His features overflowed with angst. “Evelyn, I don’t know the full extent of what darkness you have to live with on a daily basis, but please accept my help to bring you back into the light.”
I bit my wobbly lip, crushing any sobs threatening to escape, then I looked around the hospital room. My parents, my feelings, Parks…everything seemed to have been thrown at me, and the way I coped with it was destroying me. Was I wrong to accept help from a man that was partly cause to my suffering? His help had to be better than killing myself, surely?
“If you take me, you need to take all of me, Parks. My past, my present, my issues, my fuckups — ”
“I wouldn’t take anything less.” His confidence was strong. He meant it, but I needed to make sure he meant it.
I looked around the hospital room on a deep sigh, then glanced towards my drip and tiredly carried my gaze back to Parks. “You want all of me?”
Perching on the edge of the bed, he took my hands and whispered gently, “I want all of you and more. Let me have that.”
I sucked in a ragged breath. In just a couple of hours, my world had been turned on its head multiple times. I’d come face-to-face with my fractured life and, now the man I was falling for, who abandoned me, had walked back into my life and wanted me, issues and all. Was I ever going to get off the ride from hell?
“I’m not strong enough to survive my past, so how can I be strong enough to promise a future with you?”
Parks’s eyes looked torn between despair and deep concern. “You don’t have to be strong anymore, Evelyn. Let me do that for you.”
My gaze drifted to Cheryl, who was tearful but awaiting my response. She wanted more than anything in the world to see me better, to see me happy. It was then I knew I wasn’t just hurting myself as I self-destructed. I was killing those few who loved me.
Finally, I accepted. “Okay.”
Clearly expecting me to decline, Parks blinked at my words, then regained composure. “Okay,” he breathed. My eyes closed when he pressed his forehead against mine because I felt our souls touch, and the passion that was undeniable between us soared once more.
The strained sound of my aunty breaking down at the bottom of my bed punctured my heart. Her sobs made mine escape, giving me no choice but to break down with her.
“Evey, you brave, brave girl.” She ignored my plea not to be hugged and took me into her arms anyway, and there I cried, holding her tightly against me. She held me in an embrace, but the tears came like a flood. Admitting I needed help was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I felt vulnerable and weak, but I couldn’t be strong on the outside when inside, I felt like I was killing myself.
I was losing. And that was okay.
Chapter Seven
Parks and Cheryl hovered closely around the bed as a doctor checked me over, then gathered his notes.
“You’re good to go, Evelyn. But remember…”
“Rest. I know, I get it.”
Cheryl tried to make a fuss over me, but Parks took over and helped me to my feet. She frowned at the way he seemed to want to protect me and not let anyone else help.
“Right, Evey. Do you need anything at all before I leave?”
“No, she doesn’t,” Parks confirmed. “I have everything she needs. Excuse me one moment.”
“Where are you going?” His suggestion that he was going to leave the room rattled my bones. He stroked my cheek with his thumb to ease my panic.
“I have to call Cleaver. I won’t be long.”
I nodded and sagged down into an empty chair as he left. Cheryl was silent for a while. It looked like she was assessing all the new information in her head before she came out with what I knew she was pondering about.
“He’s a bit dominating, isn’t he?”
Oh how little she actually knew. I dismissed her lightly. “He just likes to get the job done.”
But that didn’t reassure her, and her building worry made me
I bit my wobbly lip, crushing any sobs threatening to escape, then I looked around the hospital room. My parents, my feelings, Parks…everything seemed to have been thrown at me, and the way I coped with it was destroying me. Was I wrong to accept help from a man that was partly cause to my suffering? His help had to be better than killing myself, surely?
“If you take me, you need to take all of me, Parks. My past, my present, my issues, my fuckups — ”
“I wouldn’t take anything less.” His confidence was strong. He meant it, but I needed to make sure he meant it.
I looked around the hospital room on a deep sigh, then glanced towards my drip and tiredly carried my gaze back to Parks. “You want all of me?”
Perching on the edge of the bed, he took my hands and whispered gently, “I want all of you and more. Let me have that.”
I sucked in a ragged breath. In just a couple of hours, my world had been turned on its head multiple times. I’d come face-to-face with my fractured life and, now the man I was falling for, who abandoned me, had walked back into my life and wanted me, issues and all. Was I ever going to get off the ride from hell?
“I’m not strong enough to survive my past, so how can I be strong enough to promise a future with you?”
Parks’s eyes looked torn between despair and deep concern. “You don’t have to be strong anymore, Evelyn. Let me do that for you.”
My gaze drifted to Cheryl, who was tearful but awaiting my response. She wanted more than anything in the world to see me better, to see me happy. It was then I knew I wasn’t just hurting myself as I self-destructed. I was killing those few who loved me.
Finally, I accepted. “Okay.”
Clearly expecting me to decline, Parks blinked at my words, then regained composure. “Okay,” he breathed. My eyes closed when he pressed his forehead against mine because I felt our souls touch, and the passion that was undeniable between us soared once more.
The strained sound of my aunty breaking down at the bottom of my bed punctured my heart. Her sobs made mine escape, giving me no choice but to break down with her.
“Evey, you brave, brave girl.” She ignored my plea not to be hugged and took me into her arms anyway, and there I cried, holding her tightly against me. She held me in an embrace, but the tears came like a flood. Admitting I needed help was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I felt vulnerable and weak, but I couldn’t be strong on the outside when inside, I felt like I was killing myself.
I was losing. And that was okay.
Chapter Seven
Parks and Cheryl hovered closely around the bed as a doctor checked me over, then gathered his notes.
“You’re good to go, Evelyn. But remember…”
“Rest. I know, I get it.”
Cheryl tried to make a fuss over me, but Parks took over and helped me to my feet. She frowned at the way he seemed to want to protect me and not let anyone else help.
“Right, Evey. Do you need anything at all before I leave?”
“No, she doesn’t,” Parks confirmed. “I have everything she needs. Excuse me one moment.”
“Where are you going?” His suggestion that he was going to leave the room rattled my bones. He stroked my cheek with his thumb to ease my panic.
“I have to call Cleaver. I won’t be long.”
I nodded and sagged down into an empty chair as he left. Cheryl was silent for a while. It looked like she was assessing all the new information in her head before she came out with what I knew she was pondering about.
“He’s a bit dominating, isn’t he?”
Oh how little she actually knew. I dismissed her lightly. “He just likes to get the job done.”
But that didn’t reassure her, and her building worry made me
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