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.My head fallsforward, and I realize I ve closedmy eyes again.Forcing them open,I see my blue shirt covered inblood.Why am I covered in blood?I start to panic; my chest heaves upand down roughly once, and themovement forces me to cough out acry of pain blood trickling pastmy lips and onto my lap.I try to take a steady breath in, butit feels wrong, it feels like I mbreathing in fluid.Choking I mchoking on blood.Another cough,and more blood falls past my lips.Isomehow lift my head enough tosee a massive grill where mywindow and door are supposed tobe.Flashes of a red light, brightheadlights, and a loud horn.OhGod.God no, please no.Tearsform quickly, and I shut my eyesagainst the blurred grill and painthat is slowly leaving.I don t wantthe pain to leave because in its placeI feel nothing at all.Please, Godplease I ll take the pain, just don ttake me.I don t want to die.Don ttake me from Harper and our baby. You ll always have my heart,Chase Grayson. Princess? God, Harper whathave I done? I don t want to leaveyou and GB.God, please don tmake me leave them.I ll doanything. One of these days, Princess, Ipromise you. I would never be desperateenough to want you. We ll see. I love you, Princess, I ll alwayslove you. No.I don t deserve you, either.You need someone who will cherishyou, protect you, and take care ofyou.Someone that realizes they dnever be able to find another youin the world, no matter how hardthey looked. Chase. That first night, I did realize Iwould never meet another girl likeyou.But you deserve someone whohas waited for you as long as youhave waited for them.And nomatter how much I wish I could bethat guy, I can t, Harper. I ll never leave you I ll alwaysbe with you. Was that not obvious? Is it notobvious that I m in love with you? Say it again. Chase, I love you. Tell GB I love him.everyday. I ve never been happier thanwhen I just woke up with you in myarms.You re the only girl I ve everfallen asleep with, and I want tokeep it that way.You re not justsome girl.I m in love with you,Harper, I wouldn t want youanywhere else. And know that I ve loved yousince the beginning. Why are you in here? Because you need me, and if thisis my last hour with you, I m notgoing to waste another second ofit. I m sorry for the time I wasted,but I ll cherish every second wehad together. You re pregnant, Princess? Yes. Is it is it mine? Of course it is.I don t know what is real andwhat isn t anymore.I swear I canfeel Harper in my arms, smell herlight vanilla scent.I can hear hersoft laugh, which was alwaysreserved for the dark, as if we arecurled around each other in bed.Ican feel her lips on my throat andher hands in my hair.God, please,don t take me from her! How canthis be happening to me?More flashes Harper holding ababy.Our baby.A painful cry triesto work its way out of my chest, butall that comes out is more blood asI hang limply against the seat belt.Itry to take another breath but don tfeel the relief of it.There is nothing;this is it.My time is running out,and I wish more than anything thatI could have one more day withher.To cherish her and worshipher, to tell her and GB a milliontimes that I love them.The visionstarts blurring, and I cling to it likeit can keep me alive.I m not readyto go, I m not ready to lose her.Itry, futilely, to take more breaths,but there is no air, just more fluid.Harper in a wedding dress, shelooks beautiful, her smile brighterthan the sun, and she is lookingdirectly next to me.Turning, Icatch sight of Brandon at my sidejust before everything goes black. Take care of my family, brother.Please. Chase!She sounds so close. Chase! Live, Princess, for me.I loveyou.AcknowledgmentsAS ALWAYS, A big thank-you to myhusband for dealing with my crazy.I get extremely involved in mycharacters world, and I love thateven though he looks at me like I minsane, he takes the time to listenand ask about what I m writing.Love you, babe!Thank you to the girls of BookBroads! This book is dedicated toyou, because without you, I wouldhave never had the courage to writeChase s story.I understand this is adifficult story for many.Trust me, itwas difficult for me, too.But theBook Broads helped me realize thateven though we all miss Chasesomething fierce, we still neededmore of him, and he deserved to beheard.VERY big thank-you to myamazing editor, Tessa Woodwardfrom HarperCollins; and to myincredible agent, Kevan Lyon fromMarsal Lyon Literacy Agency.Youladies are incredible, and I don tknow what I d do without y all!Amanda Stone, not only are youmy best friend, I don t know what Iwould do without you being myslave driver and always getting onme to actually write this book.It sone thing to ignore the shiny place,better known as Facebook; it sanother entirely to sit on the phonewith you for five hours talkingabout everything and nothing andbeing silent as we write.Love you,Sef!Kelly Elliott.I swear wherewould I be without our weeklylunches? Probably going insane in acorner of my office! I love you andam so thankful for your friendshipand our weekly vents!Thank you to my BRGs: Colleen,Kim, and Lisa [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]