Fall On Me
Copyright 2014 by Chloe
Walsh
All Rights Reserved. ©
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Fall On Me
The Broken Series
#3
by Chloe Walsh
Other Books by Chloe
Walsh
Break My Fall (Broken #1)
Fall To Pieces (Broken
#2)
Fall On Me (Broken #3)
Dedication
This book is dedicated
to my loyal readers who follow me on Facebook and Twitter. I could
have never hoped for such a lovely bunch of ladies. Their support,
encouragement and enthusiasm for another piece of Kyle and Lee is
why I wrote this book. Ladies, this book is for each and every one
of you. You're all important to me and I hope you know how much I
appreciate your kindness.
Thank you.
Prologue
Camryn
Frey
June 28
th
2013
Turning my key in the door I smiled to myself
as Lee's warbling voice filled my ears. She obviously thought she
was alone. There was no other way to get that girl to sing – thank
god for that because she held a note similar to the way an injured
animal howled. I closed the door as quietly as I could and slipped
down the hallway to his room. I wasn't going to bother Lee. She
didn't need to know I was here or why for that matter. Or that I
was leaving Colorado. I didn't want to burst her bubble. Not
tonight. She'd been so excited when she visited last week to tell
me her plan and all I could think of at the time was 'about damn
time.' I knew what tonight meant for her and Kyle. It was the night
she would finally come off her high horse and Kyle would become the
luckiest son of a bitch in the world.
In the beginning, I hadn't thought Kyle
would–or could–ever be worthy of my best friend. His asshole mood
swings and her ignorant naivety blended together as well as oil and
water. But after all they'd been through, and overcome, I was
beginning to realize that there was never two people more suited.
It tore my heart to think that I was leaving my old roommates
behind…leaving him behind.
But I had to go.
I'd made too many mistakes.
If I had one wish, one do-over day in my
life, I would go back to that morning in January. I would go back
to that freezing cold morning and I would climb into the shower
with my boyfriend instead of answering his phone. If I had just let
his phone ring out I'd never know and I could have lived in
ignorance. But no, of course I'd taken the call and had my heart
ripped to shreds and my world turned inside out. In an act of
vengeance–because I was a get even kind of girl–and sheer fear over
what happened to Lee I took something away from Derek and in doing
so, I lost myself.
After that day, after what I did, I hadn't
cared. I'd been numb. I was still numb. I'd slept with Mike. I told
him I loved him. All lies. All bullshit. I cared about him and for
a while I'd thought I might love Mike. I tried to make myself love
him, but all I'd wanted was...Derek. I knew I'd ruined everything.
I was a big girl. I didn't want anyone's sympathy. Every time Derek
called me or text I'd been filled with such self-loathing and
disgust with myself that I'd lashed out. I had used her words-her
wrecking ball of a confession-to keep my guilt at bay. But it had
always swamped me because deep in my heart I knew he hadn't
betrayed me. Not like I had him. He knew about Mike, but if he knew
everything...
Lifting his mattress, I slid the letter I'd
written him underneath and I prayed with all my heart that he would
find comfort in the truth. In knowing that there was never anyone
for me but him. Not really. Not at all.
I knew I was being a coward and selfish and a
million other horrible things, but he needed closure. And I needed
forgiveness. When he read that letter he would know.
Everything.
I couldn't stop myself from hugging his
pillow to my chest, and inhaling his scent one last time. Oh god,
even though I didn't deserve it I secretly hoped he would follow
me. I hoped he could find it in his heart to forgive me…
"This isn't going to make Kyle love you, Rachel.
Killing me will only make him hate you more."
My heart rate spiked. The hairs on the back
of my neck prickled.
Rachel.
Dropping Derek's pillow, I bolted out of his
room towards the hallway with Lee's terrified voice screaming in my
ears.
"Killing me will only make him hate you more."
Over my dead body.
I'd ignored too many incidents. For years I
sat back and remained silent while Jimmy Bennett beat her to a
pulp. Over and fucking over. The marks…the burns…the tears of that
five year old version of Lee huddled in our tree house–her face so
bruised I could barely see her eyes through the blood and the
swelling– penetrated my mind. A fire roared inside of me.
Vengeance.
I had to help her. I had to stop the fucking
nut job aiming a gun at my best friend. On shaken legs I rushed
Rachel so hard the gun fell from her hands, shooting off before
sliding across the tiles of the kitchen floor. Grabbing her hair I
slammed her head against the door. "You bitch," I spat before
slamming her head again. "How dare you? How fucking dare you point
that thing at her?" How the hell Kyle and Mike had ever seen
anything in this freak was beyond me.
"You're too late," Rachel cackled not even
trying to fight me off. "Poor little princess has a boo-boo."
My eyes followed where her finger pointed and
my stomach lurched. I gaped in pure horror as Lee's frightened gray
eyes fluttered closed. The hand she had pressed to her stomach
drooped to her side. Her entire body slumped forward as she
collapsed to her knees.
"Lee!" The roar that tore from my throat was
that of a feral animal. Her stomach...Oh god, there was a freaking
hole in her stomach. Fury–red hot burning rage–flooded my veins as
I turned on Rachel. "You crazy bitch."
Digging my nails into her scalp I dragged her
forward, and with every ounce of strength in my body I crushed her
head against the frame of the door. I couldn't think straight. I
wanted to inflict so much pain on this girl that she'd never open
her evil eyes again. She fell to the ground, eyes closed and
unresponsive. I wished her dead. I prayed that I had taken her last
breath. Spluttering noises drew my attention back to Lee. I had to
force my eyes open as I went to her. "Lee, hang on. I'm going to
get help."
