Thorneless (Rose of Thorne Series) (21 page)

Skylar

He won’t stop. No matter what I do or what I say, he just keeps walking.  I don’t want him to leave this way.  Even though I can’t let him know the truth, I can’t bear for him to walk away from me like this.  At first I thought I can, but I immediately regret how I have handled this. Regardless of everything we have been through together, hurting him is the last thing I want to do.  It is what I had thought I needed to do.  It had been the only way I thought I could protect our baby and myself.

I catch up to him just as he reaches the front door of the pizza parlor.
 Everyone turns and stares at me, as I continue yelling and begging for him to stop.  With one last effort, I grab his arm and pull.  He forcefully yanks free and leaves, causing me to stumble back against the door.  I follow him out, but I’m so tired and weak that I can’t seem to catch up to him. Quickly, he fades into the people walking down the sidewalk and I search frantically for him. And then I see him.

Adrenaline overtakes my exhausted body and I take off running. People move out of my way as I shove and yell warnings along the way. When I finally reach the intersection, I am out of breath and coughing again. I look up and watch Sebastian pause, but then he steps ahead of the others who are pausing for the light to change. He takes a few more steps and others gasp at his actions.

Is he crazy? What is he doing? Is he trying to get himself killed?

“Sebastian!
” I scream trying to get his attention. Immediately, he stops and turns to face me.  A look of confusion comes across his face as if he is just now aware of where he is and what he is doing. A horn blares, tires screech… and then time stands still.  Everything moves in slow motion around me; I can’t do anything to prevent it.  My heart stops.  I see the car as it makes contact with him, the force lifting him up in high into the air.  He falls back onto the hood and then limply rolls onto the pavement.  

“S
ebastian! Oh my God! Look at me! Someone get help! Please!” I scream as I run to him.  Dropping to my knees, I touch his face.

People begin rushing near us. The
driver of the car that hit him rushes over to where I am kneeling beside him.  Blood is pouring from his head and mouth. He blinks his eyes and I feel his body shivering.  Muscles in his body twitch and his mouth tries to move.   I watch his eyes glass over and close.

“No! No! Wake up! Sebastian Please!
 You have to open your eyes.  You can’t leave me!” I cry as I try to shake him awake. Without warning, I am dragged away by a police officer and then I hear the sirens of the ambulance heading towards us.  I feel like I am going to collapse. If not for the stranger who is holding me up, I would be on the ground.  My head swims, the world is slowing down even more around me.  I watch helplessly as the paramedics lift him onto the transport stretcher and belt him down into place.  I break free from the stranger’s hold and run towards them.  

“Please! I need to go with him,” I beg the emergency worker and he nods sympathetically back at me. Quickly, I climb into the back of the ambulance and move to sit beside the stretcher as the worker continues working on him.
 I spot his ruined jacket on the seat. They must have cut it off him. I pull it close to me. His intoxicating aroma is still all over the fabric.  

“We need to get moving now!
 His BP is dropping fast and I can barely register a pulse!“ The worker shouts and hits the roof of the ambulance.  The driver waves his hand in signal.  Seconds later, we are speeding through traffic to the ER. I grip his hand; it is so cold that I shiver in response.  Regardless of how rough and jarring the ride is, the worker keeps a close watch over him and preps him for when we reach the hospital.

Concern is written over his face as he starts the IV in Sebastian’s arm. I search his face for any signs to panic more than I already am doing.
“Hold on! Please Sebastian!” I continue begging.  

Within minutes we are pulling into the emergency entrance and the back ambulance door opens.
 I give his hand one final squeeze. “Fight! Fight for us! Don’t leave me. I love you!” I say into his ear as they hurriedly pull him out of the back.  The workers lift the stretcher up and run beside him as they push him through the wide automatic door.  

I grip his ragged coat against me and run behind them.
 A team of doctors and nurses who then begin taking over meets them.  I go as far as they will allow me to go with him.  A nurse holds me back as I protest and I watch the double doors close in front of me.  

“Please God! Don’t take him away from me
, too!” I beg.

Lucas

It’s almost ten at night and she still isn’t home. I’ve tried calling her over and over again, but I can’t get her to pick up her goddamn phone.  Kylie sits next to me on the barstool in the kitchen calling every possibly person she knows that might be able to find out where she is.  Between her frantic calls and mine, we have both managed to fill up her message mailbox.

I even called Mr. Yung’s personal assistant, Chanru, in hopes of finding out if he knew where she might be.
 He informs me that Skylar cancelled their meeting this morning because she had not been feeling well.  None of this makes any sense to me.  
Why would she leave here if she was feeling so sick?
Better yet, why didn’t she tell me this when I called her earlier today?

Remembering our conversation from earlier, I remember that she had mentioned something about needing to run some errands, but that had been around one o’clock this afternoon.
 Something has happened to her, but what? After what happened between us, she promised me that from now on, she would always answer her phone.

