Cutting Loose (34 page)

She could hear the sound of him frantically
dialing numbers fiercely into his cell phone. He cried into the phone and told
the dispatcher about Sabrina’s condition and they needed to hurry. He held her
tighter. “This can’t happen like this. It’s not right…baby, I swear I’m going
to find whoever did this to you and make them pay for this.”

She felt his tears drops on her face.
Weak-voiced, she whispered, “It was my stepsister. She did this.”

“Why, baby?”

“She’s lost her mind…” She trailed off,
holding her stomach and hoping the pain would end soon. “Brett, I need to tell
you something…”

“Tell me…I’m not leaving your side. We’re
going to make it through this together.”

“I love you, Brett…just thought you
should know…” She faded in and out as Brett cried harder. Then everything
turned dark and silent.

Chapter Thirty:

Lesson Learned

Sabrina could hear voices. Nothing was
clear, just mumbling low tones that weren’t at all familiar to her. Had she
died and gone to the afterlife? It sure didn’t feel normal; her stomach didn’t
hurt and she couldn’t feel anything.

She heard the voices again.

“…She suffered a lot. I don’t know how
the hell she made it, but somebody was keeping a close eye on her. Normally
when someone gets stabbed repeatedly like that and go into shock they die from
either blood loss or infection; this girl here is like a walking miracle...”

“Yeah, you can say that again. Poor
girl. I feel bad for the family, especially the boyfriend. He’s been coming in
here every day for the past three weeks now to be by her side. It’s quite
remarkable. I hope she pulls through, my daughter loves that magazine.”

There was a light chuckle.

“…I wonder if she wakes up if she’ll be
able to get me an autographed copy…”

“You’re crazy…”

Great. At least she wasn’t dead, which
meant she was more than likely in a coma or in a deep sleep that felt really
damn good.

The voices died out and then they were
gone. She was alone with nothing but silence. This wasn’t good at all. Shit,
how the hell was she supposed to wake up?

She didn’t know how long it had been,
but some moments later she felt a warm, heavy hand caressing her arm, while the
other played around her face.

Her heart had to have skipped a beat
when she heard a familiar voice began to speak to her.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t get to you in
time, baby…this shouldn’t have happened to you.” He paused and continued, “I
know you’re still in there, Sabrina. Just please, come back to me, baby. I need
you…” she heard him sniffle as he wept to himself.

 She felt her hand go to his soft,
tear-soaked lips.

 It hurt her heart so much to hear Brett
cry for her so hard. She so badly wished she could come out of her subconscious
state and tell him she could hear everything he was saying and that she was
never leaving his side again. He was the one she was supposed to be with. He
was the one who showed her that life wasn’t all about taking things so serious all
the time. He was the one who also showed her how to be loved and love someone
back. He showed her a whole new world. A world she once shunned.

 No way was it going to end like this.
No. It couldn’t. She had too much she wanted to live for; she was only thirty-one
years old and hadn’t even experienced life that much. This was so unfair.

Was this God’s way of telling her
something? Maybe that she fucked up and had to pay the price with her life? But
what had she done? Hell, she was the victim. She was the one who got stabbed
over and over again by a psycho bitch who was after her, so if anything, she
deserved to live…to get a second chance and do things right.

Think, she told herself. How can I get
out of this crap and go back to my normal life? How?

Concentrate.

That was a start. She tried told herself
to concentrated on just relaxing and trying to wake herself up. It sounded
silly to her, almost like she was trying to wake up from a bad dream, and yes,
this was a bad dream.

Wake up! You are not dead!

***

She didn’t know how or what had happened
but something changed. She no longer felt the peaceful sleepiness that
surrounded her before. She could hear things, even feel the cold room
temperature and the pain…hell the pain was dull, but was definitely there.

She focused on opening her eyes and
slowly, they began to reveal a hospital room full of “Get Well” balloons and
dozens of colorful flowers everywhere. She was alone and for the first time in
a longtime, she was scared out of her mind.

Then the room door opened and someone
came in. They walked over to her bed and gasped. “Sabrina?”

Her vision started to clear up. She
turned her head and saw Brett leaning down over her, his face just inches away
from her hers.

“Brett…” she didn’t even recognize her
own voice.

Brett closed his eyes, kissed her on the
cheek and said, “Thank goodness. You came back. I knew you would.”

The door opened again and Brett turned
around and said, “Hey, Doc, she’s awake. Just like I told you she would.”

“Thank goodness for miracles,” Sabrina
heard the doctor say as he rushed over to the side. He pulled out a small light
and flashed it into her eyes as gently examined her pupils. He stood up and
said, “Miss Evans, do you know where you are?”

Her head was a little foggy but she
could easily recognize a hospital room when she saw one. “The hospital?”

“Yes. Can you tell me your name?”

“Sabrina Evans.”

She could hear the excitement in his
voice when he asked, “Can you tell me the last thing you remember?”

She paused and tried desperately to remember
and all she could see were bits and pieces…Camille’s face invaded her thoughts
as well as images of herself on the floor nearly bleeding to death…the pain as
the knife sliced through her body…

She closed her eyes, trying to force
back the tears as she replied, “I remember getting stabbed…and a lot of blood.
And that bitch,” she added in a murmur.

Brett was on the other side of her
gently squeezing her hand. “It’ll be okay, baby.”

