Page 100 of I Never Stopped Loving You

“Yes?”

“Can you come with me, please?” He seems hesitant when he looks over at me, and my heart stops beating.

“Can she come too?” Jeremy asks, gesturing to me.

“Is she family?” he asks Jeremy, as if I can’t answer for myself.

“She’s his girlfriend,” he lies.

“I’m sorry, sir. But right now only family is permitted.”

“But…” Jeremy starts, but I cut him off.

“It’s okay, Jeremy. Go talk to him. Give him a hug for me and let him know I’m here.”

I try to sound reassuring to him, but my voice cracks when the doctor looks over at me, then quickly turns away before walking toward the locked double doors.

He needs to be okay. He has to be.

CHAPTER 46

NOAH

THREE YEARS AGO

Twelve years.

4,445 days.

106,680 hours.

I was so fucking close…At least I thought I was.

Another long sip of bourbon empties another glass. I can't even taste it anymore because I'm numb. Completely and utterly numb.

Monty's words are still echoing in my mind as the sickening feeling slithers through my body again.

I thought I had finally found her.

For two years, Monty has helped me search for my little rabbit, and two nights ago, I thought it was all going to pay off.

A hit came in from Norfolk, Nebraska. A woman was brought into the hospital with severe head trauma, and bad road rash from a hit-and-run. She didn’t have any identification on her when she was found so she was listed as a Jane Doe, but her features ticked every fucking box that it was her. My little rabbit.

I booked the quickest flight, not even waiting for Monty to get confirmation if it was her or not. I'd been waiting for over twelve years for this close of a match, so I wasn't wasting another second. It was her. It had to be her.

When I arrived, I rushed straight to the hospital. They refused to let me in the room, but allowed me to watch her from the window to the ICU. They said that until they had confirmation on who she was, they couldn't let me in. I obviously had no photos or proof that she was who I believed she was, so I impatiently waited.

She looked so broken and frail. Her head and half of her face was bandaged from the accident. They had her hooked up to multiple machines. Her heart rate and oxygen were barely stable. She had road rash along her entire body, multiple broken bones, and a cracked skull. Whoever hit her took off, and according to the cops, they still hadn't found the car.

I had Monty searching through every camera in the area where they found her and the surrounding streets. I swore when he found the sonofabitch that hit her, I'd kill him myself. I’d tie him to the bumper of my truck and drag him down a road until no part of him will be recognizable.

Those six hours were agonizing. Waiting, watching her body, only breathing due to the machines barely keeping her alive. My heart was breaking with each beep of her monitor.

That is, until my phone rang and Monty's face was lighting up my screen.

I'm sorry, boss. It's not her.

Those six words caused my world to shatter. All the hope I had built up since the moment we got the hit disappeared within a few seconds. I remember staring at the woman lying in the ICU, completely perplexed and overwhelmed with emotion. On the one hand, I was glad it wasn’t my little rabbit lying there fighting for her life, but on the other, I was also wishing it was her…that I had finally found her… But it wasn’t her.