Always Yours (37 page)

I had to see him.

Digging down deep into my core, I forced my eyes to open. Everything was blurry and distorted. It made my stomach hurt. My heartbeat kept rising and I knew I wasn't going to be awake much longer. Black spots started to filter into my vision pulling me back down into a deep sleep but I fought against it.

I blinked a few times as I tried to focus and slowly, the silhouette of a girl filled the center of my vision. Her long blond hair made her look like an angel, floating over the foot of my bed, but as her face became clear, I knew she wasn't anything but. Her blue eyes were squinting at me with envy, her brows pulled together and her jaw was clenched tight.

She looked like a shark, stalking its next meal and I had a feeling, I was on the menu.

I tried calling out for help but when I opened my mouth nothing came out. My throat burned and the pain made tears fill my eyes.

Terrified of this stranger hovering over my bed, I closed my eyes and gave in to the darkness, letting it pull me back under.

I shot out of bed, my heart pounding like steel drum. I had dreamt this dream before but I always thought it wasn't real. It never made sense to me.....until now.

I reached for the lamp on my night stand and flicked it on. I squinted, trying to shield my eyes from the intense bright light. "Cam," I said as I leaned over shaking him. "Cam, wake up."

He opened one of his eyes and looked at me like I was crazy. "I saw her. She was there, the night of my accident."

"Who?" he said confused as he rubbed his eyes.

"Amber! I remember waking up for a split second in the hospital. I could hear my mom yelling at my dad, telling him to leave. I tried so hard to open my eyes. I wanted to see him. But when I did it wasn't him I saw. It was Amber and she was standing over my bed, staring at me." My hands started shaking as the realization of the past ten months crashed over me. "Cam, this whole time she knew who I was."

Cam's face tightened as it turned a faded shade of red. He was fucking pissed.

"Get dressed," he said as he started to get out of bed.

I looked at my phone—5:47am. "Cam it's not even six am yet. Where are we going?"

"We're going to go talk to Amber."

I am such a fucking idiot.

How did I not see past Amber's bullshit! How did I not put the puzzle pieces together?

All the things Amber said about Cara rang in my ears.

"I should go tell her what I really think of her."

"Because you were with
her
! You could've picked any fucking girl in this whole world and you picked
her
."

"That's right, Cara. Walk away! Leave! You're good at that. You've seen the back of so many heads you're practically a pro. You can't make anyone stay with you. First your father, then your high school boyfriend, even your unborn child couldn't stand to be inside you."

I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

Everything was starting to make sense now but I had to hear it from her. She had to admit to it.

On the drive over to the hospital, Cara begged and pleaded for me to turn around but I couldn't. I was too fucking mad. Cara thought it was too soon to do this, but I knew if we didn't do it today, we would probably never see Amber again. It has to be done now. Cara had already successfully delayed me jumping in the car by two hours and I wasn't waiting any longer. Amber had some fucking apologizing to do.

I parked the car and we headed up to the maternity ward. When we were turning the corner to Amber's room, Cara pulled me back. "Cam, I can't do this. I'm not ready," she pleaded as she held on to my arm. She looked terrified and it made me ache for her.

I hadn't taken the time to even think about what Cara was going through. Finding out that the half sister you never met was purposely trying to destroy your life must have been immeasurable. I couldn't even imagine what was running through her mind. I didn't want to make her see Amber if she didn't want to but I was still going to talk to her.

Pulling Cara to me, I lifted her chin with my finger. "You don't have to face her if you're not ready, firecracker. Maybe you should wait out here while I talk to her."

"Thank you, Cam." She pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed me.

I squeezed her tight and then left her in the hall outside Amber's door as I entered the room. It felt like I was entering the dragon's layer when I pushed open the large door. I didn't know what I was going to find but I knew I had to keep going. Amber was standing by the hospital bed packing her things up when I spotted her.

Her eyes shot up and immediately narrowed when she saw me. "What the fuck are you doing here?" she sneered. "Get out!"

"I'm not going anywhere, Amber." I walked further into the room and she took a step back, crossing her arms over her chest. "Not until you fess up to a few things."

"I already told you everything, Cam."

"Is that so?" I cupped my elbow with one hand while the other tapped my lips. "Well, why don't you tell me how you knew about Cara's past then?" I asked her pointedly.

