Selective/Memory: The "Depth of Emotion" Book 2 (The Depth of Emotion) (43 page)

“I’m taking her home with me when she’s released.”

It wasn’t a question; it was a statement.

Jeannie started to argue, but Declan stopped her.

“Don’t argue—
please,
” he said.

He had taken her feelings into consideration.

“You know I love her, and you know she loves me,” he continued. “I don’t know how, but before she leaves this hospital, I’m going to convince her that we’re going to be together.”

Jeannie wasn’t about to be a pushover. Not for Declan, and certainly not where her daughter was concerned.

“What if she doesn’t want to?” she asked.

Declan took a very deep breath and exhaled.

“I don’t believe that’s going to happen,” he said, “but if—if—she’s absolutely against it…I’ll bring her to your house. I promise.”

Jeannie smiled, agreeing with him, and gave him a little bit of hope.

“I think she’s going to go home with you,” she said, assuring him, “but I wanted to make sure you had
her
best interest at heart.”

The comment caused him to smile mischievously.

“You sure are pushy,” he said, winking at her.

“I’ve been told that.”

Jeannie smiled and proceeded to put her scarf and coat on. Declan went to Aria’s bedside as Jeannie prepared to leave, and placed his hand on her exposed arm.

“She’s cold,” he said. “Can’t we turn up the heat in here or something to get her warm?”

Jeannie got her keys out of her purse, readying to leave for Aria’s.

“Walk with me to the elevator,” she told Declan. “You can get oven warmed blankets for her from the nurses’ station.”

Declan looked at her in amazement.

“Is there anything that you don’t know?” he asked.

Sadness filled Jeannie’s expression.

“Unfortunately,” she said, “it’s one of the many things you learn when you’ve spent as much time in a hospital as I have.”

It made Declan sad to think of all she’d gone through with her husband …and now with him and Aria.

He leaned over Aria and lightly placed his lips to her forehead.

“I love you, beautiful,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m just going to walk your mom down the hall.”

He walked Jeannie out of the room, pulling the door slightly closed.

“Thanks for being so good to me,” he said to Jeannie, looking straight ahead.

Jeannie kept her eyes in front of her as well.

“Treat her well, and we’ll be okay—but hurt her and I’ll kill you,” she said with a very light tone.

He looked down at this sweet-voiced, petite woman and the irony of just being threatened with death hit him, making him laugh. He reached his muscular arm around her, hugging her.

“I believe you would” he said, laughing with his rich depth.

She lifted her chin, giving him a charming and innocent smile, which caused him to laugh even harder.

As he made his way back to Aria’s room, he held the blanket to his chest. Jeannie was right, it was nice and warm, and it would definitely warm her up. Holding it close, he pushed the door, aiming to place the blanket directly on her. The moment he entered the room, he saw a nurse had come to attend to Aria in his absence. He drew closer, unfolded the blanket, but as his eyes drew lower to the cover in his hand, they caught sight of the red Louboutin pumps on the feet of the nurse, instantly igniting alarm.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!”

He stood for an instant, shocked to see a nurse doing something odd at Aria’s bedside. He then realized the nurse was holding a pillow over her face.

Declan charged like a bull, hitting into the woman with all his might, causing them and the pillow to topple into the machines connected to Aria’s small body. Alarms went off everywhere as he grabbed at the woman. He reached for her head, pulling his fist back, and standing them up, ready to plow into her face as he turned her around, throwing himself into shock as he was about to launch.

“Marisol?!” he shouted in disbelief as she writhed like a snake under his hands. He held her tightly by the shoulders.

She spat in his face, baring her teeth.

“Get the hell away from me, Declan! Go… Just…Go!”

His brain exploded with white light and he was no longer in a hospital—he was on a street. All he could see was Aria, and all he wanted was for her to be safe. She was in the highway and he called to her— “Aria! Stop! Please!”—then she was safe. She stepped back. She was on the curb, but she took another step.

He yelled again— “Aria!”—and he heard—“Go!”—and felt the pain in his back…the pain…in his back…in the back…and—“Go!”—and—“Go!”—then the pain, and—“GO” she said.

“Go—Go—Go—Go—GO!” and she pushed him into the street!

The rage exploded as his hands tightened around her throat. Completely unaware, he roared with a fury that was born in hell as his lungs released anguished fire. Pandemonium radiated through every system in his body as his heartbeat pounded out of control.

He bared and gritted his teeth as he felt every pain of the metal twisting him as it impacted with his flesh. He saw nothing as he squeezed the life out of her, only the cold darkness of that day. The metal of the vehicle as it impacted and broke his body flooded his memories and his face reddened with rage and blood. His psyche cracked with unremembered scenes, and any attempt to get a grip of himself went now into the grip with which he held Marisol’s throat.

“Declan! Stop!” the voice said, but he barely heard it.

“Stop, Dec! Stop!” it ordered him once again.

He felt the strong arms encircle around him, gripping him, holding him and pulling him back.

“It’s okay, I got you,” came the familiar voice. “I got you…”

He fell back against the chest of his brother, exhausted. His breathing still out of control, he made an attempt at three deep breaths.

