Page 120 of Love Me Not

I took a moment to look at her.Totrulylook at her.

I could just make out her face.The bags under her eyes.The paleness of her skin.She must have been by my side for a while.

How long have I been here?

She came for me.

I lay there for a moment, thinking through everything that had happened.

I never thought her mother would come after me like that.That she would try to kill me.That she would almost succeed, or how scared I’d been.

Suddenly, everything I had been worried about felt like nothing at all.It all fell away.

In that moment, all I could think about was how much I loved Lux and how I should've told her from the beginning instead of running away.

It didn't matter that she was my boss—to be honest, did it ever?Didn't matter how complicated things were with her mother and the death of my parents.Didn’t matter if people found out about the BDSM club.That brought me Lux.Let people think whatever the hell they wanted.

What mattered with us and Bella.

And in the moment when I was hanging off that bridge and my life was passing right before my eyes, all I could think about was them.

Being with them, living a life with them.

I will never leave them again.

I don't know how long I lay there just staring at Lux, but it must've been a while because a doctor peeked her head in the room.I motioned for her to be quiet as I reached out to touch Lux's hand, noticing for the first time my hand with all the IVs in it.

The doctor slowly shut the door behind her and walked to my side.

“Ms.Hayes, I'm happy to see you're awake,” she whispered.

Lux didn't even twitch.

“How long have I been out?”My throat ached as I spoke.

“Just a little over twenty-four hours.”

My eyes traveled to the covered windows.There was no telling what time it was.The hospital’s fluorescent light made it look like permanent daytime, and my body just felt exhausted, even after the long sleep.

“The police have been waiting for you,” she said, her eyes shifting to Lux.“They wanted me to let them know as soon as you woke up.”

I grimaced.

“Can I convince you to give us thirty minutes alone?”

She smiled and looked at her watch.

“Would you look at that?It's time for my lunch break,” she said, and without another word, turned and left the room.

Hesitantly, I turned back to Lux and ran my fingers through her hair.

Her eyes fluttered open and shot to me.It took her a moment to realize what was happening, but then she jerked up, eyes wide, tears already filling them.

“Thank God, Juliette.Do you feel okay?Does anything hurt?Let me go get the docto?—”

“She was just in,” I said with a smile before grabbing her hand.“Thank you for saving me.I feel fine now.”

Her expression changed.

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