{18+ COMPLETE} For the past three years, Bren Hadaway has been preparing to die.
When he was sixteen, he watched his dad murder his mom. And ever since, he's been counting down the days until it was his turn to be at the end of a gun. And Bren has...
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I fell asleep next to Madie.
It was a cramped, weird position that caused most of my limbs to begin tingling within the first ten minutes of being next to her, but I still fell asleep. Because Madie was here. And she was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay.
When I woke again, it was dark outside. The sunset from earlier, completely gone. Madie breathed softly against my neck, and I smiled at feeling signs of her being alive.
Anything else would have killed me.
She shifted slightly, and I tensed, hoping that she would keep resting. Seeing the pain in her eyes when she'd jolted awake last time was heart-breaking. I didn't need to see it again.
"Shh, baby," I murmured into her hair before kissing it as if that would help her sleep.
God, I fucking loved this girl. So much that it physically hurt to see her hurt.
But I also loved having functioning limbs, and I was pretty sure mine had been without circulation for hours now.
Beau and Caroline were likely waiting impatiently in the lobby, too, so I escaped my awkward positioning on the hospital bed and headed into the hallway after a final glance at Madie. My sweet, pretty girl was sleeping soundly, thank goodness.
I didn't like the idea of walking away from her right now or the idea of her possibly waking while I stretched my legs, but something told me that she wouldn't mind.
The certainty in her eyes when she first blinked them open earlier—that was what it was. She knew I would always be there for her. There was none of that fear in her eyes, not even for a split second. Not like the mornings in Malibu when she'd wildly look for me just to be certain I was still around. Those days had passed.
Wandering down the hallway on shaky, tired limbs, I found Beau and Caroline in the waiting room. Beau's back faced me. He leaned on the windowsill, staring out at the parking lot. Either he didn't hear my footsteps approaching, or he didn't care.
Caroline, on the other hand, sat on the edge of her seat, wringing her hands as she watched me walk into the room.
"Sorry," I said, feeling bad about the anxiety on her face and for keeping her waiting. "I fell asleep. But Madie's doing alright. A lot of pain meds running through her system. She woke for a little bit and then fell back asleep."
Caroline heaved a sigh and fell back into her chair. Poor woman looked as exhausted as I felt.
But there was more than just exhaustion in her expression. Fuck, there was guilt there, too.
