Chapter 19
The hospital smelled like over-bleached sheets and dying flowers. I’d been here too long – counting seconds between the nurses’ footsteps, listening to Nathan breathe as he dozed in the stiff chair by my bed. Sometimes I stared at the ceiling and wondered how many times I’d have to wake up in places like this before the past stopped following me.
Nathan had gone to grab coffee when the door opened again footsteps before I saw him. Clinton.
–
and it wasn’t him. I knew the
He looked like the ghost I used to hold every night – hair rumpled, eyes bloodshot, suit wrinkled like he’d slept in it for days. For a second, I hated the part of me that still felt anything at all.
“Chloe…” His voice cracked as he stepped closer to my bed. “Please. Please, just let me say what I need to say.”
I wanted to tell him to leave. But I was too tired to fight. So I just nodded, folding my hands on my lap, the IV line tugging gently at my wrist.
He sank into the chair Nathan had been using, elbows on his knees, eyes locked on the floor like he couldn’t bear to see my face yet.
–
—
“I know you hate me,” he started, voice hoarse. “I deserve that. I do. I’ve been replaying it everything in my head, over and over. The things I did. The things I let happen. I keep remembering that night you moved into my house, your stupid little suitcase, your smile when I told you you’d never have to work. God, I thought I was giving you everything.”
He laughed, but it broke halfway through, a sound so empty I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
“I was so proud,” he whispered. “So proud to keep you, to own you. And I never saw you. Not really. You were just… there. And when you weren’t, it was like my skin was on fire. Chloe, I’m sc sorry.”
His hands reached for mine, trembling. I didn’t pull away, not yet. His touch was ice, the same hands that once wiped my tears when he was the reason I cried.
“Alynna’s gone,” he went on, the words tumbling out too fast. “She’s out of my life. My grandfather disowned me, I don’t care. None of it matters. I just need you. We can fix this. We can start over. Please. Just come home.”
I looked at him. His eyes were red, his lips cracked. But the part of me that once wanted to gather him close was gone, ash scattered to the wind.
“No.” The word slipped out soft but sure, final as a slammed door.
Clinton blinked, eyes glistening. “Chloe, please. Don’t say that. You don’t mean it. You love me-”
“Loved,” I whispered. “I loved you. And you broke me until there was nothing left. So, no. I won’t come back. I don’t want to see you again. I want you to live every day knowing you lost me.”
His face crumpled, shoulders folding in on themselves like he’d been punched. I almost looked away – but I forced myself to hold his gaze until the fight drained out of him.
Nathan’s voice cut through the silence, low and calm but sharp as a blade. “She’s decided. So you better leave now.”
I hadn’t even heard him come in. He stood by the door, arms folded across his chest, every inch
4:28 pm
of him screaming mine. Clinton stared at him for a heartbeat, then at me and he knew it was
done.
–
Clinton staggered to his feet, like a man who’d forgotten how to walk. He looked at me one last time that pleading look that once would have made me crumble then he left. The door closed softly behind him, and that was it. The last goodbye I’d never needed to say.
–
Nathan crossed the room in two steps, cupping my face in his warm hands, his thumb brushing under my eyes. “Are you okay?”
I tried to smile, but it wobbled. “I’m sorry for the mess. For dragging you into my wreckage.”
He kissed my forehead, a laugh rumbling in his chest. “You didn’t drag me anywhere. Family is messy, Chloe. But you’re worth every second.”
I buried my face against his shoulder, breathing him in. Safe. Solid. Mine.
A few days later, they finally discharged me. Nathan wheeled me out, ignoring my protests that could walk. He only grinned and said, “Save your strength. We’ve got a wedding to plan.”
We’d barely reached the parking lot when I saw him, Leo. My father, standing by the fountain coat buttoned too tight against the cold wind.
Nathan squeezed my shoulder, silent. I knew he’d stand right there if I needed him. But I raised a hand. “It’s okay. I’ll talk to him.”
Leo’s eyes were puffy, rimmed red, like he hadn’t slept in days. He cleared his throat, but the words tangled until he forced them out.
‘Chloe, I’ve been trying to find the right words. But there aren’t any. I’m sorry. For not believing you. For letting you carry the shame that should’ve been mine. For letting them-” His voice oroke, and he looked away, jaw working. “I failed you.”
took a breath. “You did.”
He flinched like I’d slapped him. But he met my eyes, and for once, there was no pride. Just a ‘ather too old for his own lies.
‘I don’t expect you to forgive me,” he whispered.
‘I can’t,” I said. “Not yet. Maybe not ever. But I can forget. And I will. Because you don’t get tc ake any more of my life with you.”
For a moment, the wind carried the faint sound of birds in the parking lot. A new day. I didn’t feel
better but I felt free.
–
turned, walked back to Nathan, who was waiting by the car. He opened the door for me like I was the only girl in the world.
And for once, maybe I was.
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