“But—”
“No buts. This is the only hospital visit you’ll have, so make good use of it.”
“What? Why?”
He gives me a blank look as he parks the car in front of the hospital. “Dad is on his way here. He’s personally taking you back to the States. Indefinitely.”
Anything I have to say on the issue is unheard as Jeremy steps out of the car.
My opinion wouldn’t matter anyway. Papa, Jer, and even Mom think I’m in danger here.
The plot twist is that I’m the one who hurt Creighton instead.
I’m the one who—
A bang sounds on the window and I flinch as Jeremy stares down at me. Then I step out of the car and follow him inside.
“You can visit Nikolai,” I say, my voice sounding a bit scratchy. “I’ll go to the ICU and join you in a bit.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t have to…” I trail off when he matches my steps.
Soon after, we get to the ICU, and I stop at the corner when I catch a glimpse of a blonde woman with bloodshot eyes and a tear-streaked face sitting beside a stiff Eli and leaning her head on his shoulder.
Her hand is in a man’s hold, or more like her wrist is. He keeps watching her face with a furrow in his brow.
He has a striking resemblance to Eli, looking like an older version of him.
Aiden and Elsa King. Their parents.
This is the first time I’ve seen them in person. Creighton often talked about them with adoration and almost reverence.
For someone who thought himself unfeeling, he loved his parents, and even Eli, unconditionally. Deep inside, he considered them his family and he hated himself for being hung up on the past version of himself.
A version that my family created, even unknowingly.
Glyndon strolls to the scene with Brandon. His face is tight while hers is all red and as much of a mess as Creighton’s mom’s. The siblings carry coffee that everyone but Creighton’s dad refuses.
I want to step forward, to see him even once, but I don’t dare to.
Creighton said his mom has a fragile heart, which is why I assume Eli’s remaining by her side and his dad is probably monitoring her pulse.
I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to her because of me.
Swallowing down a choke, I turn around. “Let’s go.”
Jeremy watches me for a beat. “Are you sure?”
No. But I nod, letting my feet carry me down the stairs. Maybe I can get information about Creighton from the hospital staff or I can just snoop from afar.
Or maybe, just maybe, this whole nightmare will end soon.
“What are you doing here?” The familiar voice, now vicious, reaches me before I’m flung back and slapped across the face so hard that my vision burns.
Jeremy grabs the assailant, Ava, and bangs her whole body against the wall. Her face is red, probably from having the breath knocked out of her lungs, but she glares at me anyway.
Cecily catches up to her and only stares at the scene for a second before she comes running to pull Jeremy off her.
“Let her go!” She scratches at his hand, her voice raw.
I touch his arm and shake my head. As much as I feel hurt and want to cry, I don’t.
Jeremy reluctantly releases her, but Ava doesn’t pause before coming at me again.
This time, with tears in her eyes. “We trusted you! We let you become our sister from another mister, but you…you dare to shoot Creigh… How could you do that when he cared about you so much? Who the fuck are you to steal him from us?”
My brother tries to shield me, but I step forward and let her hit me. I don’t try to remain strong. I can’t. The harder she cries and hits, the more I let the tears loose.
“Ava…” Cecily tries to pull her off me. “If Aunt Elsa or Uncle Aiden sees, we’ll be in deep shit.”
“I don’t care!” she screams. “I thought this bitch would make Creigh happy and God knows he needed that, but she’s sending him to his grave!”
“I didn’t want… I’m so sorry…” I whisper between sobs. “I only…I only thought about saving my brother. I swear I didn’t want to hurt him. I swear…”
“Leave,” Ava all but growls, her face flushed, her cheeks tear-streaked. “The only reason we haven’t reported this to the police is because Landon is leaving the ball in Creighton’s court for when he wakes up, and none of us want to upset Aunt Elsa any further, so we said it was a robbery. But I swear to fuck, Annika, if something happens to Creigh, I’m gonna fly to the States and personally kill you.”