She went to open her mouth but I spoke first. "Choose your words wisely and for once in your damn life, I suggest you tell the truth," I said with a tight jaw.

Her chin lowered to her chest and she knew she had been caught. "Fine. You want me to tell the truth? I'll tell you the fucking truth." She paused for a moment and looked back up at me with disgust in her eyes. "Cara's my half sister. And I fucking hate her. Happy now?" she said as she continued packing her stuff.

"How can you hate someone you never met?" I heard Cara's voice from behind me. I spun around and she was walking into the room, tears spilling out of her eyes.

I looked at Amber as I entered the room—her face was pale with fear as she eyed me. "What are you doing here?"

I stopped next to Cam and looped my arm around his. "I came to see my sister," I said in a malicious voice as I glared at her. A soft chuckle escaped Cam's throat and I elbowed him in the ribs. "Mind if I ask you a question now? I think you owe me that much, don't you?"

"I don't owe you a damn thing! You were the lucky one," she bit back.

"I'm lucky? You're the one that actually had a father growing up. He left my mom and me and never looked back....and he left us, for you!" My whole body was shaking with adrenaline and I had to force myself to not lunge at her.

"I wish he would have stayed with you!" she yelled back and I could see the tears forming in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked with an uncertain tone.

She took a seat on the bed and inhaled a deep breath as she blinked back her tears. "Once Dad left your family he was never the same. He started drinking...a lot. He regretted walking out on you. He carried your picture with him everywhere he went." My heart plunged to my stomach as I listened to her story. "Sometimes he would pass out drunk and call out your name in his sleep. I tried so hard to make him love me as much as he loved you, but no matter what I did, it didn't work. Even my mom left because of his complex with you."

"Why were you there the night of my accident?" I asked her, petrified to hear the answer.

She started to fidget with the sheet on the bed. "That night, your mom was panicked. She called Dad crying. She thought you were going to die and she wanted him to be able to say goodbye to his daughter. But when we got there the doctors said you had turned a corner and were going to make it. I was so mad at you for pulling through. I wanted you to die. I thought if you did maybe he would be able to move on and stop feeling so guilty."

"So basically, you hate me because of what our dad did to you?" I asked annoyed. I couldn't believe how fucking messed up she was. She apparently inherited her father's genes.

"Yes! When I saw you with Cam at that party I snapped. I wanted to take something away from you so you could feel just as bad as I did for all those years. I was always in your fucking shadow and I couldn't take it anymore. Your name and picture haunted me for years. I didn't have a father because of you!" she shouted at me as her tears began to fall.

The little sorrow I felt for her fucking vanished. "Yeah, and I didn't have a father because of you, but you don't see me blaming you for that. It's not your fault he was a cheater and a liar. That's all on him, and if I would have known about you, I would've never held
you
responsible his mistakes."

I spun on my heel and headed for the door. I couldn't stand to look at her any longer. I got all the answers I needed and it was time to go.

"Running away from me so soon?" Amber scoffed as I approached the door.

I turned back around and smiled sweetly at her. "I'm not running away from you. I'm simply choosing to move on."

Cam came up behind me and squeezed my shoulders as he looked back at Amber. "I'm going to need your shit moved out of my house by tomorrow. Leave the key on the counter."

"Damn, firecracker! I'm so proud of you." Cam said as we walked down the hallway towards the elevators. He threw his arm around my shoulder and kissed my head.

"Thanks," I replied quietly. This crap with Amber was finally over. Cam and I were free to move past all of this but a part of me was a little sad. She was still my sister—evil or not—and a small sliver of me would always wonder what our relationship could have been if she hadn't been so fucked up.

The elevator doors opened on the first floor and Cam and I started our walk, hand in hand, back to the car. After passing through the front doors, Cam stopped and tugged on my arm forcefully. I looked up at him and his eyes were wide as he stared out in front of us. Following his gaze, my heart stopped when I saw my father standing about fifty feet away.

He was staring at me in disbelief. His short brown hair was peppered with streaks of silver and his familiar green eyes were surrounded by deep wrinkles. He lifted a cigarette to his lips and took a drag before he started making his way towards us.

"Cara, let's leave. You don't have to talk to him," Cam said as he pulled on my arm.

"It's okay, Cam. I'm fine," I assured him.