Roxanne's Redemption (25 page)

Chapter Twenty-
F
our

W
hile backing out of
Ava's driveway
,
Roxanne
thought about the reason she
’d
gone
over there
and their conversation
. She
had
needed someone to talk
to;
s
omeone
who
could
tell her she wasn’t making a big mistake. A
part of her
thought
if she kep
t
Sebastian waiting too long
she would lose him
,
because
she
was still afraid to tell him how she felt.
And losing him was the last thing she wanted.

S
he could
ha
ve gone to Lexi or Kira
,
but Lexi was work
ing
and Kira was at the studio.
Plus Ava would tell her what she thought, without mincing her words
and that
was
just what she wanted
.

“You love him.” It wasn't a question or an accusation
,
but a fact. Of course she did and of course Ava had picked up on that little
bit of
information,
even if
the others
ha
dn't.

“Yes.”

“
You don't think he loves you
?”

Roxanne sighed.
“He doesn't
say
the words, but he shows me in every
little thing he do
es
.”

“So what's the problem?”

“I want him to tell me, so I can stop feel
ing
so insecure.”

“Did you tell him?”

Roxanne shook her head.

“Why
?
What
are you waiting for?”

She sighed. “
Ava,
you of all people know about my luck with men. Past boyfriends and even my ex-fiancé
ended up cheating on me and if Sebastian did that it would kill me.
”

“You don't want to take a chance and lose him.”

“No I don't.”

“That's understandable, but what will you do if you lose him by not taking a chance
,
Roxanne?”

“I don't know.”

“Hon, Sebastian loves you
and
you
have to understand that
not all men are like your ex
e
s
.
I
f he turns out like them
, though,
I'll always be here with a shoulder for you to cry on
.
Right
after I beat the shit out of him
.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

“You
’
r
e
welcome
.
N
ow go tell that man of yours how you feel.”

Roxanne was happy she went to Ava to talk
.
F
or the past few weeks she’d felt torn. In a way
,
discovering Daniel with another woman was good because at least it saved her from marrying him and then regretted that she’d done it possibl
y
two months later
.
But it was also
bad because it made her afraid to trust Sebastian with her heart
,
and it was tearing her apart.

“What the—”

Her body jerked as someone
ran into
the back of her car. One minute she was trying to stop and the next she was screaming as her car
went over the side of the road
.
I love you,
Sebastian
,
she
thought before
everything went black
.

* * * *

Ashley
laughed instead of doing a victory dance, like she’d wanted
as she drove away
from the scene
.

“Die
,
bitch.
That’s
for stealing my man.”

There was nothing Ashley could do now but disappear for at least a day and wait until someone found a dead female in a crumpled Ferrari.

She smiled.
W
ith
that bitch
gone
,
Sebastian
would
be hurting
and she
’
d
be there to
comfort
him
in his time
of need.
She would wait until he was finally over his loss, then she would
claim
him as her own forever
.

*
*
*
*

Sebastian checked the clock for the fifth time since Ava called
to
tell
him Roxanne was on her way home.
What
was taking
her so
long?
They
’d
been together for
f
ive
month
s
and he
knew she
love
d
him
, but
h
e also knew
she
was scared to say
the words
.
H
e was fine with that
,
bec
ause he understood
she needed
more time
to accept her feelings for him
before she shared them with him
.

The house phone rang
,
pulling him from his thoughts.

“Roxanne, where are you?”
he asked as he answered.

“It's not
Roxanne.
It’s
Lexi.” Why did she sound like she was crying?

“Oh, sorry
,
Roxanne isn't
here
, but
she’s on her way home from Ava’s.”

“She isn't
…
” her voice broke. “An ambulance just b
r
ought Roxanne in after someone passed a car
over the side of the road
and called the police.”

He froze
and
his breathing stopped
. No. No. No. No. Not
Roxanne,
somebody else. Please!

“Are you sure?” he asked shakily.

“Yes, she went into surger
y immediately after she arrived,
”
she said
with a sob
.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
After hanging up the phone, Sebastian ran outside, jumped into his car and drove off.

An hour later Sebastian p
ulled into the
hospital
parking
lot
.
He was a little
shocked that he hadn’t gotten pulled over at the speed he was going but he pushed the thought away as he occupied his mind by hoping Roxanne was al
l
right
.

He spotted Lexi as he entered the
hospital
and went straight to her.

“How is she?” he asked.

“
I
don't know. Let’s go to the waiting room and wait with the others
.
”

He followed behind her numbly as he began praying for the life of the woman who meant more to him than
his next breath
.
When
they reached the waiting room he saw Ava with Zach sitting on her lap and Kira staring at nothing
wh
ile
tears
flow
ed
silently down her face
. He
wouldn't cry
,
because he refused
to believe he was going to lose
the woman he
’d
waited for all his life
.

They waited
for what seem
ed
like forever,
until he saw a doctor
walking toward them
.
Finally,
he thought.

“Dr. Leighton.”
H
e nodded at Lexi.

“How is she?” Lexi asked.

“We had to operate on her
immediately
.
H
er fractured ribs punctured one of her lungs.
Her left wrist and right ankle were
al
so fractured
.
” Someone whimpered. “She's stable and in recovery, but
if she hadn’t been
found
so quickly,
she would've died of
internal bleeding. She's in a
coma
but
she
should
wake up in
a few days
.
I
n addition
she will need some mild physical therapy to help get movement back in her ankle and wrist.”

“When can we see her?” Sebastian asked
,
suddenly feeling dizzy
.

“You are?”

“Her fiancé,” he
answered
.

The doctor smiled. “In
about
two
hours
.
”

Sebastian nodded
and
thank
ed
him
as he
walked away
.

He stroke
d
the black velvet ring box in his pocket and thank
ed
God
for not taking her away from him. He
had been
planning on proposing
that
afternoon
after she
returned
from Ava's. It may not have happen
ed
the way he wanted, but at least she was alive so
h
e
could
do it once she was al
l
right
.
He
didn't
mind
waiting
.
A
s long as he had her back in his arms where she belonged
, everything w
ould be
al
l
right
.

Lexi went home
around ten-thirty
when
Zach started falling asleep, but she promised
to
come by in the morning
.
Only h
e
,
Ava
and
Kira remained as they waited for the go ahead from
the doctor. It finally came at eleven when a nurse
took
them to
see
her
,
before telling them only one
of them
could spend the night
. It
ha
dn't
taken
long to convince Ava and Kira to let him stay
and he was glad,
for
he hadn’t wanted
to argue with them
.

Upon seeing her
,
Ava
and Kira cried
,
but
this time
Kira
wasn’t silent
.
After saying their goodbyes
and promising to return in the morning
,
they left when the nurse
knock on the door
.
Sebastian
pulled up a chair by
Roxanne’s
bed
and
h
e
ld her hand as he continued
to
strok
e
the ring box.

Not long after he fell asleep with her hand still in his
.