Page 69 of Promise of Punishment

My heart pounds, and the machine announces my panic with rapid beeps.

My gaze shoots to the door. Both the doctor and Wes are looking at me.

If only I had the power to disappear, X-Men style. I haven’t wished for that ability since I was a child.

The doctor asks me questions. How I’m feeling. What my pain level is. If I know who I am.

He examines my eyes, then explains I was in a car accident and have a concussion, a fractured ankle, a couple of bruised ribs, bruising all over my body, and a dislocated shoulder that’s been reset.

I don’t look at Wes, who stands opposite the doctor, watching everything.

The doctor says he’ll send a nurse with more information and with food and drink. He leaves, and my gaze falls to my casted foot, questions swarming my brain like bees.

“Fable,” Wes says in a gentle voice that has my jaw clenching.

“Don’t say my name,” I force out, unable to look at him. Each word sends hot pain to my ribs, but it’s not enough to silence me. “I know what you’ve been doing to me. Whatever sick game this is… I can assure you… I’ve suffered more than you can ever know since you betrayed me in England. You enjoyed destroying my life back then too… telling your dad I held you hostage when all I did was save you… but you’re done playing with me. Leave and forget I exist.”

He runs his hand through his dark blonde locks, tousling them more, his bluebell eyes bloodshot and weary. Not because of me. “Please stop trying to talk. I know how bad it hurts.”

“Leave, and I will.”

“Sorry, angel. I can’t do that.” He drops onto the chair beside my bed. “We need to get a few things straight about our past, and we need to work together on our future.”

My eyes find him before my head turns in his direction, a scowl curling my lips. “What is wrong with you?”

He just stares at me, his gaze heavy with emotions that can’t possibly be real.

I turn my head away and focus on the large window. Sunlight filters through the closed blinds. What floor am I on? High or low? Does it matter? I’m trapped here, my battered body too weak to go anywhere.

“You don’t know the truth about what happened after you saved me,” Wes says, snagging my attention, but I refuse to look at him. “Neither did I. I’d like to explain it to you. I’d also like to tell you how sorry I am that I didn’t keep the promise I made to you in that garden, but I swear I’m about to make good on it.”

A bitter laugh escapes me. “It’s too late. My mom’s dead—murdered because of you.”

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could have stopped it from happening.”

My gaze jerks to his. “You could have!” Pain cuts through my chest, making me wince.

He sits forward, his hand raised to cover mine, but stops and lowers it to his lap. “You’re right. It kills me that I didn’t. But I can still fulfill my promise. I will. For you and for our baby.”

It’s as if the mattress breaks, plunging me to the floor. “What baby?”

He looks terrified and desperate. Even in his battered state in that garden, he never once looked this scared. “You’re pregnant.”

26

STOP CALLING ME THAT

Fable

I shake my head. Fresh pain flares, adding to the new tension in my aching body. My monitor beeps faster. It’s not true. It can’t be.

The nurse whirls into the room. “Is it your pain level?” she asks while checking the machine and my IV drip. “We’re trying to keep you comfortable with what we’re able to give you under these circumstances.” Her gaze flicks to my belly.

Oh god. Oh god-oh god-oh god.

“I’m Carolyn,” she says. “I’ll be your nurse for the duration of your stay.”

An orderly enters the room with a tray of food and sets it on a roll-away table near my bed. “Lunch.”