Twisted Desire (The Twisted Series) (33 page)

“I understand Harley, I mean David Gates, has been moved out
of intensive care.  You can tell him I’m ready to see him now.”

The nurse mulls over that information for a minute. 
“I’m sorry,” she pauses, choosing her words wisely.  “You can’t go in
there.”

Like hell!

“Then I’ll wait.”

“I’m sorry, but you’ll be waiting a while.”  She is
only being honest.  “I really am sorry.  But his visitors are
restricted to immediate family only.”

Aliah hears the words, but it’s not computing.  “Tell
him I’m here.  I need to see him.”  Aliah moves to shove the nurse
aside, but the woman plants herself firmly in front of her and softly clutches
her wrist.

“Please don’t make a scene, Miss Brooklin.  I need you
to take a seat.”

“Why won’t you people just let me see my man?”  Aliah
throws up her hands and takes the first seat at the edge of the waiting
room.  If it means seeing Harley sooner, then she will suck it up and do
it.

The nurse takes her hand this time, crouching down next to
her.  Aliah shifts with discomfort, but lets the nurse keep her
hand.  This can’t be good.

“I know how anxious you must feel.  I can see how much
you love him.  But I have strict orders to keep you out of there. 
I’m so sorry, but he doesn’t want to see you.”

Aliah is flabbergasted, a blank expression coloring her
canvass.  That is the last thing she expects to hear.  “That’s
B.S.  I’m going to see him.  She rips her hand away and takes three
fast steps in the direction Hannah had come.

“He’s suffered a serious trauma,” the nurse shouts after
her.  “Any distress will cause a serious setback.”

Aliah stops in her tracks and closes her eyes.  She
knows she’s a selfish person.  She wants to ignore the woman and be
selfish.  She wants to run into Harley’s arms and tell him how much she
loves him, but she can’t do that to him.  She can’t hurt him anymore.

She can’t believe this is happening.  This is all her
fault.  Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to see her.  She’s caused
him too much pain.  She’s pushed him too far.  It’s over for her.

Aliah tries to open her eyes, but she feels like she’s
floating underwater.  She hears Hannah’s voice approaching her, but she
can’t respond and it sounds so distant.

“Are you okay, Ally?  My dad doesn’t know what he’s
thinking.”

Those are the last words she hears before she collapses onto
the floor.

Hannah manages to just barely break her fall, as a nurse
rushes toward her with a wheelchair.  Aliah is immediately returned to a
hospital bed.

This time, when Aliah’s eyes reopen, he’s there.  She
must be dreaming.  Maybe she’s dead.

“Am I in heaven?” she asks softly.

Harley chuckles, and it tugs at her heart.

She didn’t think she was ever going to hear that handsome
voice again.  She waits for him to say something, but he doesn’t speak and
he doesn’t move.

“Maybe this is hell,” Aliah says aloud, not quite trusting
her eyes.  “You don’t want to see me.  You don’t care to talk to
me.”  She starts crying, having lost all her hardness over the past 24
hours.  She hates being so weak.

Harley brings his hand to his chin, his finger pressing over
his lips when he finally speaks.  “I didn’t think it would land you back
in a hospital bed.”

Was he talking to her?

Her spine stiffens, but she ignores him, and continues to
talk to herself.  “I can see why he wouldn’t want to ever see me
again.”  She clears her throat and smears away the tears.  “I’d hate
me too.”

He wheels closer to her.  Her eyes flash forward and
meet his.

She doesn’t know what is real anymore. 
Harley’s
in a wheelchair?

“I don’t hate you, Aliah.”  His voice is gruff. 
“Now quit talking like that.”

“But… you…”  She can’t even spit out the words.

He doesn’t hate me!

“I thought it’d be best if I stayed away from you for a
while.  I damn near killed you.  Someone else can do better by you.”

Aliah scowls at him fiercely.  “I don’t want someone
else.  I want you, Harley.  Don’t you get it?”

Harley looks stunned.  “After how I’ve hurt you? 
I can’t be trusted.”

“That’s it?”  She tries to make eye contact with him,
but her eyes don’t quite reach his.  “You just expect me to turn my back
and walk away?  What, you don’t want me anymore?”

“I never said that.”  He answers as if Aliah has
accused him of something horrible.

“No, you said
you
don’t want to see
me.
 
You
want to stay away from
me
.  But here you are.”

“Here I am.”

Aliah presses her hand against her forehead and instantly
regrets it.  There’s a rather large bump there and what feels like a
handful of stitches.  She drops her hand to the bed, leaving her tired
eyes shut.

“What are we doing here?  It started out all in good
fun, and I’ve tried hard – really hard – to stay detached.  But I think
it’s clear that we’ve gotten a little closer than either of us ever planned,”
she admits.

“Maybe a little,” he teases, with a growly voice.

“I’m glad you find this so funny.  That sound you just
heard is my heart breaking.  This, after I promised I wouldn’t do
this
.”

Harley smiles, but his face turns serious as he lifts his
body out of the wheelchair and moves closer to her.  “You don’t find love,
Aliah.”

She looks away, terrified to see the heat in his eyes, but
he lifts her chin with his index finger until her eyes meet his.

“It finds you.”

His mouth looks warm and inviting, and when he touches his
lips to hers, she confirms that it is.  She tries to erect a hard
expression on her face, but she finds herself softening beneath him as he
touches his tongue to hers.  The more his mouth moves, the harder her
heart hurts.  She can’t possibly live without this.

