Page 128 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

Friday

All my anger dissipated. Penny was lying there lifeless. The “fight, fight, fight” chants died away.

Everyone was frozen in place now.

Except for me.

I crouched down next to her, cradling her face in my hands. “Penny?”

She didn’t respond.

“Penny?”

I heard Melissa sobbing. “Someone call 911!”

No. Penny was drinking underage. She’d be expelled. This would ruin everything she was working toward.

“She slipped,” someone said. I looked up. A girl was already on the phone with the 911 operator. I needed to get Penny out of here. I’d get her home and have a doctor come to us.

“Is she okay?” Tyler said.

No, she’s not okay. You punched her, you fucking idiot. I kept my eyes trained on Penny so I wouldn’t punch Tyler again. “I’ve got her,” I said. I gently picked Penny up, cradling her in my arms. Being extra careful to support her neck.

“I’m so sorry…I didn’t mean to,” Tyler said. “What should we do?”

We? There was no we here. “I’ve got her,” I said again.

Tyler didn’t try to stop me as I walked toward the stairs.

“She needs to go to the hospital,” Melissa said as she ran beside me.

“I’ve got her,” I said again. I didn’t trust Melissa. This was as much her fault as it was Tyler’s. She was supposed to be Penny’s best friend. So why was Penny so drunk? Why was no one looking out for her?

“James, please, the ambulance is on the way.” She followed me up the stairs.

“I’ll have a doctor come to us,” I said as I carried Penny out of the house. “Penny,” I said as I stared down at her unconscious body. “Penny can you hear me?”

She didn’t even stir.

Panic laced around my heart. She needed to wake up. She needed to look up at me.

I’d forgotten how light she was when she was in my arms. I remembered thinking that she’d be so easy to break. Since I was so broken.

I shook my head. I wasn’t going to break her. I wasn’t. This wasn’t my fault. But I was lying to myself. All of this was my fault. “Penny,” I whispered. “Please.”

“James, stop!”

I turned around on the grass. “Melissa, would you just listen to me for two seconds?” I snapped.

For the first time I realized she was crying.

“Take a deep breath,” I said.

I wasn’t sure if she followed my instructions, but she didn’t keep talking, so that was good.

“Now grab my phone out of my pocket.” I gestured to my back pocket.

She pulled out my phone.

“Dial number 2.”

She hit the number on the phone.

“Tell Ian to pick us up immediately and have him call Steven.” I shook my head. “I mean Dr. Ridge. He’ll know who I’m talking about.”

“Ian?” Melissa said on the phone. “There’s been an accident with Penny. Can you please call Dr. Ridge and come pick up Penny and James?”

She looked up at me. “He hung up!”

“He’s just doing his job.”

She nodded and grabbed Penny’s hand. “Penny? Wake up. Please wake up.”

I heard the ambulance in the distance.

Come on, Ian. Come on. If Ian didn’t arrive first, Penny wouldn’t be the only one in trouble.

Not that I cared about the fact that I was a professor crashing a college party with underage drinking.

I’m pretty sure everything I’d done with Penny was worse than that.

And I didn’t care about any of it. I just wanted her to wake up.

“Penny,” I whispered as I stared down at her lifeless face.

It only took another minute before Ian sped up to the curb outside the frat house.

Melissa was reluctant to let go of Penny’s hand.

“It’s okay, I’ve got her,” I said. “I promise.” And I meant it. I was never letting Penny go again. Not even for a second.

Melissa blinked back her tears. “I’m so sorry. I…”

“It’s not your fault.” I’d put blame on her. And on Tyler. But none of this was their fault. It was mine. I would have stayed there and consoled her more. But there wasn’t time.

“What the fuck happened?” Ian said as he climbed out of the car.

“Open the back door.” I didn’t have time to explain.

He opened the door and helped me get Penny into the back seat. I climbed in next to her, cradling her face in my hands. “Penny, I need you to wake up.”

She didn’t stir.

The car started moving. I moved my hand from the side of Penny’s head and realized my palm was covered with blood. Her hair was matted with it. Where was she cut? I tried to inspect the wound but there was too much blood.

“James, what the fuck?!” Ian yelled.

“Just get us home.” A drop of blood landed on her forehead. And I realized some of it was dripping from my face onto her. Please let it just be my blood. Please.

“Is she breathing?” Ian asked.

I smoothed her hair out of her face and put my fingers along her throat, smearing more blood along her neck. Her heart was beating steadily. “Yes, she’s just unconscious. She hit her head pretty hard.”

