Most of All You: A Love Story(28)

I came to blearily, hearing sirens in the distance, voices close by, yelling, sounding panicked. So many of them. A chorus. The stars were so bright above me, and there was only motion and light and a gentle whooshing in my ears.

Suddenly I was being moved. I thought I was traveling but didn’t know where and didn’t care. There was a loud wailing noise all around me, and I floated away once more.

When I opened my eyes again, I squinted, the lights above far too bright, as if I’d moved closer to the starlight. There were people in white around me, all hazy and indistinct. Then someone was standing over me, holding my hand as we moved, his breathing quick and loud right next to my face. Was I really floating? I shifted my gaze slowly toward whoever was right next to me and saw those angelic eyes. Gabriel. My breath hitched. Those beautiful eyes. Only now they were filled with something that looked like grief. Why? Everything was okay—I was in heaven where the streets were paved with gold. He stroked a hand over my hair. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so—” He gasped as if the words had gotten stuck in his throat. “You’re going to be okay. Just don’t move.”

The lights sparkled, and the air itself shimmered. There was a golden halo around his head. He was so beautiful. The most beautiful man I’d ever seen. I tried to smile, but my face didn’t seem to be working. “I knew you were an angel,” I whispered. “I knew you were.” I reached my hand up and cupped his cheek, catching a tear on my thumb. “Don’t cry, my angel. Don’t cry. Not for me.” Never for me.

Speaking made me feel so tired. I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me again.





CHAPTER NINE


Shh, darling. I know it hurts, but your body knows how to heal. And so does your heart.

Lemon Fair, the Queen of Meringue

GABRIEL

The hospital waiting room was dim and quiet, empty except for me. I sat on an uncomfortable vinyl-covered chair, leaned back against the wall, my gaze directed at the ceiling. The TV mounted to the wall had a cartoon on, the sound turned so low it was barely background noise.

I heard a door open somewhere down the hall and brought my head straight, looking toward the entrance of the waiting room. I heard the clack of heels on the floor, and a few seconds later, the woman I recognized from the Platinum Pearl, the woman who I now knew was named Kayla, burst into the room. Her wide eyes fixed on me. “Sorry it took me so long to get here. Any news?”

I shook my head. “No, not yet. I think they’re still checking her injuries.” My heart contracted again, and I rubbed at my chest as if that might help. I couldn’t get the picture of her beaten face out of my mind as they’d rolled her down the hall to X-ray, the small smile that had curved her bloodied, swollen lips when she saw me. She’d touched my face and I had barely noticed, so sick with grief to see what had been done to her. She called me her angel. The horror of seeing her that way was still coursing through my blood—making me feel sick and filled with fury. When Kayla had called me, she said the men who’d attacked Crystal had run off when Anthony came outside, and he’d tried to follow them, but turned back to help Crystal instead. It must have felt like an impossible choice for him. But I was glad he’d done what he did, because what if leaving her there to go after them was the difference between life and death? I blew out a pent-up breath.

“Thank you so much for calling me, Kayla.”

She nodded, biting at her lip and getting red lipstick on her teeth. “I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do, but I sat with her while we all waited for the ambulance, and even though Crystal was unconscious, she still had your number balled in her fist.” She shook her head sadly. “All through what those men did to her, she never let go. She held on to it. It must mean something, you know? And I thought … well, Crystal doesn’t have many friends. If she doesn’t want you here, though, she’ll tell you. Crystal can be real blunt.”

I managed a small chuckle. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that.”

Kayla sunk down into a chair. I’d driven straight to the hospital after receiving Kayla’s call and arrived half an hour after they’d brought Crystal in. I didn’t have any details of the attack—just what Kayla had told me on the phone. Kayla shook her head, and tears welled in her eyes. “This is awful, just awful,” she choked. “Poor Crystal. Oh, poor Crystal.”

I glanced at her, wondering if even she, this woman who seemed to be a friend to Crystal, knew her real name. I didn’t ask. “Did anyone inside the club know the men who did this?”

She shook her head. “Not their names, but a few girls were able to give enough information for the police to follow up on. And Anthony gave a description of their truck, though he didn’t see the license plate.” I nodded. Thank God Anthony had come outside when he did.

The doctor who had been with Crystal’s gurney when I’d first arrived entered the room, and I stood quickly, my heart stuttering. Kayla stood, too, as the doctor walked toward us. “I’m Dr. Beckstrom.”

“Doctor. Gabriel Dalton.” His eyes lingered on me for a moment as if he might recognize me, or perhaps just my name, before he simply nodded, turning to Kayla, who introduced herself as well.

“Are either of you family?”

I shook my head. “We’re both friends.” I wasn’t even really that.