Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
I drew in a deep breath. That question scared the fuck out of me.
“I don’t know,” I told him quietly. “I’m praying that Joey can help her. He has a way of breathing life into her that I don’t. He’s her survival mechanism.”
Joey, save her before it’s too late, I silently begged him even though he wasn’t even here yet to hear my pleas.
A couple of hours later, Adelaide still wouldn’t respond to me. I had tried everything I knew to try, but she only blankly stared back at me. She was shutting down—a survival mechanism. The pain of losing Tristan was too much for her to bear.
Joey, how the fuck did you save her last time?
As time dragged on, I grew more and more scared that she wasn’t going to come back to me. There was a blank yet haunted look in her eyes when she looked at me. She was there in body, but her soul was somewhere else. It was like all she could do was relive painful memories.
She was breaking, and I was helpless to stop it from happening.
I kneeled in front of her. She drew those empty, brown eyes to me. Sadness settled there as her gaze landed on mine. Her bottom lip trembled, but she held herself together. My heart shattered in my chest. I needed her to fucking cry. To scream again. Something.
“I can’t lose him, too, River. I don’t think I’ll survive it this time,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I feel empty. Hollow.”
I pressed my lips to hers tenderly. “You will, Adelaide, because I won’t let you spiral down again,” I swore. “You have to live for me, darlin’. You’ve lived before, remember?”
She sniffled. “I don’t think I can,” she croaked.
Joey walked down the hallway, breaking me out of my head, Ink right behind him. He didn’t even say anything to me. He just strode into the room that Adelaide and Tristan were in, leaving Ink standing outside of the room with me and Sam.
I stood up from the chair I had commandeered, watching as Joey gently lifted Adelaide into his arms. I didn’t give a fuck what he did with her right now as long as he brought her back to us.
Honest to God, he could make love to her right there in that room, but as long as he got her to breathe for us again, to live for me, then I could be okay with it. I just needed him to fucking help her.
Joey, I don’t care what the fuck you have to do. Save her.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Adelaide
Iwhimpered as Joey settled down in the chair that I’d been occupying, his arms cradling me on his lap. “Pretty girl, you’re stronger than this,” he said, his voice low and soothing.
“It’s over for him, isn’t it?” I asked him, my heart breaking more. “This is it?”
Joey nodded. “Yeah, pretty girl, this is it for him. He fought hard for you for as long as he could, but he got tired of fighting to survive.”
I sobbed, shaking my head. “I don’t want to lose him, Joey.”
He held me tighter. “Pretty girl, I’m sorry to say it, but you already have. He’s gone. There’s no saving him, and you’re just holding his soul here on Earth, torturing him. Let him go, pretty girl. Let him be with his sister. It’s time for them to be reunited again.”
I looked up at Joey, my eyes awash with tears, making his face blurry. Joey slid his arms from beneath me and cradled my face in his hands, leaning down to kiss me. I sobbed against his lips as I kissed him back. My tears mixed with our lips, tasting salty on my tongue.
“Let him go, pretty girl. It’s okay,” Joey whispered, his lips rubbing against mine.
I shook my head again. “I’m not ready,” I whimpered.
He brushed his nose with mine before he stole another kiss. “We never are. No one is ever ready to lose someone they love. But Tristan wouldn’t want you to be like this,” he reminded me. “Let him go, pretty girl. It’s time. Love him enough to let him go.”
“No,” I cried.
Joey kissed me again, forcing my lips apart so he could kiss me deeply, his tongue sliding with mine. My chest felt like it was going to cave in, but I clung to him, breathing him in, holding him with me.
“Let him go, pretty girl.”
I sat wedged between River and Joey as the doctor handed me the clipboard to take Tristan off of life support. My tears dripped onto the papers, leaving tear stains on the crisp, white paper.
“Let him go, pretty girl,” Joey whispered as he brushed his lips to my temple. “He’s always with you, but he’s going to be happy with his sister. It’s okay to let him go.”