OFF-LIMITS

30.

Chapter thirty | Layla
"We're late." Damien's voice appears somewhere behind me, "thanks to you." Nash says as we walk towards the gates, "the flight is in thirty minutes, we'll catch it." Melissa mutters clutching her bag tightly.
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Adrian pulls me closer to him, planting a kiss on my temple, I smile a little and snuggle on his chest, "what are you reading?" I ask when I spot the book in his hands, he raises a brow and pulls his glasses down, he doesn't answer me but he plants the book in my hand

I adjust it and start reading, heat rises in my cheeks and If I'm not mistaken I feel butterflies in my belly, my lips part the more my eyes scan the words, he's reading smut, "remind me to not ask that question again." I say as I hand him the book, he chuckles and closes it.

"How are you feeling?" He asks and I raise a brow, "about the book? No idea." I say and he shakes his head but I catch a glimpse of a smile on his face, "I'm okay." I say, the words sounding sincere because they are, he plants a kiss on my temple again.

I smile and kiss his cheeks, I have no idea why I just did that but I felt like I have to, he raises his brows, "what was that?" He asks, "a kiss." I say, straightening my spine, "that's not a kiss." He says before his hands find my cheeks then he shoves his mouth on mine.

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"I kind of missed it here." I mumble and Adrian blinks at me like I've grown two heads, "what?" I ask, "we've been gone for just three days." He says, "come on, I still missed it." I say and take a deep breath before letting it out, I grab my bag but Adrian takes it from me, "so? Who is gonna drive us home?" Nash interrupts.

"Ezekiel will take me, Layla, and my brother, and I'll send one of my bodyguards with you and..her," Adrian says motioning at his mother who stands away from us, clutching her purse, Nash raises a brow but doesn't protest, "we're taking Melissa with us too." Damien interrupts and I nod.

Moments later, two Mercedes appear in front of us,
And When we get inside, Ezekiel greets us before averting his gaze to Damien, who chose to sit away from us, thankfully, "so? Are you going to come to stay with her?" Damien asks from his front seat, I assume the her is their mother, "No." Adrian replies.

"For god's sake, you've been gone for—a while." Damien mutters, and Adrian cocks his head, "yeah?" He asks, and Ezekiel tries to stifle a smile for some reason but he fails as his eyes catch mine in the mirror, "oh god you kno-" Damien starts but he never gets to finish his sentence before a gunshot ripples through the air and a scream echoes somewhere, it takes me a second to realize that it's mine.

Nash | five hours later
I clutch Octavia's cold hand tighter, "she'll be okay." She whispers, and god knows if that's even somewhere near the truth, the doctor appears and comes to a halt in-front of us, "they're alive." He says and a breath of relief leaves my mouth, but the relief instantly vanishes the moment sickening possibilities crawl into my mind.

"How badly injured are they?" The words leave me with a strained voice, "bad." He whispers not giving me more info, "don't hold back, just fucking say it." I snap, my free hand clenching into a fist while the other one clutches her hand, "the men have a few broken bones," he says still staring at me with this calm expression.

Doctors and their goddamn shit, "I don't care about all of that, Layla what about her?" I ask and he forces a small smile and swallows, "after some examination, unfortunately, we found a Cerebral hemorrhage, which lead her into a coma, I'm so sorry." He says and my heart almost fucking stops.

"When will she get out of it?" The question rips out of me even though I know the answer, I fucking know it, he shakes his head slowly and Octavia pulls me closer to her, "we don't have any idea, she can wake up tomorrow, or years later." He says and walks away, this has to be a nightmare.

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"Nash." Her whisper catches my attention and my eyes land on hers, she smiles, as her whole face lights up and I plant a kiss on her forehead, "the hospital called." She says and I stiffen, it's been two days since the accident, and slowly life has been falling apart.

Hope fills my chest at the same time a knot forms in my stomach, "it's not about Layla." She says when she notices the hopeful expression on my face, my heart drops as I run a hand through my hair and release a breath, "it's Adrian and Damien, they woke up." She whispers and I see the tears of relief in her eyes.

I've been too busy being miserable because of my sister's situation and I ignored the fact that her best friend of years has been ripped away from her just like my sister, "let's go." I whisper and she immediately nods.

Adrian
Light
That's the first thing that meets my vision the moment I open my eyes, a nurse is holding a flashlight and examining my fucking eyeball, "what the—" I say then groan when I feel the pain in my body.

Slowly memories come back to me and soon the physical pain is all forgotten and another pain replaces it, one that cuts me to shreds, "good morning Mr.knight, how are you feeling?" The nurse asks, giving me a big hopeful smile.

I stare at her and she shifts, visibly uncomfortable, I straighten and grimace, "fine, where is everyone, where is she?" I ask, the question ripping out of me uncontrollably, her brows furrowing and she opens her mouth to ask something but her words are cut off when the door swings open and Nash appears with his wife, my best friend, Octavia.

"Hey." She says softly but my eyes remain on Nash, for some reason I can't take them off him, I've never seen him like this, his hair is disheveled, and black circles surround his eyes, and that doesn't indicate something good "hey." I say, averting my eyes to Octavia, who smiles genuinely at me before sinking down on the bed, careful not to touch my injured leg.

"How are you feeling?" She asks and for some reason I just nod, ignoring her question, "where is she?" I ask when I notice the way nash keeps clenching and unclenching his fists, his eyes meet mine and they're so fucking full of emptiness it gives me the answer itself.

"Where is Layla?" I ask again, my voice strained with emotions I barely fucking show, "she's alive." Octavia mutters and my head snaps, "Octavia." I don't like this fucking game, one of them will tell me what the hell is going on.

"She's in a coma." Octavia says and pain explodes in my chest, fuck, a choked breath leaves me, and Nash's brows furrow, but he doesn't say anything, "I need to see her." I whisper, and the nurse shakes her head, "I'm sorry that's no-" she starts but my words stop her, "I will fucking see her." I say harshly and she surprisingly shuts her mouth.

"They wouldn't let me in." Nash says, his voice edged and tension radiating from his body, "you'll see your sister tonight, Nash." I say and he nods, not asking me to explain how I'm going to make this happen, and I'd rather not.

Octavia squeezes my hand and I look at her, forcing a tight smile, making her know that I'm grateful for her even if I'm struggling to show how much, but I know that she understands, she always does.

"Who else is injured?" I ask when they stay silent, "Ezekiel is fine, he got out on the same day and he's been visiting you since the moment you got here, Damien woke up later after you, Melissa has a concussion, she'll take about a week or less till she wakes up, and Layla is in a coma." He says, his sentence ending in a broken whisper.

And tears well in his eyes, I've never seen Nash shed a tear, but over his sister, I wouldn't be surprised if he did, they're both like magnets, and I know that they've never been separated, but fate had a cruel surprise.
For all of us.
In one second, it sucked the light out of our lives.
My fucking sunlight.

Oh look.
We needed to spice the story up a bit right? 🤭
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