge I’d never imagine possessing in my lifetime. His fingers squeezed my shoulder tightly, and I only wished he would wrap his fucking arms around me and give me one of those hugs I’d missed for so many damn years.
“Don’t worry, kid. It isn’t time yet.”
“It isn’t?” I asked breathlessly.
Pete shook his head. “You’re too soon. Get out of here. We’ll see you when you’re ready.”
“When will that be?”
Pete smirked, his mouth parted as his answer began to fall free...
And just like that, my eyes flew open, and I gasped for air.
I was sprawled close to the edge of the bed, my face squished on one side, and one eye closed while the other looked up to see a fucking angel standing above me.
Ayda.
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she watched me. Both hands were behind her back, and her cheeks were flushed under the swelling and darkening bruises. She seemed frozen for a moment before her bright blue eyes sparkled and she sank to her knees beside the bed so our faces were level.
“Did I wake you?”
“Erm…” My voice wasn’t working—my mind yet to wake up. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly, blinking and squinting the one eye that was open as I looked at her. “What time is it?”
Ayda glanced at the clock at the side of the bed and grinned. “Almost one in the afternoon. You looked peaceful when I got up, so I left you where you were and ran some errands with Kenny.”
“Fuck, what? Fuck, fuck. I need to… Jedd… I need to find…”
“Nothing’s changed. Still slow moving. Howard sent Sloane over to let us know Jedd is fine. Spent the night in a cell, and he’s been fed, but that’s all he knows.” Ayda shuffled on her knees. “Before we take care of that business, I thought we may want some answers, so I had Kenny tail me to town, and I got…” She placed a box between us on the mattress and tapped the top nervously before removing her trembling hand.
I pushed myself up, leaning on one arm as I spun the box around with my other hand.
A pregnancy test.
I looked up at her quickly, my eyes holding hers, seeing the hope shining back at me.
She wanted this.
Ayda had already decided it was real in her mind—now sheneeded confirmation from her body.
I wasn’t sure I could console her if it had all been nothing more than a wild thought, a dream she’d wished to be true. That was a different kind of grief.
“Now?” I asked her quietly.
She looked down at her hands before fidgeting again “It doesn’t have to be. I just thought—”
“Do you want it to be now?”
Ayda shuffled closer and folded her arms on the edge of the mattress, resting her chin on the back of her hands as she met my eyes.
“I need to know for sure.”
I glanced down at the test sitting between us. It held all the answers we needed to carry on as we were or build new foundations around us to prepare for a life I could never have imagined.
The nerves fluttering away in my stomach were a feeling I’d never experienced before. This was real fear. I’d faced death, murder, prison, grief… everything the world could ever throw at me, and I’d never felt the weight of it like this before.