I’ll come back after the nurse is done.”
“Thanks, mom.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Thompson.”
My mom looked at Lincoln and then back at me.
“He’s a good one, you know? He never left your side.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as my mom left my
room.
Lincoln stood and leaned over me. I closed my
eyes and took deep breaths as he rested his forehead on mine. “Shh…
baby. Don’t cry.”
“I’m okay. I’m okay,” I chanted as I tried to
convince both him and myself. I didn’t want to fall to pieces. I
had been weak my whole life and had avoided anything that could
potentially cause me emotional pain. But not anymore. I had someone
worth fighting for now, and I knew he would fight for me. I wasn’t
going to be scared away from living a full life any longer.
I sniffled as my tears fell despite my
attempt at a positive attitude. “Did you win?”
“What?”
“Did you win the game?”
Lincoln exhaled sharply and sat down on the
side of my bed keeping close to me. He brushed my tears away from
my cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. “You almost died, and you’re
worried about if we won our game? Princess, I almost lost you. I
couldn’t care less about hockey right now.”
I sniffled again. “Is there anything else I
should know? I assume based on Detective Murray’s questions that
they don’t have any idea who did this.”
“No. They interrogated Mackenzie and a few
others last night, but didn’t get any answers.”
“Why would Mackenzie put a date rape drug in
my drink? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Who knows? I’m not putting anything past her
at this point. Especially after the way she reacted after being
told she couldn’t be in the parade.”
“But it wasn’t even obvious which drink was
mine. Carter bought drinks for all of us. This could have been
meant for anyone.”
“Then how did you end up drinking it? Why did
you have to be the one that almost died?” When he said that, his
hand clamped into a fist on my pillow next to my head.
“Bad luck?” I asked with humor.
“This isn’t funny, Jillian. Detective Murray
is investigating this as an attempted homicide.”
That sobered me up. Homicide? They thought
someone did this to kill me and not just accidentally.
Lincoln sighed. “Whoever did this put enough
in your drink to kill you. This is serious.”
“I just don’t understand why anyone would do
this,” I admitted quietly.
He lowered his face close to mine again. “You
said it yourself a while ago. There are people in this world that
thrive on the misery of others.”
“Are you miserable?” I asked him seriously.
Maybe he was sick of all this drama.
He exhaled sharply. “God, Princess. No. Of
course not. Not now that I know you’re okay.”
“I’m not either. Far from it.” I cupped his
cheek to focus his attention. “So we’re not going to let them make
us miserable, are we?”
“How are you not mad right now? You should be
yelling, screaming, pissed off out of your mind.” He was looking at
me in awe.
“Lincoln, I don’t have any room in my heart
to be mad. Someone out there is crazy enough to do this, but I’m
not going to allow them to defeat me. Not now that I have you.”
“Jillian…” he whispered and lowered his lips
to mine. He kissed me with restraint as if he was afraid he would
hurt me. When I pushed against him to deepen the kiss, he pulled
back and smiled at me. “I love you so much. I was so worried.”
I inhaled deeply, ignoring the slight burn
that remained in my throat. “I love you too, Lincoln.”
My nurse returned and kicked Lincoln out of
the room while he removed the gross tubes coming out of parts of my
body they shouldn’t have been. Lincoln didn’t go without a fight,
but I insisted he didn’t need to see this.
Once the nurse was done, he helped me into a
comfortable chair and placed a blanket over my legs. I felt like
such an invalid, but I hoped being upright in a chair would help me
stay awake. I was
“Thanks, mom.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Thompson.”
My mom looked at Lincoln and then back at me.
“He’s a good one, you know? He never left your side.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as my mom left my
room.
Lincoln stood and leaned over me. I closed my
eyes and took deep breaths as he rested his forehead on mine. “Shh…
baby. Don’t cry.”
“I’m okay. I’m okay,” I chanted as I tried to
convince both him and myself. I didn’t want to fall to pieces. I
had been weak my whole life and had avoided anything that could
potentially cause me emotional pain. But not anymore. I had someone
worth fighting for now, and I knew he would fight for me. I wasn’t
going to be scared away from living a full life any longer.
I sniffled as my tears fell despite my
attempt at a positive attitude. “Did you win?”
“What?”
“Did you win the game?”
Lincoln exhaled sharply and sat down on the
side of my bed keeping close to me. He brushed my tears away from
my cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. “You almost died, and you’re
worried about if we won our game? Princess, I almost lost you. I
couldn’t care less about hockey right now.”
I sniffled again. “Is there anything else I
should know? I assume based on Detective Murray’s questions that
they don’t have any idea who did this.”
“No. They interrogated Mackenzie and a few
others last night, but didn’t get any answers.”
“Why would Mackenzie put a date rape drug in
my drink? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Who knows? I’m not putting anything past her
at this point. Especially after the way she reacted after being
told she couldn’t be in the parade.”
“But it wasn’t even obvious which drink was
mine. Carter bought drinks for all of us. This could have been
meant for anyone.”
“Then how did you end up drinking it? Why did
you have to be the one that almost died?” When he said that, his
hand clamped into a fist on my pillow next to my head.
“Bad luck?” I asked with humor.
“This isn’t funny, Jillian. Detective Murray
is investigating this as an attempted homicide.”
That sobered me up. Homicide? They thought
someone did this to kill me and not just accidentally.
Lincoln sighed. “Whoever did this put enough
in your drink to kill you. This is serious.”
“I just don’t understand why anyone would do
this,” I admitted quietly.
He lowered his face close to mine again. “You
said it yourself a while ago. There are people in this world that
thrive on the misery of others.”
“Are you miserable?” I asked him seriously.
Maybe he was sick of all this drama.
He exhaled sharply. “God, Princess. No. Of
course not. Not now that I know you’re okay.”
“I’m not either. Far from it.” I cupped his
cheek to focus his attention. “So we’re not going to let them make
us miserable, are we?”
“How are you not mad right now? You should be
yelling, screaming, pissed off out of your mind.” He was looking at
me in awe.
“Lincoln, I don’t have any room in my heart
to be mad. Someone out there is crazy enough to do this, but I’m
not going to allow them to defeat me. Not now that I have you.”
“Jillian…” he whispered and lowered his lips
to mine. He kissed me with restraint as if he was afraid he would
hurt me. When I pushed against him to deepen the kiss, he pulled
back and smiled at me. “I love you so much. I was so worried.”
I inhaled deeply, ignoring the slight burn
that remained in my throat. “I love you too, Lincoln.”
My nurse returned and kicked Lincoln out of
the room while he removed the gross tubes coming out of parts of my
body they shouldn’t have been. Lincoln didn’t go without a fight,
but I insisted he didn’t need to see this.
Once the nurse was done, he helped me into a
comfortable chair and placed a blanket over my legs. I felt like
such an invalid, but I hoped being upright in a chair would help me
stay awake. I was
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