Page 96 of Breaking Matt

"They did," I answered hoarsely, still feeling the heartache and grief when I'd been told.

He tucked some stray hair behind my ear and touched my cheek. "I'm fine." Then he retracted his hand, like he remembered everything that had happened between us. I wanted to snatch his hand and keep it tightly in mine, but I stopped myself. I was feeling disoriented and was still trying to piece back together what had happened.

Then the cops arrived and a few minutes later so did the paramedics. They gave me something for the pain before they put me on a gurney and wheeled me out of the room with Matthew beside me.

There was a lot of activity when I arrived at the hospital. After being checked, I was moved into a room for observation. Despite Matthew never leaving my side, I felt he was distancing himself from me. And I wondered if all the stuff that had happened between us was still keeping us apart.

I loved him but I was scared to make the first move. I usually went for what I wanted without a thought to the consequences, but this time my heart was on the line. Before, he would have stood beside me holding my hand, but now he was standing a safe distance away at the foot of the bed.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" I asked. "Wasn't Nick the one who wanted me dead?"

He shook his head. "It wasn't Nick who wanted revenge. It was a couple of the men who used to work for his father who did."

I pondered his answer. Leo had already lied about Matthew being dead, so it didn't surprise me he had lied about Nick being the one who had wanted me gone.

"Is that why you went to see him?" I asked.

He nodded. "Things just didn't seem to add up. It was a hunch."

I studied him. "So you put yourself in danger on a hunch?"

He didn't reveal any emotions as he held my gaze. "Mine was a careful plan with controlled risks. You did the same, but you went in blindly without any thought for your own safety."

My throat thickened. I knew exactly why I had made the decision to put myself in danger. It had been an attempt to save him.

"When no one could find you, I thought the worst. We all did."

"Nick doesn't trust easily. To meet with him I had to switch off my phone and leave it behind when he took me to another location."

It explained why no one could reach him.

"Why did you do it, Sarah? Why did you put yourself in so much danger?" he asked.

I swallowed. "The same reason why you went to meet Nick."

He pressed his lips in a tight line as our eyes held.

The door to my hospital room opened and my parents rushed over to me.

"Sarah," my mother cried as she put her hands on my face. She pressed a kiss to my cheek. I tried to hug her as she put her arms around me.

"Sarah," my father said hoarsely to me from the other side of the bed. My mom still refused to let go so I reached out a hand and my father held it.

I swallowed to stop myself from crying.

They were both so happy to see me but I knew I was in for a lecture later after I had recovered.

When I looked back to the foot of the bed, Matthew was gone. My heart felt heavy in my chest. I'd hoped he had just stepped out to give me privacy with my parents; but even later after my parents had left to get me some clothes and toiletries, he still didn't return.

The rawness in my heart was more painful than my injuries.

When Mark walked in to see me, it was late. The lights in my room were dimmed so I could sleep and I shifted, trying to find a comfortable position.

"Mark," I murmured when he sat down beside me.

"Sleep," he said as he rubbed his chin.

The medication the nurses had given me made it harder to keep my eyes open, and I tried to fight the sleep that crept over me.