Insufferable Proximity 2 (2 page)

Through the thick fog that clouded her brain, Heaven could hear Julian’s voice. She took a deep breath and could smell Julian all around her. She loved that smell. Even now, she longed for it as if she'd been deprived for decades. That scent reminded her of love, safety and comfort. Her eyes fluttered, and she cried in relief when she saw Julian’s pale gray eyes looking back at her. She jumped up quickly and wrapped her arms around his neck.

The paramedics tried to stop her. “Whoa, slow down.”

“Oh, thank god. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something happened to you.” He took a deep breath. He realized by the pain in his chest that he had been holding his breath for a long time.

Julian held Heaven tightly, pulling her as close to him as possible. He didn’t want to let her go. The fact that Gavin had almost killed her was overwhelming to him. For the first time in his life, he fought back the tears. He couldn’t breathe as he thought about what could have happened to her and what Gavin might have done.

Julian was a selfish prick, and he knew that; he had accepted the fact years ago. He had never loved anyone but himself and had lived a life on mindless indulgence. Julian knew that he deserved what he got—but Heaven didn’t. Even though he felt he deserved the worst for his past indiscretions, he had to take into consideration that he had also changed. Nothing in his life was the same anymore. He had finally fallen head over heels in love. He loved Heaven more than even he understood. He had never felt this before, and he would not lose it. He would give his own life to protect her.

How could he have been so wrong about her for so long?

Heaven laid her head on Julian’s strong chest as tears seeped from her eyes. She was exhausted, dazed, shaken and a little scared.

“We got him!” one of the officers yelled.

Everyone turned to see the police had finally secured Gavin. Gavin was on his belly on the ground as the police put the cuffs back on his wrists. They yanked him up and rushed him towards the police car.

Julian held Heaven even tighter upon seeing Gavin stand. Gavin, in turn, stared at them, his eyes consumed with hate, and vowing revenge.

“I’ll get you, both of you, or I’ll die fucking trying! I’ll see you soon!” Gavin yelled before the officer shoved him in the back of the police car.

“I should have shot him when I had the chance,” Julian said, his deep voice laced with hatred.

“He’ll never get out of prison. No judge or jury in their right mind would ever let him walk free,” Heaven said blankly as if she were trying to convince herself.

“It’s not the judge or the jury that I’m worried about.”

“Stay still for just one second, please,” the paramedic asked nicely as he parted Heaven’s hair.

“He’ll never escape,” she said as if reading his mind. She winced when the paramedic put a cloth to her head.

Julian looked to see the blood on the cloth in the paramedic’s hand.

“What the fuck?” he roared. He was ready to rush over to the police car, rip off the door and put a bullet through Gavin’s forehead.

“It’s not too deep; it won’t require any stitches,” the paramedic reassured him. He began to clean the wound.

“Be careful!” he roared when Heaven winced again.

“Calm down, I’m all right.” She pulled his head to her and kissed him.

Julian felt his fury grow cold as the warmth from her lips soothed him.

“I was so scared,” he said as his features softened.

“Julian!” They turned to see Ayden running towards them. “Julian please, let me explain.”

“Now is not the time,” Julian grumbled. With a scowl twisting his handsome features, he stood up and took the last few steps to meet his father.

“I had no idea that Gavin was May’s son,ˮ Ayden tried to explain.

“I’m going to bandage you up now,” the paramedic told Heaven, but she was too engrossed in Julian’s conversation to hear him.

“How could you forget the fact that you had a psychotic woman stalking you?” Julian snapped as he stepped towards his father. “A woman who was desperate enough to try to kill herself to hurt you. You didn’t think she would ever come back? You didn’t think that was something I might have needed to know considering I was being stalked?”

“Julian, you’ve had so many women act like that in the past, I just assumed—ˮ

“So this is my fault?” Julian raised his brows as his cheek twitched.

“No, I just meant that…I thought it was another scorned ex-lover. I had no idea I had another son,” Ayden tried to explain.

“I don’t think you should stand up yet,” the paramedic told Heaven. She ignored him as she stood up on shaky legs.

Julian narrowed his eyes. “You’ve always been blind when it comes to women.”

“I know,” Ayden admitted.

“You put Heaven at risk.” He frowned with disappointment that was not lost on his father.

“You know I love that girl like a daughter; I would never willingly put her at risk.”

“Then that makes you a liability. You don’t even know when your past skeletons will come back to destroy your family.” He turned to Heaven, “Come on.”

“Give me one second with him, please,” she said before he turned around and walked back to the paramedic.

“Julian wait! Julian…please!” Ayden cried.

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him,” Heaven whispered.

“I didn’t mean to put you in harm’s way, Sevigne. I am so sorry this happened to you.”

“I know you didn’t. It’s impossible to govern how your past controls your future.” Her sincerity put him at ease a bit.

“My past with my son is so sketchy; this is the last thing we needed. We finally got things right, but it took years.”

“What do you mean?”

“I never meant to hurt Julian again. He’s been hurt enough because of me. I never thought he would forgive me, but he finally did.” His eyes were wide, and he spoke in a frenzied manner.

“Forgive you for what?” Heaven asked.

“He even defended me when it came to
her
.” Ayden continued to ramble as the tears pooled in his eyes.

“When it came to
who
? What are you saying? I don’t understand.ˮ Heaven frowned in confusion.

“When it came to Julia King—Julian’s mother. She’s the reason he hated me for so long.”

