Page 90 of Corrupted Lies

October 21st

1:49 P.M.

Sitting in a hospital room in clean, dry clothes, with a full stomach, showered, and warm felt surreal.

Jake couldn’t quite believe that he and Alannah had survived and were back home, safe and sound. Well, safe for now. They’d survived this attack, but that didn't change the fact that one more rapist was still out there, who was no doubt going to make some other attempt to silence them.

In reality, his best bet would be to lie low and not stir them up further. They were still working to find out who he was, but it was the fact that these men had kept coming after his family that kept giving them more clues as to their identities.

Three down and one to go.

They would find this man he had no doubt about it, but for the moment, figuring out who he was wasn't Jake’s priority.

The woman lying sleeping in the hospital bed was.

Alannah had been through hell because of him. She’d been targeted over and over again, and if it hadn't been for her own actions would have died an excruciating death.

That was the hardest pill for Jake to swallow.

He hadn't saved her.

She would have died.

And he would have been forced to watch it happen.

“Safe, she’s safe. Alive, she’ll heal, she’s strong, she can survive this,” he whispered aloud.

The real question was, could they?

Things had changed so dramatically, and he didn't know if it was possible for them to just go back to being best friends.

What he did know that he wanted was for Alannah to wake up. She’d passed out in the shower on the boat while he was washing the gasoline from her body and was yet to regain consciousness. Once he had her clean, he’d bundled her into a towel and gone searching for a radio. Alerting the coast guard and then his family, it had been his brothers who arrived first since they'd already been in the ocean searching for him and Alannah unwilling to believe they were dead.

Both had been taken immediately to the hospital and checked out, and neither of them had any serious injuries, although they were both dehydrated and suffering from some minor cuts and bruises. The bottoms of Alannah’s feet were messed up, but they’d heal so long as she mostly kept off them for the next few days.

Still, knowing Alannah was okay and her waking up and telling him herself were two different things, and he was desperate for the latter.

“Come on, sunshine, I really need you to wake up now,” he whispered into the silent room. His brothers were all at the hospital, but they’d understood without him needing to say it that he needed some time alone with Alannah as he watchedover her. “You can go back to sleep right after, I just need to hear you say you're okay.”

Maybe what he also needed to hear her say was that she didn't hate him for almost getting her killed. She’d asked to stay with him, and he’d told her no, sent her away, thinking he was sending her to safety when instead, he was sending her right into the heart of the danger.

How could he ever forgive himself for that?

“Jake?”

The whispered word had his heart rate picking up. Finally. His sunshine was awake. “Hey,” he said softly, reaching out to brush a lock of hair off her forehead.

“Was it all a dream? Are we still on the boat? Or the island?” Alannah’s brow was furrowed with anxiety, and the pad of his thumb couldn’t help but reach out and smooth it away.

“Not a dream, sunshine. You're safe, back home. We’re in the hospital.”

“Are you okay? Did you get shot?”

That the first words out of her mouth after confirming that it was all real were asking after him warmed him in a way he could get all too used to. After his mom died, no one had really cared how he was doing, no one had put him first, and while he knew he had a family who adored him and would move heaven and Earth for him, it wasn't the same as knowing that this sweet woman cared about him in a way he’d never allowed himself to hope for.

“No, sunshine, I didn't get shot. We’re both okay. Exhausted, dehydrated, banged up, especially you with your feet, but we are both okay.”

“I was lucky you came with me. If you hadn't been there, I’d be dead a dozen times over.”

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