Page 75 of Until the End

“Thank you. For everything.” Not only has he been the one holding me together, but he and Uncle Cooper were the ones to take my statement about what happened with Cecelia and Calvin. I wouldn’t have been able to talk about it with anyone else. They stayed professional throughout the entire story, only interrupting when they needed clarification for their report. Then they both hugged me to their chests while I sobbed until I didn’t have any tears left.

I don’t know what I would’ve done without Michael.

Gia’s also been a saint. She’s helped keep the family from completely overwhelming me with their love. She’s barely left my side throughout this whole thing. The only reason she isn’t here right now is because she went home to shower.

Chelsea, Tanya, and Mariana have been fielding all the news outlets’ requests for information. I haven’t kept up with the stories, letting them handle everything for me. Daren ended up with a pretty bad concussion. He’s been beside himself about Calvin getting the drop on him, but I honestly don’t fault him. It was only a matter of time before my stalkermade their move. None of us imagined Cecelia was behind everything, but she’s been taken care of. The thought makes me nauseous, so I try to shove it away with all the other unpleasant things I’m not thinking about right now.

Michael and Cooper did some digging, and apparently, Cecelia had blackmailed Calvin into helping her. They didn’t give me specifics, but they made it clear that Calvin wasn’t a good man. That was evident, given how he didn’t seem to have any qualms about kidnapping us, but it’s nice to know for sure.

I’m reading my book a couple of hours later when Carson’s fingers wiggle in mine. I sit up with a gasp. “Carson?” I stand from my chair to look at his face. His eyebrows are scrunched as if he’s in pain. “Baby, please. Can you open your eyes for me? Just for a second.”

His lashes flutter until his bleary gaze meets mine. Confusion is evident, and he sluggishly tries to reach for his mouth.

“Stay still, my love. You’re okay.” I run my hand down the side of his face, and he calms down a bit. “You’re in the hospital, but you’re going to be fine. Everything is going to be okay.”

He moves his hand to press it against my belly, and tears well in my eyes.

“The baby is fine. So am I, for that matter. We’ve just been waiting on you to wake up.” I quickly swipe my palms against my cheeks before putting them back on Carson’s face. “I love you so much, Duck. More than I could ever put into words. Rest now, okay? I’ll be here when you wake up.”

His eyes droop, as if he’d been holding out just for me. He’s asleep again within seconds, but the hope bubbling in my chest doesn’t diminish.

Once I know he’s asleep for sure, I call for the nurse, letting them know he woke up for a minute. They come in to check on his vitals, and I relay what happened. The doctor ispleased with his progress and doesn’t expect him to need to be intubated for too much longer.

For the first time since we were taken, I let my hope grow. We’ll have a long road to recovery, both physically and mentally, but I have no doubt the two of us will make it through.

Chapter 44

Carson

Ginny’s carefree laugh brings a smile to my face. She looks hot in her ripped jean shorts, tank top, and pigtails. I’m going to need her to recreate this look for me later, when we’re alone and I can shove my face into her cleavage. Her pregnant belly sticks out prominently, and I’m not sure I could love her any more than I do in this moment. She’s practically glowing right now.

The camera guys roll their equipment to new locations while the rest of the crew sets up for the next shot.

I’d never realized how much production goes into creating a music video. There have been costume changes and set designs and a million other things I couldn’t begin to describe, all to create this video for one of the songs on Ginny’s new album. This one is all about longing for a happily ever after of her own creation, and Ginny was all for showcasing her baby bump in this video.

I gained a lot of respect for the execs at Muse Records when they backed Ginny wholeheartedly after she told them about the baby. I expected them to balk about having to adjust their touring dates, but they seemed thrilled for us.

It’s been a few months since the showdown with Cecelia. My recovery has been slow going, but I’m finally able to go about my days relatively normally. The doctors say I’m at a higher risk of my lung collapsing again since it happened once, so I’ll have to be careful with how hard I push my body, but I should recover completely without any real impact on my day-to-day life.

The buzz over the story about Cecelia and what she did has died down significantly. It’s helped that Mariana, Tanya, and Chelsea have been working hard to give them other things to talk about—the baby being number one. They’ve also been strategically leaking snippets of the new album, and people are going feral for it. Ginny is beside herself over the reaction. I think she’s starting to fall back in love with being a singer. It’s been wonderful to watch.

The label put off the tour until after the baby is born. Given the circumstances, I was glad they didn’t try to play hardball. Ginny and I have both needed time to heal after what happened to us. We even started seeing a therapist together to talk through our trauma. It’s been eye-opening to hear Ginny’s side of the story. I hate how terrified she was after I was shot. I can’t even attempt to put myself in her shoes. The images haunt me when I try to think about it.

So, therapy has become an important part of our healing.

It takes another hour or so to finish filming the scenes for the day. This was the last day on set, so now it’ll be up to the post-production team to get everything edited together. She filmed one of her breakup songs a couple of months ago, before her baby bump was so prominent. I thought it was going to be my favorite, but this one might have just taken the top spot.

Ginny comes over to me once she’s done changing. Her jean overalls go perfectly with her pigtails, and all I want to dois scoop her up and take her home, where we’ll stay for the remainder of her pregnancy. The kidnapping has made me a whole lot more protective of Ginny. She’s been a good sport about it, and I’ve done my best not to be too crazy. But sometimes, it’s hard to curb those instincts.

I tug one of her pigtails, and she grins up at me. “Be careful. I might think you have a crush on me if you do that.” I do it again on the other side, and Ginny laughs.

“Good thing I do have a crush on you, then.” Leaning down, I quickly kiss her plump lips. “You ready to go?”

“Yep. What are we doing now?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“What kind of surprise?”

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