Page 171 of Tied to You

I stare ahead. “I don’t feel it. I feel pretty fucking scared.”

He shakes his head at my language but says nothing more of it. “Perhaps. But remember what I taught you, bravery is about being the only one who knows you’re afraid.”

I look at him, understanding that the second I step out of this room, everything changes.

“Can I take you home now?”

I take the first step, checking my back pocket. “Can we make a stop on the way?”

He bends his arm, giving me a nod, and I loop my good hand through it, completely shattered in every way shape and from.

But I have one last thing to do.

Chapter Thirty-Five

TRAVIS

Ihave no intention of leaving the hospital. Be it outside or in, I’m not leaving here until I see her. Dean got carted away to the station because the fucker inside with Mollie made sure of it. The same way he put two officers at the door to make sure I stay put and can’t get to her.

My eyes haven’t left them. Haven’t left the direction of where I know she is. I’m fucking freezing. My arse is numb from sitting on my bike for the past three hours, waiting. I don’t care though. I need to see her. I can’t miss her walking out of here without having the opportunity to right my wrongs.

My heart only ever beat for her.

She is what I want.

She is what I need.

I see her. She sees me.

A life without our chaos won’t be worth living. I’ve played out all the things I could say, all the ways in which I’ll make a start to showing her I can be the man she needs me to be. Rather than accept what was right in front of me, I put all my fear onto her. I should never have done that. That wasn’t fair.

An ambulance comes screaming up the ramp to the main doors, and I think about seizing the opportunity to make a break for the door. Standing, I watch the officers step out of the way, but my feet stay planted when I check who’s calling me, seeing his name flash across the screen. “How the fuck are you calling me from your phone?”

“Have you spoken to Mollie?” he replies, not answering my obvious question. He’s rushing, out of breath like he’s running.

His words hit me with immediate force. “No, why?”

“She’s leaving! I can’t fucking get hold of her.”

Every beat of my black heart feels like a knife twisting into my flesh. What the fuck is he talking about, leaving? “Dean?” I need him to talk to me. Need him to hurry up and explain how he’s able to call me after being arrested.

One of the officers sees me take a step closer, his eyes nervously noting my every move. A hand flies to my head, the disbelief indescribable.

“Her dad got me out but I spoke to her, she said she was leaving.”

“You spoke to her?”How? Why?None of this is making any sense.

“That doesn’t matter right now. That was an hour ago, mate. She could have left already.”

She hasn’t come out. I haven’t moved. “I haven’t seen her leave.” Or her dad for that matter. “What the fuck did she say exactly?” I begin pacing, unsure whether I should jump on my bike or stay fucking put. What if Dean’s wrong? What if she’s still inside? Then again, what if she’s not. What if I missed her?

I blink, my pacing up and down quickening, the repetitive sound of my manic steps, relentless. The officer has stepped even closer. My time is running out.

“Where would she go?” he asks, again not answering my fucking question. This is becoming painful, the burning pain in my chest becoming unbearable.

“I don’t know?” Home?Ourhome. Or back with her father? Back to her old life before me.

“Think.”