He grabbed her charts from the foot of
her bed and starting writing something down. He said, “Miss Evans, in case
you’re wondering, you’ve been in a coma for approximately three weeks after you
were stabbed several times in the abdomen. Luckily, the assailant didn’t pierce
any vital organs and my brother Brett was able to call the paramedics in time
to air-lift you here.”

She had a confused look on her face.
Then Brett said, “Yeah, he’s my brother, well one of them. He’s been taking
good care of you.”

“How cute,” she teased as she stared at
the both of them and saw the resemblance they shared. “So when can I leave?”

“Hold your horses, Miss Evans,” the
doctor said calmly. “Your wounds are still healing and it is best that you stay
here for observations until you gain some of your strength back.”

“And how long will that take?”

“Since you’re healthy, I’ll say about
four weeks or more, depending on your body.”

“Wait. Four weeks? I can’t stay in here
that long. I have to get back to—”

“The magazine,” Brett said, finishing
her sentence for her.

“Yeah, the magazine,” Sabrina said, a little
taken aback.

The doctor smiled. “Don’t worry; you can
resume your work after you have gotten better. Besides, I’m sure you could use
the vocation.”

She was about to speak but the knock on
the door changed her mind.

The doctor went over to the door.

“If you’re with press, you’re not
getting in here so you might as well turn around now.”

Brett asked, “Do they ever give up?”

“Apparently not,” said the doctor.
“They’ve been using every tactic possible to try to get a snapshot or something
but the security we have is too smart.” He gave Sabrina a reassuring smile and
said, “Well, I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll be back in a little while to check
on you again.” He gave Brett a pat on the shoulder before he turned and exited
the room.

“Wow,” said Sabrina. “This is just
great.”

“What is?”

“Everything that’s happened. I can’t
believe I cheated death.”

Brett laughed. “Yeah, well, like I told
you before, I’m your guardian angel. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

She smiled. “That’s good to know.”

He bent close to her and said, “I’ve
missed you so much. I almost thought I lost you…when I saw all that blood, I
don’t know what stopped me from falling apart.”

Sabrina held his hand as she looked into
his eyes and said, “I’m glad you didn’t. And I’m sure that evil bitch will get
what’s coming to her.”

 Brett’s eyes lowered as he said,
“Actually, she already did.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the night she tried to kill you,
she tried to run away from the cops and ended up in the street, where she was
struck and killed by a car.”

Sabrina didn’t know whether she should
cry for the fact that justice had been served or for the fact that her mother
and Sean were probably all broken up over Camille’s death. And a small part of
her wanted to feel sorry for her, but another part was glad she was gone.

She could only imagine the field day the
press was having with the bizarre story. But she didn’t care about that. She
was alive and nothing else mattered.

She looked into Brett’s green-eyed gaze
and said, “That night, I meant what I said. I love you, Brett.”

Through tear-rimmed eyes, Brett said, “I
know you do, baby.” He kissed her softly. He pulled back and said, “Um, while
you were, um, out of it I kind of did something crazy.” A mischievous grin
spread across his handsome face.

Sabrina tried to move but decided
against the idea. Her eyes found Brett’s as she asked, “What did you do?”

He smiled and said, “I think you’ll like
it. Your friends thought it was a brilliant idea too.”

She raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
“You talked to my friends? On your own? Okay, this is getting interesting by
the second.”

He laughed and said, “You know how I
told you on our first date that like to be a rebel?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I had to rebel against you.”

She closed her eyes and tried to
remember any kind of conversation she had recently that would require Brett
going against something they disagreed on and Larissa. It hit her like a brick
to the face. After what seemed like forever, it hit her like a brick and she
said, “As much as it scares me, I know that I won’t be in this alone. So I
don’t see why the hell not.”

Brett’s smile widened. “So we’re going
to do it?”

“The thought alone freaks me out. But I
think I’m ready.” Ready to settle down; ready to change her last name and ready
to be a wife.

“Are you sure, sure?”

“Yes.”

“Like one hundred percent sure?”

“You should stop before I come to my
senses.”

He laughed and said, “Well, in that
case,” as he bent down. “Let me distract you some more.” His lips locked his
lips locked with hers for a hungry kiss.

Sabrina wrapped her arms around him and
held on for dear life. He was the man she knew without a doubt that she wanted
to spend the rest of her life with. Throughout all the bullshit, all the
struggles over the past month, being with Brett was easy. It was exactly what
she needed.

THE END

Acknowledgements

This novel couldn’t have been possible
without my support system. Thank you to my parents of course, and my brother
who kept asking when I was going to get published. Well bros, mission
accomplished!

Much appreciation to my rock and best
friend Darling “Darlene” Daven for all the edits and constant speeches to keep
me writing when at times I just wanted to give up and sulk about how hard
writing is. Thank you for never turning me away as much as I talked your ears
off about my struggles. You’re the best!

I’d also like to thank Maria Martin for
her rooting as well. Big hugs to Savanah Schofield, Ashley Christey, DeDaryl
Stringfield and so many more it’ll take a whole book to name you all. Trust me,
if I missed you I’ll get you in the next one!

Lastly thank you to the reader who took
a chance on me, an unknown author, when you could have easily looked me over.
If you enjoyed this book, stay tuned for my next project!