Black Widow (34 page)

“So again. Tell me, who you are to Preston before I kill you?”

A tightness in my chest rips any breath away from me that I try to take. I think I’m going to be sick but my brain doesn’t compute to tell my stomach how to push the contents up. It’s like everything in my body doesn’t function at all. My lips part but no words come out.

“Tell me NOW!” she screams, pushing the gun further into my face.

Finally, my brain functions and I stutter out, “I, I don’t know what we are.”

“But you fucked him?”

“Yes.”

Black. All I see is black.

O
ne week. One fucking week Kamii has been in a coma. If I thought my life was hell before, I had no clue what hell really was.

I haven’t left this hospital in a week. I’ve showered here, I’ve eaten here and I’ve slept here. There was no way I was leaving her side. She’s lucky to be alive. Even though she’s not out of the woods by any means.

When a neighbor heard the gunshot go off, they called 911 and Nicholas was the first on the scene. I’m still surprised he called me but I’ll be forever in debt to him that he did.

The bullet shattered her cheekbone and just barely missing her spinal cord. Whoever shot her was, thankfully, taller so the bullet angled down and out instead of straight and up. Otherwise she would be dead for sure.

I’ve felt her grip my hand more than once and I made a promise to be by her side the moment she wakes up.

She has to wake up.

I can’t take knowing that two of the most important women in my life were killed only because they knew me.

Whoever is doing this tried to frame me again but that back fired, big time. Since I’m out on bail for murder charges, I have to check in with the police department once a week and I just happened to be sitting at their desk at the time she was shot. Talk about an iron clad alibi.

Kamii’s office has taken over my case, or what is left of it, and handed everything over to the police department. They believe now that I’m being framed and are tracking down leads that Kamii was working on. All coming up with nothing, yet.

I should be relieved that my chances of jail time have completely vanished but really that is the least of my worries. I’d rather have to face a trial than see Kamii lying helplessly in bed like this. I hate that her attempted murder is what’s getting me off of my charges.

As I sit next to her, I hold her hand and lay my head on her bed, praying. Yes, I know I’m not religious but I’m praying like I have never prayed before.

I hear a sigh, a moan, and a cough that jerk me out of my prayers, making me reach up, touching her face. “Kamii, sweetheart.”

Her face is bandaged around her cheek and secured around her head but her left eye is clear. Tears fall down my face as I watch her eye flutter slightly before slowly opening.

“Kamii, I’m here. Kamii, can you hear me?”

“Preston…?”

I drop my head back on her bed, fully sobbing at the sound of her saying my name. After I compose myself I grab her hand, whispering, “Yes, baby. My beautiful Kamii. I’m here.”

“Where am I?”

“You’ve been shot. I can’t believe you’re alive.” I grip her hand tightly as I lean down to lightly kiss her lips like I have over a hundred times trying to wake her up. Only this time my wish has come true. She’s come back to me.

“A woman,” she whispers. Her eye flutters shut, then open again, then shut.

“Shh, don’t talk. It’s ok.”

A few hours later the doctors have done all kinds of tests on Kamii and she’s sitting up a little more straight. After everyone leaves and we’re alone again she looks at me, “Preston. I remember. It was a woman. She asked me about you.”

“Kamii. Not now. Please. You’re alive. That’s all that matters.”

“No, it’s not. We need to find this person. What if she comes back?”

“Well, she hasn’t so far.”

“So far?”

“Kamii, you’ve been in a coma for a week.”

She jolts slightly; shocked to hear how long she’s been out. “How was I out for that long?”

“Kamii, you’re lucky to be alive. That bullet barely missed anything that would have killed you immediately.”

“Yes, she wanted to kill me. She told me so. And she shot me after I admitted that I had sex with you.”

Now I feel like I was shot, but in the heart.
She tried to kill her because she’s had sex with me. Why?

Thankfully, the door opens and her assistant, Angie, walks in.

“Oh my gosh sweetie! I’m so happy to see you’re awake.”

I watch as Kamii tries to smile but her face doesn’t move like it used to. It will be awhile before she is back to my same Kamii but I don’t care. She’s alive and the woman I love it still there, on the inside.

And yes, I said it. I’m so in love with this woman I can barely breathe without her. I knew what I was feeling was intense but now I have no doubt in my mind. She is my one. My only. The one thing I thought I would never feel again.

The doctors removed some of the bandages so we can see her more and, even though her face doesn’t move, her eyes still light up with that kindness that fills my world as Angie approaches her bed, leaning down to give her a hug.

“Thank you for coming to see me,” Kamii greets her friend.

“Are you kidding me? I’ve come everyday. I would have stayed if this handsome guy right here wasn’t hogging the good seat,” she smiles at me before turning back to Kamii. “Seriously though, I missed you. You had us scared there for awhile.”

“I know. Thank you. I think I’m going to be ok now though.” She looks directly at me with that smile in her eyes I love so much.

I
f I have to stay another day in this hospital I might scream. The food here stinks, my bed is uncomfortable and I am dying for fresh air. Because my wounds were so severe they’ve made me stay much longer than someone else with a gunshot wound.

Total, I’ve been in the hospital for a month now. Of course, a week of it I don’t remember though. Preston has stayed by my side as much as he can but otherwise I’ve been bored out of my mind. I’ve caught up on the new releases of books that I missed because, come on; I was actually living my fantasy instead of just reading about it.

It’s funny how the books have a different feeling to me now. Don’t get me wrong, I still love them but now, instead of them just being a fantasy, I’m actually taking notes, counting down the days to when I can live these fantasies with my own real boyfriend.

Yeah, you heard that right. Boyfriend. I love him. Told him, too. Of course, after he told me first. So crazy how we got to where we are but I’m more than thankful for him in my life. And I owe it all to Becca.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her and how much my life changed just from knowing her. I owe her my life and lord knows what I would give to have one more day with her.

Preston walking into my room with a wheelchair takes me out of my thoughts. “Are you ready to get out of here?” he says with a smile on his face.

“You have no idea,” I smile back, well, as much as I can smile. The big bandage finally came off yesterday only to be replaced with a smaller, more manageable one. I lost a lot of feeling in the right side of my face. They think with physical therapy and a surgery or two, I’ll be able to look semi-normal again.

I don’t know. It doesn’t bother me too much. I have the man I love already next to me and really; it just reminds me of how lucky I am to be alive. I know my best friend wasn’t as lucky as I am so I like having the reminder along with her memory.

Preston insisted that I come stay with him for at least a little while. He didn’t want me to be alone and since the police still have no clue who tried to kill me, I agreed.