For Her (Broken Promises #2) Read Free Page A

taking care of her. You’re her love, you love her, you two will be old together and you can’t fucking leave me here alone! Don’t fucking die, Lane!”
    He coughs and groans, shaking his head faster. “Promise, Bray,” he manages to get his voice louder and that’s when I see all the color’s drained from him.
    “Oh my God I fucking promise, but you’re not going anywhere man.” I’m a bumbling mess and only slightly hear the sirens approach. “Don’t you fucking die, Lane Sheridan.” I cry, but don’t put up a fight as the paramedics and fire fighters start to do their job.
    A job they’ve been trained for. Saving lives is what they do for a living. Saving lives is what they’ll do tonight.
    They have to.
    ***
    Present Day
    “Sir, she’s awake.” I’ve been waiting days for this moment, now that it’s here I think I’m going to hurl. Her mom rushes in ahead of me, I give them time to reconnect before barging in… because once I go in there, I’m not leaving her side again.
    These past few days have been nothing short of hell on earth. I’ve watched my best friend get cut apart, sewn back together, and go in and out of consciousness for days. I watched my other best friend… well…
    “Shit,” I huff, starting to pace the hallway outside her door.
    “You’re gonna need to reign that in,” the male nurse that’s been helping Alexis since she got here says, shaking his head.
    “I made a promise,” I growl. “I keep my fucking promises.”
    “Right, and what? You’re gonna go in there, announce to the already breaking girl in there that-”
    “She’s ready,” her mom says, head peeking out the door. She’s been crying and she’s not trying to hide it. There’s no use. We’ve cried together so much these last few days I don’t even try to hide it either.
    Something about tragedy that sends people into self-preservation mode. Mine consists of leaning on other people and not looking after myself. Hence why I’m walking into my best friend’s hospital room unshaven, un-showered. I’m only in clean clothes because Al’s dad, Frank, was nice enough to bring me something so I wouldn’t have to wear blood while sitting here.
    So much blood.
    Walking into her room, the familiar hospital smells no longer burns my nostrils. I see her, franticly staring at the door, and I know who she’s waiting for. I know I’m not the one she wants to see right now. I know, because I agree with her. We’re both let down by the fact that it’s just me.
    Trust me.
    She’s been awake before, she knows her condition, but they had to drug her to stop her from overdoing it. So she doesn’t know anything else. Her parents both agree it needs to come from me, but staring at her now, with her mom looking at me with pleading eyes to make her better, I just want to wrap her in my arms and never let her go. She’s my Al, and I broke her.
    “Where’s Lane?”
    Fuck. Just the sound of his name makes me want to vomit. 
    “I just need my boyfriend!” She’s crying, sobbing, but I can’t help her. All I can do is go to her. Be with her. Jesus Christ this hurts so bad. “I… I… what happened to me?!” Her wail slices through my heart, straight to my core, and I lose it. All composure I thought I had when walking into this room is gone. I’m left with pure emotion.
    So I do the only thing right now that will help either of us. I hold on to her. I wrap my arms around her while she sobs into me, scooting on the bed next to her, I lay my head back on the pillow. Letting the tears fall, we lay there and cry together. We cry for all the sorrow, agony and pain we’ve gone through, for what we’re going to go through in the coming days, weeks, months... hell years. I’m not certain I’ll ever get over that night. The nightmares haunt me every time I close my eyes. The sirens pierce my ears every time I start to fall asleep.
    I’ll never get past it.
    “Bray?” her whimper calms me. Just hearing her