Page 133 of The True Garza

But it’s not her name that’s flashing on my phone when I get it out. It’s her husband. “Yeah?”

“Are you at the hospital yet?” he asks. “I’m still at the client’s home ’cause the cops are being complete incompetent idiots, as usual, so it might be a while before I get there.”

“What are you talking about? Why do I need to be at the hospital?”

A pause. “No one called you? Haven’t you been checking the team chat?”

“No—I don’t—what is it? Did something happen?”

“Yeah, uh….” Another long pause. “It’s London.”

As my heart plummets to the pit of my stomach, I shove the chick away from me.I’m a piece of shit. “What the fuck happened, Trent?”

“You need to get to the hospital, True. There’s been an incident.”

CHAPTER Thirty-Three

“Just keep it to your fucking self.”

Lonny

Bright lights penetrate my eyelids.

There are voices. Words. But it all feels so far away, garbled. It feels as if I’m trapped under water, a cinder block tied to my feet, pulling me down, down, down.

A sharp pain throbs in my head, and I try to open my eyes, fighting against the fog, against the weight dragging me down. But the light is too strong, unbearable. The pain in my head is too much, excruciating.

I give up and let the darkness pull me under.

~

There’s no light.

No pain in my head.

There’s nothing.

I feel light. And happy. And free.

It feels good, here in this darkness, this silence, this place of painlessness. No heartaches, no sleeplessness, no craving for whiskey.

Best of all,he’shere with me. Holding me. It’s warm and perfect. It’s what I’ve longed for, what I’ve cried and ached for.

So, I don’t go back. I choose to stay here. With him.

I love you.

Don’t let me go.

~

“I don’t understand. The doctor said her skull fracture wasn’t severe. But she’s been out for overthirty-sixhours. Why isn’t she waking up?”

“Just be patient. Rest assured her vitals are good, the swelling has gone down, and she’s perfectly stable. She’ll wake up when she’s ready.”

~

I’m awake.