Read Other Side of Beautiful (A Beautifully Disturbed #1) Online
Authors: Sarah Zolton Arthur
Other Side of Beautiful (A Beautifully Disturbed #1) (24 page)
Ben
“Can I hug her? Kiss her?” I wait patiently—on the outside—for the doctor to answer me. He nods.
“Whatever she’s comfortable with. She may not want to be touched yet. Please don’t make her feel bad for it. She needs your encouragement. Understand?”
“She’s only ever had my encouragement, Dr. Peters.” He stares at me, holding me in appraisal, the graying hair at his temples crinkling from his scrutiny.
“You’re the only one she’s allowing to see her just now.” There’s a firm, fatherly set to his jaw. This man is a good doctor. I can tell he cares for his patients. And I can also tell by the inflection in his voice that they’ve talked about me. Finally he shoves his hands in the pockets of his white lab jacket covering his sharp powder blue dress shirt, gray slacks and gray tie, and turns to walk out of the reception area. “Follow me,” he says.
We walk down a long hallway to a set of double doors where the doctor swipes his badge. A green light blinks on the little card reader, and we hear a buzz from the doors unlocking. He pulls them open and I follow him through.
Nerves build in my gut the closer we walk to her room. It’s been six weeks since I’ve seen my Brontë. Six weeks since she sat bleeding on the floor of Bri and Errol’s bathroom when I found her. That image will stay with me for the rest of my life. The love of my life broken and bleeding with me powerless to stop it. God, I miss her.
When we stop in front of her room, my hands are shaking so violently I shove them in my pockets so the doctor doesn’t see them and maybe change his mind about letting me visit. He knocks once and opens the door. There she is, my Elle, my Brontë, sitting on the edge of her bed. She looks nervous, wringing her hands together, fingers turning white. Dr. Peters steps closer to her, putting his hand to her arm.
“Is this okay?” She nods yes. Thank you, Jesus, she nods yes. “Well then, I’ll leave you to it.” He walks out the door, closing it behind him.
Elle and I just stare at each other for a good full minute not speaking. She looks beautiful but nervous as hell. “I’ve missed you,” I tell her honestly. She smiles, visibly releasing a breath she’s been holding. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“I wasn’t so sure. There’s a lot wrong in my head, Ben.” She’s too far away. Much too far, so I close the distance in just a couple of steps, arms held out ready to hold her, but I stop just shy. She needs to let me know it’s okay.
“Can I hug you, baby?”
My beautiful girlfriend smiles at me, and it’s the fucking most perfect, most wonderful thing I’ve seen in six weeks. Her, in my arms again. The world makes sense. She has some problems. She can get through them, we can get through them as long as we’re together.
“Dr. Peters and I have been talking. Thank you for signing that paper, for allowing me to be a part of your recovery.”
“I thought…just in case…but Ben, I don’t want to be an obligation. You don’t have to be here if I’m too much or you don’t feel the same about me. I won’t blame you or hold it against you.”
“Elle Rhiannon Dinninger, listen good. You will never be an obligation. It’s my privilege to love you. I’m here because I want to be, because I miss you, because my world is wrong without you next to me.”
She places her delicate hand against my cheek, pressing as I lean into her touch. Then she guides my head down to meet hers, kissing me with soft, powerful purpose. When we break apart she opens her eyes, they’re glistening like she’s holding back tears. I hope good tears. Tears that make her understand how truthful I am about us. Grabbing Elle’s hand, I walk around to the head of the bed, sitting down, resting my back against the headboard, and pull her onto my lap. Her head rests against my collar as I hold her.
I love this woman.
Acknowledgement
Right now I’m living my dream. Putting a book out, or more to the point, sharing my work with readers is a heady feeling. Writing isn’t just a job or a hobby, it’s a calling. No really. It is. Someone would be insane to start down this path for any other reason. And although it may seem like a solitary endeavor, I have to tell you, it’s far from it.
So many people have come on the journey with me, whether they intended to or not. First to my boys, you two are the greatest encouragement I could ever hope to have. Seriously. You are still my biggest cheerleaders. You’ve heard, “Not now. Mom’s working!” so many times, I bet you hear it while you sleep. It’s become a mantra of sorts in our house. But I love you both endlessly and could not be here without your continued support.
Now that the mushy stuff is out of the way, I have to give props to the rest of my family. They have helped immeasurably, whether babysitting while I attended classes so I could hone my skills, keeping the boys busy so I could reach a deadline, or serving as beta readers. Autumn Reyes (my sister) you provided the exact feedback I needed to end this puppy properly.
Being a crit partner is one of the most important jobs in bringing a book to life. A proper crit partner will keep you from sounding like a troglodyte or worse, a buffoon, once you decide your manuscript is ready to start querying. Mine is my BFF Heather Young-Nichols. We met as barely teenagers, bonded over our love of writing, even back then, and I’m not sharing her.
The second leg of the journey I’ve been joined by my publisher who saw something in the work I put so much of myself into, and all the people who helped make it happen. My cover designer, you blew my mind. And my editor. Rachel, you taught me some good lessons about the editing process. Only one “this” here. I counted. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!
About the Author
Sarah lives in Michigan with her two very loud, yet lovable sons. Although she lives in a house, she’d gladly take up residence in her favorite bookstore. Partly to get away from the noise and partly because, hey, it’s a bookstore. Preferably if her local bookstore was located somewhere warm year round.
In Sarah's world all books have kissing and end in some form of HEA.