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Even if my heart was beyond repair, I wasn’t alone.
But the thought had my chest aching again.
Because I wondered if Maddox was alone.
Suffering all by himself.
And the thought of him hurting made my entire body ache.
thirty-two
Maddox
There wasa knock on my hotel room door, and I groaned. I’d already ordered dinner, and I didn’t want to be bothered by anyone.
I’d come straight here after I’d left the hospital.
After I knew Georgia was okay.
Everything had come crashing down on me when she opened her eyes.
It hadn’t happened when she’d fallen through the ice, or when I’d given her CPR. Almost like my body had been in fight-or-flight mode, and I’d fought like hell to get her to the hospital. To make sure she was okay.
But from the minute those sapphire blues had locked with mine… The minute I’d heard her hoarse voice speak…
My body had had a visceral reaction.
Flashbacks of my mother not responding when I’d breathed into her mouth and desperately pumped my hands down on her chest. Memories of her lifeless body being taken from our home.
I felt like I was reliving it all over again.
And I couldn’t get the thought of Georgia lying on the ice with blue lips, her body completely still, out of my head.
Allowing myself to love someone the way that I loved her had been a reckless decision.
I’d fucked up.
Because I would not survive losing this woman.
I looked through the peephole and groaned. Why the fuck was Wyle here?
I pulled the door open. “Did you not get my text that said I was fine and that I didn’t want company?”
He strolled past me. “Of course, I got it. I just don’t give a fuck what you said.”
I moved to the minibar of my suite and poured myself another whiskey straight up and tipped my head back, allowing the cool liquid to warm my throat.
“So, what’s the plan, Maddox? You’re just going to hide out here because your girlfriend almost died? I thought you were the mature brother.”
“Fuck you. You have no idea what went down. You have no fucking idea what I’ve gone through. The shit in my head.” I pointed my finger in his face, and he slapped it away.
“Don’t be a dick. I’ve asked you hundreds of times to talk to me after that night with Mom, and you shut me down over and over. So don’t play that card with me, brother. Tell me what happened with Georgia. I know she fell through the ice, and you got her to the hospital. But I want to know what’s going on in that head of yours. What’s got you so fucked up?”
I shoved past him and dropped to sit on the chair next to the desk that I’d been working at. “It’s just too much, you know? She almost died, Wyle. I took her out there. And she was dancing out on the fucking ice like a little fairy, and then—” I looked away and glanced out the window at the tall buildings outside as the last bit of sunlight disappeared behind the clouds. “She was gone. Without warning. And when I pulled her out…”
He poured himself a drink and pulled up a chair beside the table and moved it right in front of me, our knees almost touching. “That had to be fucking terrifying. Was she breathing when you pulled her out?”
I sucked in a deep breath before letting all the air exit my lungs. “Her lips were blue. She wasn’t breathing. I turned her to the side and slapped her back hard, trying to expel the water from her airways. And then I did CPR until she started breathing. And there was all this blood and I didn’t know what the fuck to do. I called 911, but they couldn’t get there quick enough. So, I wrapped her up, and she was completely lifeless. Unconscious. But I knew she was breathing.”
