AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s fine, dear. You go ahead. We’ll take good care of her.”
“Thank you.” He nodded and then turned to look at my body. They’d removed the gauze from my head, and the bruises on my face had faded; I looked more and more like myself every day.
Foster’s eyes were red, however, and I thought he was going to cry again. But all he did was smooth a hand over my temple and then lean down to kiss my brow.
I touched the wet spot he’d left on my forehead.
When he straightened and turned toward the doorway, he looked directly at me. But there was no smile or joy on his face. He was absolutely miserable.
I’dbrokenthe grinning, cheerful Foster I’d always seen in pictures and interviews.
Feeling shitty, I trailed after him as he stalked into the hall. After getting into the elevator, he continued to ignore me.
Staring stonily up at the numbers above the door, he finally said, “I just stole from a girl in a coma, straight from her hospital room.”
“You didn’t steal anything,” I insisted pragmatically. “I straight-up asked you to take them.”
“And I talk to people who aren’t there,” he told the numbers, still refusing to look at me. “I’m a hallucinating, home-invading thief.”
Yep. I’d definitely broken him.
“God, Foster,” I murmured, stepping forward to wrap my arms around his waist and then press my cheek to his shoulder. “I’m so sorry that I’m putting you through this.”
He didn’t even bother to lift his arms. He just stood there limply and let his head hang as he said, “I can’t even hug you back.” Stiffening, he clenched his teeth and hissed, “I can’t hold you at night. I can’t even fucking smell you when you step close. Dammit, Raina. You can’t die. Not until, like, seventy years after I’ve gotten to do all that.”
“I’m sorry,” was all I could answer. “I’m so sorry.”
A shudder went through him as he heaved out a single sob. But then the elevator stopped, and the door opened.
Wiping his face one last time, he set his hand on his ribs and exhaled. Then he left the elevator and strode out of the hospital.
At his truck, he started the engine before glancing over at me. “Where to?” he asked simply.
And I jumped. “Right. You have no idea where I live. Okay. It’s on East Peach Tree. Eight, twenty-six. I’m in the seafoam green apartment complex with the white trim and gray roof. It’s just a couple of blocks from campus, so I usually like to take Bridleway and walk to class.” I shrugged. “Unless the weather’s bad.”
Nodding silently, Foster put the truck into gear and started us down the street. When he didn’t say anything else, I told him about the time I’d seen a post on his social media page, featuring him running a 10K, so I had tried to start jogging too, mapping a path along Bridleway, only to give up again a week in.
He sent me a sad smile as if he didn’t think I’d ever get to run another mile.
Twenty minutes later, he motioned out the front windshield. “This place?”
I nodded. “Yep. This is home. Oh! And there’s my car. The white one.”
“The Mazda?” he asked, parking next to it.
“It was my high school graduation present from the captain,” I explained.
“It’s nice.” He pulled my set of keys from his pocket after he turned off his truck. “Did you have a job? I mean—” Closing his eyes briefly, he winced and then glanced at me. “Doyou have a job here in Westport?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. It’s not much, though. I work at the printing store a couple of blocks away, making copies for people. But scholarships, grants, and the captain support me more than anything.”
Foster nodded, then heaved out a breath before opening his door and climbing from the truck. I popped out next to him just as he lifted the key fob in his hand and pressed the unlock button. When my Mazda honked back in greeting, I cocked my head curiously.
“What’re you doing?”
“Moving it,” he answered. “Just to a different parking spot so no one thinks it’s abandoned and tries to have it towed or anything.”
“Oh.” I nodded in appreciation. “Thanks.”
