Broken Dreams(135)

His eyes were swollen, and he could barely open them. His nose was even more crooked than before. His bottom lip was cracked open in the same place that held a scar. He had dried blood all over him. The bruises that I could see were already dark purple, and getter darker by the minute.

I wanted to cry at the sight of him. He was a mess. I wanted to make all his pain go away. I wanted to take care of him. I wanted to fix him, but I couldn’t. The only thing I could do at that moment was be there for him emotionally so, as gentle as I could, I took his hand and rubbed it with my thumb.

“I’m here for you. Please, Henry, please talk to me. You almost fucking died out there. I need you not to do that again. It scared the shit out of me. I almost lost you forever.”

“I heard you.” I looked at him, confused. Then he whispered, “I heard you screaming and crying for me. That’s what made me fight to push through the blackness that was sucking me in.”

“Oh, god.” My jaw trembled, and my eyes began swimming with tears.

“I’ll do my best not to scare you like that again.” He squeezed my hand. “I should’ve killed him when I had the chance, but I had this overwhelming need to control him, like he did with me for so many years. I’m so pissed at myself about this. I had my chance, but then I… Fuck me.” He closed his eyes and hissed.

“How did he know where you were? I mean, you could have been anywhere by now.”

“I could have. He would still have been able to find me, no matter where I was.”

“How?”

Henry slowly lifted his arm, hissing the whole time. “This.”

“This what?”

“You see this scar? I have a tracking device implanted.” Um, excuse me? Come again? I always thought it was just a scar. I never even questioned him about it.

“Seriously?”

“Do you think I would be fucking joking about that?!” he yelled at me, even though it hurt. His temper was short enough, but the pain of his past and present were really doing a number on him.

I tried being patient. “I’m sorry. Please tell me.”

“Once they decided I was a fit for the program, the grim reaper out there implanted this chip in me so I could never run. So, obviously, they have been following my movements since I’ve been in the States. Also, without a doubt, they have been investigating everyone I knew and every place I went. They knew that I would keep you alive so, more than likely because I’m such a bloody softie, I would bring you here at some point. They must have had everything set up from the get go. I almost wonder if he was in the area before the release, just waiting for the right moment. How else would he have gotten here?”

I had a brilliant idea. “So, let’s cut the damn thing out.”

Henry tried not to laugh. It pained him too much. “Yeah. That’s precisely what I need. More pain right now. I’m seconds from vomiting as it is.”

“Why didn’t you cut it out before?”

He tried to look at me through his swollen eyes. “To be honest, I didn’t even think about it until I saw Kellan in the cellar.”

“How could you forget something as significant as this?” I was so flustered.

“I don’t know, Elaina. Maybe I’ve been too busy trying to keep you, Claire, and Nick alive.” And then he mumbled, “Too busy trying to get you back. Too busy trying to drink away my mental anguish. Bloody hell!” He was angry with himself.

I knew he wanted to punch something. He thought that our situation was his fault. My heart ached so much that it felt like I was stabbed in the chest. I put all of us in danger because of my asinine behavior.

“I was so scared you weren’t going to come back to me.” My voice shook.

“I’m sorry to scare you like that.” He squeezed my hand again.

“I love you.”

“Love you, too,” he breathed out.

We heard a lot of foot traffic and doors slamming downstairs. I heard Kellan yelling, but it was muffled. I assume Nick had gagged him. Henry’s body went stiffer than it already was. I could feel the fear radiating off of him. He was absolutely terrified of Kellan. Next to nearly losing me, that was the only time I had seen him rigid with fear.

“Shut up! Shut up now, or I will blow your fucking brains out!” I assumed Sophie was screaming at Kellan. I heard him grumble. “Do not tempt me. I have a lot of pent up anger at the moment. I’m going to ungag you, and if you yell once, I’ll do it.” I decided to try to get up, but Henry refused to let go of my hand.

“It’s okay. I’m just going to stand at the top of the stairs. I want to hear what’s going on.” He sighed and let go of my hand.