Page 59 of Forever my Love

Hailey told Harper exactly what Fred had said to her after her sister put her phone on speaker so that Nick could take it down in the file they had on the man.

“What can the Las Vegas police do?” she asked, feeling a headache and realizing it was past three in the morning.

“First off, you may not have noticed but there are two officers stationed outside your waiting area to protect you,” Nick answered.

Hailey glanced up and saw the two uniformed men watching the hallway. She’d just thought they worked in the hospital.

“Second, there are two outside of Reece’s room. Until Fred is caught, they won’t leave his or your side.”

She nodded and swallowed back tears of gratitude.

“We’ve got you covered. When you’re ready to head back to your hotel—and we’ve been told you can extend your reservation for the next week, if you want—someone will be with you every step of the way,” Nick assured her.

“Thanks,” she said, her voice cracking.

“Try and find a place to get some sleep,” Harper said.

She wanted to tell her sister that there was no way she was going to sleep until after she saw Reece and made sure that he was okay. She needed to see it for herself.

Instead, she said her goodbyes and hung up.

“We can go in now,” Luke said when she got off the phone. “They’ve moved him to a private room.” He helped her stand up.

She followed him like a zombie down the hallway, too blinded by her tears to focus on where they were going. When they stepped into a dark room, Amber was there, sitting next to a bed.

She wiped her eyes clear and looked at Reece lying in the bed, and broke down again. There were tubes sticking out of his arms and chest. He was pale. His hair was sticking up all over the place.

He looked...

For the first time since she’d met him, he looked fragile.

She rushed to the side of the bed and took his hand in hers, only to realize there were tubes sticking out of it. Afraid that she’d hurt him, she tucked her hands under her armpits.

“Is… is he awake?” she asked Amber.

“He comes and goes. He’s been asking for you though,” Amber said softly. Then she looked over Hailey’s shoulder and nodded. “I think now that we know he’s out of the worst of it, we’re going to go get a few hours of sleep. They retrieved my purse, and I have my phone again. We’ve arranged it so you can stay here for now. Get some rest.” She motioned to the chair. “It folds out into a bed. A nurse will help you. I’ll bring you a change of clothes in the morning, if you want.”

She nodded, not taking her eyes from Reece.

“Here’s the hotel key.” She pulled it out of her purse and handed it to Reece’s mother. “You can bring my entire bag, everything’s in there. Reece’s too, if you want. I don’t think I’ll be leaving here until he does.”

Amber nodded and then hugged her. “Take care of him. Let us know if anything changes. We’ll be back in a few hours.”

When they were alone in the room, Hailey moved over to sit in the chair Amber had just been in and took Reece’s hand, the one that was free of tubes.

“I’m here,” she told him, her voice sounding odd in the silence of the room.

Tears rolled down her cheeks freely as she waited in the dark, counting the blips on the heart monitor screen and watching his closed eyelids in hopes that they would open.

When the sun started streaming in the windows behind her, she spared a glance outside. The Nevada sun assured her it was going to be another warm day outside.

Nurses had come and gone many times in the night, each one trying to strike up a conversation with her.

She politely answered their questions but remained silent as much as she could. Her eyes hardly ever left Reece’s face.

When his parents appeared again a few hours after the sun had come up, her stomach was growling loudly and she was in desperate need of a bathroom break and some coffee if she was going to stay awake any longer.

“Here,” Amber said. “We got everything out of your rooms.” She rolled Hailey’s bag in and set it next to the bathroom. “Take some time, clean up. Luke is going to head down to the cafeteria and get us some coffee and food. I’ll sit with him until you come back.”

When Hailey stood up, she wobbled slightly, and Amber rushed over and took her arms.

“Have you stood up once since we left?” Amber asked.

Hailey shook her head. “I didn’t need to.” She felt all the blood rush to her legs. “I’ll be just a few minutes.” She rolled her bag into the bathroom.

She quickly showered, pulled her hair up into a messy bun, and put on a pair of jeans and a fresh shirt. When she stepped out less than half an hour later, Luke was there with breakfast.

To her surprise, the moment she stepped out of the bathroom, Reece’s eyes flew open.

“Hailey!” he shouted, and tried to sit up.