Chapter 69
"So you were the one who slid those envelopes into my mom's hospital room to help pay her bills?" I winced when I saw the look in his eyes but nodded slowly.
"Case; what were you thinking?! You could have died! We could have found another way to pay her bills," I couldn't help myself at that. I tried to bite my tongue so bad that I tasted a slight metallic taste but that was the last straw.
"And then what? Watch her die slowly on that white hospital bed and see you grieve even worse because you felt guilty for not being able to prolong it for a little while until we found enough money to fund for her operation? I saw an opportunity to at least try to help buy Carla some time and I took it. That winning prize could've funded her whole operation if we just had more time." My last words were accompanied with a sob.
Time; that was our true enemy; It wouldn't stop to let us catch up with it. Every second counts.
I heard Adam sigh before I was engulfed in his arms.
"I just don't want to lose you," he murmured, stroking my hair and back. I hugged him back when I caught what he was saying.
"I know and you won't," I assured him, patting his back.
"You understand that even if I want to quit now, I can't. You heard what that man said. I need to come back and fight again," I felt his arms tighten around me and held me in a vice grip.
"He was bluffing, Case. Don't listen to him. I won't have you risking your life. You might be one of the best fighters I've ever known but there's no saying that you will survive this kind of obstacle in your life. You heard what that man said too. You can die even before you finally fight against him and even if you survived, you'll be walking into your own death."
I shook my head. It wasn't going to end. It was never going to end. I was stuck in this life; running and being caught on a hook that pulls me back to the start.
I shouldn't have jumped into this life in the first place. If only Bryant was here to tell me what to do. I stared at the clock and saw that it was already late. Everyone was already sleeping since today was seriously nerve-wrecking and I guess it drained them to be in such pressing situations.
They were quick to distribute the bedrooms between themselves. We had two guest bedrooms and the kids were sleeping with Jerry while Adam would be sleeping with Jake in the other guest bedroom and Monic would be sleeping with me like every other time.
Preston was staying in the hospital for tonight. His vitals were fine but it was just a safety precaution in case they missed something. We met the old man who accompanied Preston while he was unconscious on our way back and I thanked him for his help. It turned out that the man knocked Preston out before Adam got to him and had Adam chase him. It was certainly a wild day for all of us.
Adam took a seat and I followed suit, the tension leaving my body. I slumped my shoulders and let the chair bear my weight.
"Why do you stay by my side?" I asked him curiously. He shrugged in response like he couldn't care less on why. He could've avoided a shit load of trouble if he just broke up with me and moved back to his hometown.
I wouldn't even go after him or stop him because even I wished I didn't have this life to deal with. But I chose this and I had accepted a long time ago that I had to face the consequences of my decisions and actions.
But Adam didn't choose to be with someone that had a baggage as heavy as I did. He didn't know my secret when he befriended me. He could choose to escape this fate now if he wanted to. He could quit anytime.
"Remember what I told you that day when we went to that camping trip together?" I felt my cheeks heat up, remembering what happened but the damage was done and soon, I took a walk down memory lane.
"Adam, what are you trying to do?" I shouted from afar while squinting to get a better view of him but all I could see was his butt jutting out from the clump of wild flowers.
"Just give me a few more minutes. I'll be with you in a sec," He shouted back and I didn't really want to ruin the surprise so I took a seat under one of the trees and picked on the grasses, playing with the small flowers.
Not a minute later, Adam was in front of me, pulling me to my feet with a hand behind his back. I tried to twist him around to see what he's hiding but he was too quick, causing me to huff in frustration. I brushed a stray lock of hair out of my eyes, and decided to just stand still and let him do whatever he wanted or hide what he wanted.
"Cassandra..." He drawled out and I looked the other way childishly, in the mood to mess with him.
"Case," He tried again but I stood my ground, fighting the slight twitch that would give off the small smile I was struggling to hide.
Finally, he had enough and grabbed my chin firmly but gently, turning my head to look at him. When I saw what he was handing me, I heard my conscience aw and swooned. But it was just a mini swoon; just slightly.
He was holding a simple flower crown with different kinds and sizes of flowers, weaved together to make a beautiful circle. For such a short notice, I was kind of impressed.
No, forget being ‘kind of impressed', I was as impressed as someone could get because let's not kid anyone here; I had no idea how to make those. I was about to take it from him but he slapped it away with a feigned stern look face only to place it on my head himself.
"There. Now you're a princess," He had goofy smile on his face and I chuckle at what he said. It sounded ridiculous. I mean, let's face it. Me? A princess? Who were we trying to fool right now?
"You and I both know that I am nowhere close to a princess, Adam. I don't even do curtsies for God's sake! And besides, I didn't know we simply need a flower crown to be a princess," I joked and gave him a playful shove.
He laughed with me but once he sobered up, he said words that I never thought I would hear from anyone.
"I know that you're not a princess in anyone else's eyes but I don't need you to be. You can always be my princess," It was cheesy but it gave me shivers and truth to be told, I had no idea what I was supposed to say to that.
You might be thinking why the hell wasn't I kissing him by then.
I didn't need to - He was already kissing me.