Depression tugs at her hospital gown.  What she really
needs is a stiff drink and a drunk Harley moving inside her.  There’s no
insecurity when she finds that place.

A nurse enters the door and starts shouting at them, as
their kiss grows more emotional and demanding.

“Mr. Gates!  You’re in no condition to be
standing.”  The nurse rushes to the bedside and pulls him back, parting
their lips, as she helps him into the seat of his wheelchair.  She gently
rolls him away from the bed like a scorned elderly man.  His angled smile
is breathtaking.

“Miss Brooklin can really use the rest.  She can’t
handle what you have to offer her right now,” the nurse insists.  “If it’s
a matter of the heart, then it will wait.”

Aliah presses her lips together, not quite allowing her
smile to show through, as her man is escorted out of the room.  She’s
almost afraid to be left alone, not knowing how many more crazy bastards are
out there to harm her.  Who else is in on this conspiracy to get her and
everyone she loves?

When Mitchell knocks quietly at the door, she gladly
welcomes him.

“What was that all about?” he asks.

Aliah shakes her head.  “Don’t ask.”

Mitchell comes right up to her bedside and takes a seat on
the edge.  He’s so heavy she feels the bed slant toward him.  “I
think I need a break from all of the drama in Rose Arbour.  Do you want to
come with me?”

Aliah smiles.  The idea sounds great, but the thought
of moving away from Harley rips at her heart.  “What do you have in mind?”

Mitchell smiles, loving that she’s considering it, even if
only to appease him.  “I’ve been thinking about opening a new night club
in Collingwood.  I’d have to spend some time there to get it up and
running anyway.  Now’s probably as good a time as ever to do that.”

“That’s where Abby’s ex is moving.  You must know
Cameron Clarke.  It’s definitely a nice place.”

“So, you’ll come with me?”  He sounds wistful, but he
already knows her answer.

“I think I have some unfinished business here that needs
attended to.”

Mitchell sighs, admitting to himself that she’s taken. 
“I figured as much.”

“We’ll miss you here,” Aliah insists.

He smirks.  “I really don’t think Harley will miss me
at all.”

He’s got that right!

“Okay, then
I’ll
miss you.”  She really
will.  Who will be there to give her free drinks and a friendly ear when
he’s gone?

Mitchell shares a really big smile with her.  “I’ll
miss you too, Ally.  What are you going to do without me?”

“I really don’t know.”

“This thing you have going on with David Gates, is that
something you see turning more serious?  You two have been seeing each
other for a while now.  I’m sure you’ve thought about it.”

Aliah smiles softly.  “I try not to.  I’m afraid
I’ve jumped a little too high, too fast.”

“Jumped?  Or fell?”

She shoves at him.  “You know what I’m saying.”

“What you’re saying isn’t jiving with what’s in your
heart.  I hope for his sake that you can overcome it.”

“I don’t know if Harley’s looking to settle down.  It’s
been fun, but maybe that’s all he was meant to be for me.  A fun little
detour in my life.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“But I do.  This is probably just a sign to remind me
that my life is a train wreck.  There’s no need for anyone else to crash
and burn with me.”

Mitchell looks thoughtful.  But he really does
care.  “I hope it works out for you, chicka.  But can I give you a
suggestion?”

“Give ‘er.”

“If you’re all in, tell him so.  No man takes well to
being strung along.”

She nods, but her breath is cut off.  She finds it
difficult to speak.  “Thank you,” she whispers. 

Why do I think it’s such a bad thing to fall in love with
Harley?

Mitchell collects her in his arms, and she sheds a tear that
she flicks away with a laugh.

“Look what you’ve got me doing, Mitchell!”

He smoothes his hand over her hair.  “It’s going to
work out for you.  I just know it.  It has to.”

Jillian enters the courtroom, dressed in a blue jail-issue
jumpsuit, with a white t-shirt underneath.  She fidgets during the entire
bail hearing, keeping her eyes glued to the floor, not even glancing up at duty
counsel when he whispers in her ear.

Harley’s leg is bouncing, as they await the decision, having
left the hospital against the doctor’s orders to make this trip.

“Bail is denied,” the judge announces, granting her no
leeway for the heinous crimes she has committed.

Hannah turns her head and buries her face in her father’s
shoulder.  Even after begging her to stay away, she’d insisted that she be
there to hear the verdict.  Harley gently pats her back in an attempt to
calm her.

“The Order is to go as asked by the prosecution,” the judge
announces.  “Miss Briscoe, you are a danger to the public and I question
whether you are fit to stand trial.  Do you understand the serious nature
of your charges?”

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” she screeches.  Her
voice echoes across the otherwise silent room, as she picks Hannah out of the
crowd and points at her.  “Her!   She is the one that should be
sitting here.”

“That is enough, Miss Briscoe.  Counsel is ordered to
arrange for a psychological assessment forthwith.”

Wesley Carver, the newest recruit to the prosecutor’s
department nods his head and takes note of it.

“Miss Briscoe shall abstain from communication directly or
indirectly with Miss Aliah Brooklin, Miss Hannah Gates and Ms. Brandee Hawkins
while awaiting trial.  Bail is denied,” the judge repeats.

The judge slams his gavel and Jillian responds
hysterically.  She immediately flashes a glance at Harley.  He scowls
at her, causing her to shout out to him.

“I never wanted you to get hurt, David!  Please don’t
let them do this to me.  I love you!”