"Cam..." she tried to speak but dark clots of
blood spilled from her mouth.
She's dying...
Oh god, I knew she was. No one bled out of
their mouth. No one's blood was that black. She was going to die.
That crazy fucking bitch had finally done it. Blood… All I could
see was Lee's blood spilling from her mouth, her stomach. I could
smell it. It was suffocating me.
"Cam…Get out of here…Run." Lee kept trying to
speak to me and all I wanted to do was cover her mouth with my hand
to stop the blood. I wanted to scream at her to keep quiet and
close her mouth. There was so much of her blood on us–on the
floor–that I couldn't imagine much more being left inside of her
body…
Grabbing my cell phone, I dialed 911. "I need
an ambulance and the police." I glared at Rachel's slumped frame.
"And a strait jacket. Thirteenth Street. University Hill. Hurry," I
paused to stop my voice from rising to a scream. I didn't want Lee
to hear my fear and right about now it was crawling up my throat.
"My friend has been shot."
"Okay, ma'am. We'll send someone out straight
away," the voice on the other line said. I couldn't tell if I was
speaking to a man or a woman. I couldn't think, period. "Is the
wound visible through the clothing? Can you tell me where your
friend has been shot?"
I looked down at Lee's stomach and flinched.
"Yeah. In the stomach, I think."
Please don't die...
Please don't die…
"The paramedics are on the way, ma'am. I need
you to put pressure on the wound," the operator told me. "Have you
got a towel you can press to her stomach?" Oh my fucking god. I
hung up before I could scream at the idiot. What the hell? I had
just walked in on a shooting and now I was supposed to pull a towel
out of my ass like I'd been doing the freaking dishes.
Asshole.
Shrugging off my jacket, I pressed it against
her belly. Warm ooze seeped onto my hands. Blood. My mind was
flooded with images of a blue eyed, eight week old baby looking for
her momma. Her momma was dying in my arms. Oh god, how was I going
to face Kyle? Should I call him? No…I needed to stay calm and stop
her from bleeding out. "Lee, I have to put pressure on the wound. I
need to slow the bleeding."
She looked up at me with her huge glassy eyes
full of fear. I tried to smile to comfort her, but my jaw was
strained so tight I could barely twitch my lips. "You need to get
out of here," she coughed. "She could…wake up."
Shame filled me, mixing with the huge tsunami
of fear in my gut, cracking my heart open. "Shut up," I hissed as I
dragged her body into my arms and cradled her. I rocked her in my
arms the same way I had her all those years ago. She needed to
live. This was so unfair. Everything she had endured. All her
suffering. I couldn't stand this. I couldn't live with this…I
battled down the sobs that were dangerously threatening to
overpower me.
I was supposed to be leaving tonight for
Ireland. I was leaving and I was going to let her down again. "God,
I'm so glad I forgot to pack my swimsuit when I left," I lied.
"That's why I came here. Me and Mike, we're taking a trip…"
Bullshit. Truth was I hadn't seen Mike in days. Since the day I
woke up and came clean with myself. The day I told him I was still
in love with Derek–that I'd been consistently in love with Derek
since I was nineteen years old.
I was going to Ireland alone. I needed to
find myself again, but I didn't know if Lee was going to make it. I
didn't want her last memory to be of me letting her down again. If
she knew all the ways I'd let her down. The guilt I felt for her
life turning out the way it did churned in my stomach. Should I
tell her what I knew? I couldn't. I
couldn't
do it. I just
needed to hold her and keep her alive. My god, I needed to make
this better. She needed to make it. I would do anything if she
would just stay alive. I'd stay. I'd stay for her.
"Cam, I'm scared…" she gasped for air. Her
body shook violently in my arms.
So am I…
The fear in her eyes was too much to take. In
that moment I would have done anything to trade places with her.
"You better not be," I warned her. I was serious. She had too much
to lose. Too many people to leave behind. "You have a beautiful
baby who is depending on you. Focus on Hope. Put her picture in
your head and keep it there. Do NOT lose focus."
"Get up." My head jerked up at the sound of
Rachel's venomous tone. That bitch just wouldn't die… "Get out of
the way, Camryn. She has to die."
Lee tried to push me away, but I held her
tighter. This was not happening. Not on my watch. I needed to stay
calm. I needed to talk this bitch down long enough for the cops to
come and knock her out. Where the hell were they? "You don't have
to do this, Rachel." I hated myself for even speaking to her, but I
needed to slow her down.
"Cam, run…please move," Lee begged. "Do it.
Do it…or she'll…kill us…both."
I shook my head in disgust. How the hell was
she asking me to do that with a straight face? I looked at her face
and I was transported back to a time when this girl had been a
vulnerable child, begging me to run away with her. The life she'd
endured from her father, from the bullies in school who had taunted
her for being poor and for the clothes she wore, ate through me. It
had broken my heart then. It broke my heart worse now that I knew.
I wanted to tell her about her mother. I wanted her to know what
I'd discovered when I'd stayed with my parents back in January, but
she'd hate me for not telling her then. She would resent me and my
parents. "And what kind of a person would that make me if I did
that?" I demanded. She was trembling and terrified and so was I.
But I couldn't…I just couldn't leave her.