Page 92 of Behind the Bars

“Eli,” I whispered, leaning his way. “When we first saw eachother…”

He parted his lips to speak, but then he stopped himself. His hard stare forced every hair on my body to stand up. I didn’t know what to do. My mind began to swirl. I wanted to hug him and hold him and hit him andcry.

“Listen,” he started coldly. “What happened between us…thatkiss…”

Just then, Laura came back with a bright smile on her face. “I have good news—they said he’s awake. He’s been moved to a room, and we’re able to visit himnow.”

“Is he okay?” I asked, taking my thoughts from Elliott and giving them toTJ.

He’sawake.

Those were officially my new favoritewords.

“He is. He has an oxygen mask, so he can’t speak, and his hands are shaky, but he’s awake. He’s doing okay. Let’s govisit.”

“Yeah.” I let out a deep breath and nodded. “Let’sgo.”

* * *

When we arrivedin his room, he was already falling back asleep, and we all agreed it would be best to let him sleep through thenight.

“I’ll stay here with him tonight, if that’s okay,” I asked the nurse. She agreed that it was fine. Laura thanked me and gave me a tighthug.

Elliott grabbed a notepad and scribbled something down, then handed it my way. “My number, in case anythingchanges.”

I took it and thankedhim.

As they prepared to leave, Laura walked over to TJ and gave him a small kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be back tomorrow, TJ,” she said softly. “Before you even wake, I’msure.”

She released a breath as she walked away, and as she passed by Elliott, I watched him grab her hand and squeeze it forcomfort.

Laura looked up at her son, and tears started rolling down her cheeks. She seemed thrown off by the small touch—stunned.

“I’ll drive you home,” hewhispered.

“Thankyou.”

“Of course.” He walked to TJ and gently touched his shoulder. As he stared down at the older man, his mentor, his family, Elliott’s eyes softened for a split second. Then, he stepped away and turned to me. “Jasmine.”

“Yes.”

He didn’t say a word, but there was a small nod of appreciation, and I read it loud andclear.

“You’re welcome,Elliott.”

They left, and I made myself comfortable. In the middle of the night, TJ awoke, and when he saw me, he tried to speak, but he couldn’t. His hands moved to the oxygen mask, which he tried to remove, but I stopped him. I rushed to his side to soothe him, taking his hand in mine. “You’re okay, TJ. You’re okay. You’re notalone.”

He began to breathe a bit easier, and his eyes slid shut. When I was certain he was okay, I allowed mine to do thesame.

Chapter Thirty

Elliott

Iarrived backat Daze around five in the morning. When I walked inside, I glanced at the back booth where I always sat, and I saw Jason sitting there with a bottle of Jim Beam and two glasses. His head was down and he was sleeping, so I walked over and tappedhim.

He stirred for a moment before rubbing the palms of his hands against his eyes. “Hey,” he said as heyawned.

“What are you doing?” Iasked.

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