Heaven had no idea that Julian and Ayden had ever been at odds. They had always seemed so close. Julian had never mentioned his mother either. Heaven didn’t know that there was conflict between them as well. She knew about the hatred between him and his brother, but nothing else. Although she had always wondered how such an intense hatred between two brothers had developed. It was an unnatural rivalry. Just the thought of Julian being mistreated infuriated Heaven. She wondered what had happened and what had started it all, but would ask Julian himself.

“I’ll talk to him.” Heaven was worried about Julian. She needed to end this conversation and go to him.

“Thank you.” Ayden wiped the tears from his eyes before he turned to leave.

Heaven watched Ayden leave before turning to look at Julian. He was talking to one of the paramedics while keeping his eye on her. She felt her heart swell with worry. Despite what had happened, she was more concerned about Julian. It broke her heart to know that he may have never known a mother’s love.  Despite the unsuitable environment that her mother had raised her in…she had always known that Sybille loved her.

Heaven ached for Julian. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and shower him with her love. She started to walk towards him, but he closed the distance faster than she did. He picked her up in his arms and headed towards the ambulance. The paramedic he had been talking to was close behind.

“He didn’t mean it; I know how much your father loves you,” she whispered as she kissed the side of his face.

“We’ll discuss it later.”

“Where are we going?” Heaven wrapped her arms around his neck and planted another kiss on his cheek.

“I want the paramedics to check you,” he said as he stepped into the back of the ambulance. He was careful not to shake Heaven as he went.

“They already checked me…I’m fine.”

“I want him to tell me that.” He sat her down on the stretcher in the back. “I’ll be right back; I need to speak to the officer for a moment. You stay here.” He stepped aside and let the paramedic in. Julian stepped out and walked over to speak with the officer.

“Hi, I’m Monty,” the paramedic told Heaven.

“Hi Monty. I’d like to get this finished as fast as possible. It’s been a bad night, and I’m ready for it to end,” Heaven explained as pleasantly as she could. She wanted to be alone with Julian and ask him about his mother; she wanted to comfort him.

“I understand,” he nodded as he pulled out his blood pressure cuff. He wrapped it around her upper arm as she sat poker faced, waiting for it to end.

“On a scale of one to ten, what is your pain level?”

“Three,” she lied; it was more like a five, maybe even six.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked Heaven as he waved two meaty digits in front of her.

Heaven flinched as his fingers darted dangerously close to her eyes.

“If you accidentally poke me in the face, you’ll have
zero
fingers to hold up,” she warned him after his fingers came even closer to her face.

She was irritated, exhausted, and her head was beginning to throb. She wanted to be with Julian, not sitting in an ambulance waiting to be examined. She needed to make sure that he was all right. She needed to ask him about his parents. She was beyond frustrated, and the paramedic was only increasing her frustration. Heaven realized that he was merely being nice and trying to do his job. However, now was
not
the time for civil conversation, niceties or fingers accidentally penetrating her eyes. Now was the time to end this horrific night…once and for all. She wanted to forget about everything that had happened and crawl into her big, comfortable bed. She would not allow this to distract her from her mission.

“We should take you in for further testing,” Monty suggested.

“I’m fine and that’s what you’re going to tell Julian King.” Heaven shook her head and instantly regretted it.

“We should make sure that you don’t have a concussion.”

“I don’t have a concussion, and I don’t need to go to the hospital,” she answered firmly.

“I really think you may have a slight concussion,” he said adamantly.

“I thought only doctors were allowed to diagnose,” she scoffed.

“You’re going to the hospital,” Julian said as he jumped into the back of the ambulance.

“I’m perfectly fine, Mr. King.” She raised her chin despite the swaying inside of her skull and the bandage on the back of her head.

“I refuse to take that chance; I want you fully examined.” He sat down next to her and took her hand.

“But—ˮ He put his finger to her lips, stopping her words.

“Don’t fight me on this…I’ll win,” he warned her, with a look of pure determination. His deep-set eyes narrowed, and his irises glistened like shards of dark ice below his dark lashes. “Your health is very important to me, and I need to make sure that you’re not hurt.”

“I don’t feel hurt. I just bumped my head…I’m fine.”

“You can’t always detect a concussion, ma’am,” the paramedic offered, but quickly shut his mouth when Heaven glared at him.

“Don’t get mad at him, Princess; you were going to the hospital regardless.” Julian smiled, knowing Heaven was ready to give the paramedic a piece of her mind. He could tell that something was wrong; she seemed disoriented and impatient.

“All right, but this is a total waste of time…I’m perfectly fine.” She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’d prefer to let the doctor tell me that,” Julian finished as he motioned to the paramedic to go.

***

Heaven’s frustration level was escalating, and she was ready to go. She sat on the emergency room bed; her leg was bouncing up and down with nervous energy. She wanted to close this chapter of her life—once and for all. She couldn’t begin to end it if she were stuck in the hospital.

“All I want to do is go home,” she whined.

Julian stood next to the bed, his six-foot-one frame towering over her. He was a dominating presence, and she felt safer with him near. Although she would still feel much safer at home, she was thankful he was with her.

“I know, babe.” He smoothed the hair back from her face. He could tell by her eyes that she was not one hundred percent.

“She has a head injury; it’s mild, but we’d like to keep her here overnight,” the doctor told Julian.

“I am not staying here overnight. Absolutely not…I refuse.” Heaven was ready to jump off the hospital bed, but Julian stopped her.

“You’re staying,” Julian said flatly.             

“No, I am
not
, I want to go home.”

“There is no way I’m letting you leave this hospital. You have a head injury; I’m not taking any chances with you,” Julian insisted.