Three deep breaths
…

Oh my God!
Aria!

“Where’s Aria?!” He tried to stand up so Carter stood with him. He wobbled on his feet, and Carter reached to help steady him.

“She’s okay. She’s still out of it. They’re reconnecting her to the meds now.”

Declan looked over at her, seeing her still resting peacefully. A glance around the room showed him that it wasn’t as devastated as he’d imagined. As he turned, he saw the police taking Marisol.

“Get her the hell out of here!” he shouted, turning to Carter. “I thought you said she was dead?”

Carter looked as confused as he.

“She is…she was,” he said, confused. “I don’t know what’s going on, but they’ll get to the bottom of it,” he reassured his brother.

Declan sat, with Carter across from him.

“I remember. I remember it all,” Declan said.

He stared at Carter, dazed and confused.

“She pushed me into the street.
She
caused the accident,” he confessed to his brother, shock beginning to register.

“When you can,” Carter said, “you need to give your statement to the police. What she did to you, that’s attempted murder.”

Declan nodded, agreeing with his brother.

“She also tried to kill Aria.”

He painfully looked at Carter.

“When I came in, she was trying to smother her. That’s when I took her down.”

Carter felt pain for his brother, but a small amount of vindication.

“We might not be able to get her for what she did to Lacey,” Carter informed him, “but if you can testify to what you remember about your accident, and what you saw her do to Aria, it might be enough to put her away.”

Declan reached out to hold Aria’s hand. When he felt his brother’s strong arm come around his shoulder, he felt a sob escape, as his head fell to his chest…

“Hi beautiful.”

She smiled at the familiar words. Declan sat beside her, lounging in a chair that looked almost too small for his size.

“Hi yourself,” she whispered.

He leaned forward, placing his finger to her lips.

“Shh…rest, okay?” he said. “I’m not leaving your side. I’ll be here as long as you are.”

She reached for his hand, squeezing it ever so slightly.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she breathed.

Lightly squeezing hers back, he said, “I’m glad you’re alive.”

Aria smiled at him, a hint of twinkle coming back to her eyes.

“Yeah, I guess I outsmarted her—at least, I think I did,” her soft voice barely able to be heard.

“Baby, she never stood a chance,” he said, leaning in to kiss her.

He noticed her discomfort when she tried to move.

“You want the nurse? I’ll call her,” he said, ready to assist with whatever she needed.

She barely mouthed “no,” shifting just a little.

“My butt just hurts a little from being in the same position,” she explained.

He gave her a sexy smile.

“Oh my God, Declan!” She whispered and rolled her eyes.

He gave her a more serious look.

“I wanted to tell you in Hawaii that I was in love with you, but I couldn’t,” he confessed.

She looked at him, confused.

“It was Marisol,” he began to explain. “Carter suspected she had something to do with Lacey’s death, and I was trying to get information out of her. I didn’t want to get you mixed up in that. I knew though,” he confessed, looking with love in her eyes, “that night—before that night—I knew it. Hawaii just confirmed it.”

She understood. She had a confession of her own.

“I know,” she said softly. “I knew before then, too. I wrote letters to you.”

He was surprised.

“When?” he asked. “I never got them.”

She laughed a little and grabbed at her incision. It hurt when she laughed, and he gave her a stern look.

“I threw them away,” she explained, which made him more confused. “It’s a long story,” she explained.

She decided to veer off in a different direction.

“About Lacey,” she said, making him come close so she could be heard, “Marisol was the person who hit her. She told me.”

It was the second time she surprised him.

“When you’re well, do you want to tell Carter?” he asked “It might help to put her in jail for good.”

His eyes pleaded with her.

“Yes,” she said without hesitation.

He noticed her discomfort again.

“What can I do, baby?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing. I’ll have to do this by myself when I go home.”

He reached for her hand. “That’s not happening, Aria. You’re coming home…with me.”

He waited for signs of opposition.

“It’s where you belong, beautiful. You might as well get used to it.”

He smiled, stroking his thumb over the back of her hand. She searched his face and saw nothing but love and sincerity.

“Okay,” she said.

He stopped. “Okay? No argument?”

She smiled at him.

“No argument,” she said, conceding any issue. “Nothing we could go through could be any worse than this, right?”

She raised her eyebrows in question. He liked her reasoning. He also noticed she was about to drift off to sleep.

“I love you beautiful,” he said, before she left him again.

She tried to keep her eyes open, but was failing.

“Keep saying that and I’ll try to stay awake so I can hear it every time.”

God he was lucky!

Declan was Irish, but he’d never felt lucky—at least, not until that very moment.

He leaned on the side of her hospital bed, keeping watch as she drifted off to sleep, and remembered the day when he’d watched as she walked down the beach, and into his heart. He brushed her soft hair away from her face, feeling love for her like he’d never known before.

Leaning over, he placed his lips gently against her bruised cheek so he could issue a solemn pledge.

“Stay with me, my beautiful girl, and I promise I’ll tell you I love you every day for the rest of your life.”

Smiling, it was the last thing she heard as she drifted to sleep…