“What did you do?”

I finally looked up from Penny. “I didn’t hurt her, Ian,” I said. But it was a lie. I had hurt her. This all happened because I didn’t speak to her for weeks. All I’d done was hurt her.

The tires squealed as Ian took a sharp right into the parking garage beneath my apartment. He tried to help me lift Penny but I held her closer. “I’ve got her.”

The elevator ride felt excruciatingly long.

“Seriously, James what the hell happened?”

I ignored him and stepped out of the elevator. “Get some water and some towels.” I carried Penny into my bedroom and placed her gently on my bed. I knelt down next to her. “Baby, wake up. Please wake up.”

Ian came in with some towels and a glass of water. I grabbed one of the towels and wiped some of the blood off her neck and face. I gently blotted the spot along her hairline. There was so much blood. Why was there so much fucking blood?

“What happened to your face?” Ian said.

“Get out.”

“James…”

“Get out,” I said more firmly. I didn’t mean to snap at him, but I wasn’t worried about myself right now.

Ian shook his head and left the room.

I wiped more of the blood away from her pale skin. "Penny," I said. "Penny? God, Penny open your eyes."

But she didn’t respond.

“I’m so sorry. Please, just wake up. I’ll be better. I’ll be better for you.” I promise. I can be better for you.

Penny just laid there.

I felt the wetness on my cheeks.

I needed to do something. Anything. Or I’d lose my fucking mind.

I stared down at the costume she was wearing.

A costume that no one should have ever seen her in but me.

And I wondered if she’d bought it when we were still together.

If it had been meant for me. But all I could think about was Tyler peeling it from her skin. Fuck that guy.

I grabbed a t-shirt from my closet and slowly undressed her.

For just a second my eyes fell to her exposed tits.

God, I’d missed those. Seeing them in person was so much better than the videos.

All I wanted to do was lean forward and pull one of her nipples into my mouth.

It felt like a lifetime since I’d tasted her skin.

Stop. I was such a sick fuck. I quickly pulled the t-shirt down over her.

“I’ll be better,” I said again.

She looked so young in just my shirt. My eyes fell to her nipples pressing against the fabric. And I heard that voice in the back of my head. Monster.

I shook away the thought. “I’ll never let anything happen to you again. Just wake up, baby.”

She gasped and sat up.

I felt like I exhaled for the first time in an hour.

She cringed at the light and touched her head. When she brought her hand back down she stared in horror at the blood.

"Penny?" I said gently. It’s okay. I’m right here.

Her eyes focused on my face. "I thought you weren't talking to me?" she mumbled. She reached up and touched her forehead again. "What happened?"

I just stared at her. What did she mean by what happened? "You fell.” I searched her eyes for some kind of recollection, but there was none there. “Don't you remember?"

"What?" She looked down at the bloody cloth in my hand.

This wasn’t good. How did she not know what happened? "Penny, what is the last thing you remember?"

She just blinked up at me. "I don't know. You weren't talking to me."

Baby, I’m so sorry.

She looked around my bedroom. "Why am I here? How did I get here?"

"I carried you." I stared down at her. How much had she forgotten? "Penny, tell me the last thing you remember."

"I don't know." She started to cry. "I don't know why I'm here. I can't remember. Am I okay?"

"You're going to be fine. The doctor is on the way." I tried to keep my voice even. But I was internally freaking out. She’d hit her head pretty hard. She’d been unconscious for a while. This wasn’t good. I lightly pressed the cloth in my hand against her forehead.

She put her hand over her mouth and tried to climb out of bed. But she seemed disoriented and started to fall.

What the hell was she doing? I caught her in my arms before she fell off the bed. I kept my arms firmly around her as I set her back down. "Penny, stay still. The doctor will be here any second. You're going to be fine.” Please be okay. I sat down on the bed next to her and rubbed her back.

She immediately threw up down the front of my shirt. I tried not to flinch. I just kept rubbing her back. This was probably good. To get all the alcohol out of her system. Let it all out.

"I'm so sorry," she groaned.

"It's okay." I held my breath. "It's okay.” But I did need to get out of this shirt or I was pretty sure I’d start throwing up too.

“Stay right there. I'll be right back." I hurried out of the room, tore off my shirt, and chucked it in the trash. I took a deep breath of clean air as I grabbed a bottle of ginger ale out of the fridge. I took another deep breath. She was awake. She was going to be okay. She had to be. I’d never be able to forgive myself if she wasn’t okay.