“It’s not fair. Why does she have to suffer this much?”
I shrugged, feeling helpless to answer her with a real solution. “Life isn’t fair, Lala. It’s just the way it is.” Her eyes lit up with anger upon hearing my words.
“Where the hell are Carmen’s guardian angels? They better wake up and take care of her. She can’t take much more of this pain,” she said, choking on her words. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Seeing her like this was breaking my fucking heart and I couldn’t stand it much longer. I pulled her up into my arms, hugging her tightly.
“Hush, baby. Carmen’s still alive, yeah? Her angels are taking care of her.” I didn’t want to tell her that I was surprised the girl was still breathing. The trauma she’d suffered would have killed anyone who didn’t have a team of angels on their side.
Layla’s sobs intensified. “I really hope you are right.”
“I’m certain. As long as Carmen is breathing there is hope, Lala. And the doctors will do everything they can to help her. You’ve just gotta have faith, okay?”
“I know . . . I’m trying. But it’s so damn hard to watch her suffer like this. I know I’m trained to be able to handle it, but Carmen . . . she doesn’t deserve this.”
Placing my hands on either side of her head, I lifted her tear stained face to mine. My heart ached for her, I wished there was something, anything, I could do to make it better.
Gently, I kissed both her eyelids and then her wet cheeks, trying desperately to stop the tears spilling from her eyes. Her pain was my pain. I could strangle Carmen’s father for doing this. If only people would realize how their negative behavior could impact and hurt others, what pain they caused not only to the immediate victims, but to everyone else involved.
This was why I wanted to be a doctor. So I could make a difference. Save lives, not companies.
But right at that moment, I was helpless and it cut me to the fucking bone. I hated feeling like there was nothing I could do other than offer words of comfort to my girl. But I had to try, it was the least I could do to try and lighten the burden.
“Coming to London will be good for you. Carmen will be in hospital for a while and there isn’t much you can do for her at the moment. When you get back, you can work on getting her better again.”
My words only made her cry harder. Shit.
“This time it’s going to a harder challenge for her,” Layla sobbed. “God, what if I can’t help her to walk again?”
I had no answer, all I could do was to silence her with a kiss. To pour all my love and strength into that kiss and hope it would give her courage to carry on.
“Grayson, you’re so sweet. Thank you for being here.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
I wanted to be Layla’s everything. Everything she needed.
Her comforter. Her rock. Her lover.
Hers completely.
11: Grayson
A few days ago I wasn’t sure that Layla would agree to my idea, and after what happened with Carmen I definitely thought she’d refuse to come, but here I was standing at Heathrow Arrivals waiting for her. My heart slammed against my ribs every time the doors opened and another passenger emerged. I’d been waiting for ages and as far as I could tell, just about everyone from her flight had come through those doors already.
What if she changed her mind and she wasn’t on that damn plane?
I watched yet another couple embrace as if they wanted to fuck one another right there in front of everyone.
Where was Layla?
My mouth went dry as the door opened once more. Still no Layla. Jesus, if the assisted passengers were coming through, it meant Layla was most probably not on that flight. I’d purchased business class tickets, she should have been one of the first passengers to off the plane.
Worry ate at me.
For three nights I hadn’t been able to think of anything else than Layla’s arrival. I longed for her, to hold her, to kiss her, to feel her naked body against mine. She was the first thing I thought about when I woke in the morning and the last thing on my mind when I drifted off to sleep.
Surely she would have called or texted if she changed her mind? Shifting my weight from one foot to the other, I checked my phone again. Nothing.
My stomach dropped to my shoes like a ton of fucking bricks.
And then I heard her laugh. The sound traveled across Arrivals and hit me right in the chest. Everything was forgiven. The scolding I was already formulating in my mind to give her for making me worry evaporated into thin air.
There she was.
Of course that’s why she’s last. Why would I be surprised?
As soon as I saw Layla it all made sense. She was helping a woman with her son. The boy was in a wheelchair, his leg in a cast and one arm in a sling. As they reached a man who stood waiting by the railings closer to the doors than myself, Layla handed him the bag and jacket she was carrying. She rumpled the boy’s hair and hugged the woman before turning in my direction.
The smile that lit her face when she saw me made me forget my own name. I’d wait a thousand years if that megawatt smile was my reward.
“Layla,” I breathed, letting out all of my frustrations of the last half hour. I opened my arms as I took a few wide steps toward her.
As if she couldn’t wait a moment longer, she quickened her pace too. A little breathless, she fell into my arms and hugged me as if she hadn’t seen me for years.
“Grayson. I’m finally here,” she said as my lips brushed over hers. I couldn’t hold back any longer. I dipped her and kissed her with everything in me. Now I understood what those guys felt like—the ones who looked like they were about to ravage their woman on the spot. I wanted her and to hell with anyone watching.
My tongue stroked hers and she groaned into my mouth.
Fuck, I’d missed her. It couldn’t have been only a few days since I said goodbye to her in Sydney.
“Hi,” I said as I came up for air.
“Hi,” she replied, smiling against my mouth.
A cough behind us brought me back to the present.
“Uh . . . just wanted to thank your lady for helping my wife with our boy. Not many people care enough to help a stranger these days.” The man I’d seen earlier held his hand out to me, I straightened and took his hand, shaking vigorously.
The boy’s mother smiled. “Usually everyone is in a rush to get off the plane after flying for such a long time. Layla helped me settle Jason during the flight too,” she told her husband.
The woman grinned at me, her curious gaze sizing me up.
“That’s my Layla, always putting everyone else first,” I said as I pulled her closer to me.
“We were going to offer Layla a ride to her hotel for being so helpful. She didn’t say she had someone meeting her here.”
Layla laughed. “Oh, let me introduce you to my . . . err, this is Grayson.”
The man chuckled goodheartedly. “Grayson. You’re a lucky man to have such a wonderful girlfriend. She’s a keeper, mate. Marry her before someone else does.”
“Oh, I don’t plan on ever letting her go. Trust me on that one,” I replied.
Layla let out a small, hardly audible gasp. Didn’t she know how I felt about her? Didn’t she realize I wanted her in my life as more than a stepsister? I wanted to wake up to her in my bed. Every. Fucking. Day.
I didn’t quite know how we were going to pull it off yet, I’d been mulling different scenarios around in my head for days. All of them had ended with Milton punching my lights out and disowning me, Taylor looking at me in disgust and Alice crying her eyes out.
Why was this so fucking hard? I wanted to let the whole world know how I felt about my beautiful woman. Instead, I had to fly her to London just I could have quality time with her. Fuck me if I wasn’t planning to use every second of every day loving her. She could catch up on sleep on her long flight home.