Sliding off the barstool, I dial her number. Again, it goes to the message that her voicemail is full.
 Out of both frustration and fear, I take the phone in my hands and send it flying across the room.  It hits the tile floor in the kitchen and shatters.  Instantly, I regret my actions. Now there is no way for me to answer her calls if she tries to call me back.

Kylie looks at me harshly and then her expression softens.
 I know she is just as worried as I am about Skylar.  

“Where can she be? I know something is wrong Kylie. I can feel it,” I say as I bend down and begin picking up pieces of the now shattered phone.

“I’ve called several hospitals in the area, but no one with her description has been brought in.  We’ll find her Lucas.”

Then Kylie’s phone rings and she frantically answers it.

“Skylar!” She shouts into the phone but quickly she changes her expression.

“Where is she at? Yes, we are on our way now.”

She drops her hand and looks at me. Her body is trembling.

Tightly, I grab ahold of the marble counter in front of me and prepare myself for what she is about to tell me.
 I only pray I will have the strength to handle it.

Skylar

Hugging his jacket to me, I breathe in his scent.  At this moment, it is the only comfort that I have to keep me from going insane.  
This is entirely my fault.
My lie had shattered him. The guilt consumes me and strangles the life out of my soul.  I can’t breathe.
What if he dies because of what I have done? Is this feeling of guilt the way he feels for what he had done to my family? How can anyone live like this? Am I really any different than him and what he had done to me?

Swaying back and forth, I anxiously wait for someone to tell me something. The nurses have already told me that I need to wait in the waiting area, but I refuse to move from where I am.
 I can hear the medical staff screaming orders from where I am standing.  The doors fly open and a nurse yells for another person to come help.  

No!
 God…please…no!

Panicking, I quickly grab ahold of the wall for support.
 Another team of medical staff rushes past me pushing a cart with them.

I can feel him leaving me.

“HE’S CRASHING!  Start another unit of blood now! Someone tell them to get the O.R. ready NOW!” A stern male voice shouts his orders.

“I DON’T HAVE A PULSE!” A
female voice yells.

“Intubating!” A
nother voice confirms.

“START CHEST COMPRESSIONS!!
 WE HAVE TO GET HIM UP TO O.R. NOW! MOVE, PEOPLE!” The doctor shouts again.

The doors slam open and the huge team of doctors and nurses rush out of the room.
 The team runs beside him as the older man continues giving orders.

Taking off running, I catch up to them as they pause for the elevator door to open.
 I can barely make out his face from all the tubes and breathing mechanisms.  A tall slender nurse continues pumping the device in her hand to push air into his lungs. I push my way closer. I have to see him. I have to tell him it all had been a lie.

He can’t leave me!

Everyone is so preoccupied with working on him, that they don’t notice me until I am up next to him.

“SEBASTIAN! YOU HAVE TO FIGHT!
 I NEED YOU!  THE BABY AND I BOTH NEED YOU!” I scream and then I am being pulled back away from him.

“Get her out of here!” T
he doctor roars as the male nurse pulls me to the side.

“I’m sorry, m
iss. You will have to wait here.”

The doors open to the elevator and they rush him inside. The male nurse lets go of me and follows them in. I don’t give them a chance to protest as I charge to the opening of the door.

I have to tell him.

“PLEASE SEBASTIAN! I LOVE YOU! PLEASE, DON’T LEAVE US
!” I shout as the doors close in front of me. I feel the cold steel as it slides beneath my hands.  

Sheer terror overtakes me. My body bottoms out of adrenaline and I feel my legs give way. Catching myself, I ease down to the cold concrete floor and hit my knees. Crying uncontrollably, I bury my face into his jacket once more, but this time when I do, something scratches my face.
 Startled, I lift up the side of the torn fabric and see something peeking from the inside jacket pocket.  Sliding the paper out with my hands, I unfold it and gasp at what I see.

The letter.

So many things rush through my mind right now.  I can’t understand how this can possibly be in his pocket.

How does he have this? I threw this away in London. And why is he carrying it around with him?

Through the tears, I do what I should have done all those months ago.  I read it.

            
 
My Beautiful Girl,

I want to tell you all of this
face-to-face, but I know the last thing you want to do right now is to see me.  I can’t blame you for hating me, Skylar. Believe me, I’ve hated myself every single day since the night of that accident.

I had hoped in finding you, that I could somehow ease both of our pain, but instead I’ve managed to only cause us more suffering.
 No matter what I do, I can never make this right or stop the pain you feel. I’d gladly give my life up if it meant you could have your family back.

Fate brought you into my life.
 Even in its cruelest of nature, it brought us together.  Perhaps it was also fate that ripped us apart.   

What we have together, is something so incredibly magical,
 that it simply doesn’t go away.  I hope one day you can forgive me and that you can forgive the scared stupid kid who made the stupid choice to drive while drunk.  And that you can forgive the same man, who hopelessly needs you to survive.

I want a forever with you.
 Please forgive me, Skylar! Please come back home to me!! You are my everything.

             
I love you.

             
Sebastian