Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 135536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
My fantasy turned into my reality, and my reality turned into my nightmare.
I rocked back and forth, trembling with sobs that tore at me like sharp knives.
“You can’t leave me. Not now. Not when you finally love me. You can’t die. You’ve survived too much.”
I cupped his cheek, so pale and frozen beneath my fingertips. “My dark Romeo. My misunderstood beast. You’re stronger than poison, than mortality, than death. I never got to say I love you. Wake up, and I promise to say it back.”
He didn’t budge. Didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe.
Time is regret’s weapon of choice. And this time, it struck me so hard, I knew I would never recover.
I pressed our foreheads together, begging to take his cold and exchange it for my warmth. “Please, come back to me. I love you more than I love everything in this life combined—my family, my friends, my books, myself.”
I tilted my head up and caught a rose petal as it floated down, landing on the nightstand.
The last petal dropped.
Just when Romeo told me he loved me. Long after I’d fallen for him. And I’d keep falling. Plummeting down the endless depths of my love for him.
But ours wouldn’t be a fairy tale with a happy ending. Instead, what I got was a cautionary tale.
My arms wrapped tighter around him, even when I felt a hand rest on my back.
“Come on, Dallas.” It was Zach, with his velvety voice. The man could announce the apocalypse on national television and still sound like he was coaxing you into bed with him. “The paramedics are here.”
It took his gentle force to loosen my arms from my husband, as paramedics circled Romeo, hoisting him up onto a gurney.
I was limp and boneless in Zach’s arms. He tried righting me up to a standing position, but I collapsed into a fetus-shaped blob on the floor.
Parking his hands on his waist, he glared at me from above. “Yours is the sappiest marriage of convenience I’ve ever witnessed.”
“I love him.” I moaned into my chest, a pool of tears gathering on my neck. “I love him so much. I can’t live without him.”
Zach stepped back, as though feelings were a contagious disease. Oliver powered into the room as they ushered Romeo out.
I knew I should have chased the paramedics down the hallway. Joined them on the ride to the hospital. Asked questions.
Anything other than stay here.
But I felt too empty to move.
Oliver cocked his head. “Uh-huh. What do we have here?”
“A distressed Juliet. She says she can’t live without him.” Zach’s tone matched that of a pharmaceutical commercial. The voice that rattled off the nasty side effects of the advertised drug.
He produced hand sanitizer from his pocket and squished a good portion onto his palm.
“And her way of showing this is taking a nap on the floor?”
“I’m not taking a nap on the floor, you asshole.” I shot to my feet. Fresh anger sizzled through my bloodstream. “I’m going to fight for him. I have to show him what he means to me.”
I didn’t know why I’d told them this.
Maybe I needed to verbalize it to myself.
Oliver swung his keys around his finger. “I’ll drive her to the hospital.”
Zach nodded. “And I’ll hunt down Jared, bring him to the police, and catch them up to speed on Madison’s bullshit.”
Maybe they were doing it for my sake, but their utter calmness almost made me forget the last time I’d held Romeo. He was as cold as the marble floor in the ballroom where we first met.
“He’ll be okay, won’t he?” I clutched Zach’s lapels.
I had a feeling Oliver’s tongue could not be trusted, be it with his words or the pleasure he brought on women.
Zach looked away, ushering me out of the room by the small of my back. “Let’s go.”
I turned, staring at the spot I’d last held Romeo.
I’d never realized it before. That marriage is a mirror, showing you exactly where your empty parts are before it fills them up.
And if Romeo left me, I’d be forever empty.
I didn’t leave his hospital bedside.
Not to eat. Not to drink. Not to shower.
Frankie, Momma, and Monica rushed to my side as soon as the news broke.
They took turns bringing me food and clean clothes but could only ever persuade me to take bathroom breaks. Even then, I went about my business quickly.
Days ate at each other.
Time was not my friend, slipping between my fingers like quicksand. One minute, I was ecstatic that Romeo was not dead, that his heart still beat, that he’d soldiered through, fighting for each breath. The other, I crumbled in complete despair.
He wasn’t getting better.
He existed as a glorious statue. Still but beautiful.
The revolving door never ended.
Zach. Oliver. Mrs. Sun.
Cara. Monica. Senior.
Momma. Frankie.
Hundreds of flower arrangements and food offerings arrived every day from colleagues and friends. I donated them all. They made it feel like Romeo was no longer alive.