55. Someone Saved My Life Tonight

55

SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT

DAISY

I slowly return to the world of the living as I hear a familiar voice hum against my ear. " Sleepy time, when I lie, with my love by my side. And she's breathing low, and the candle dies …"

It's Lester's voice. And he's… singing.

He's singing to me .

I pretend to be asleep for a while longer, because I don't want him to stop.

" When night comes down, you lock the door. The book falls to the floor… As darkness falls, the waves roll by. The seasons change, the wind is warm …" he continues, his voice a soothing drone in the space around us, his breath tickling against my skin. " Now wakes the owl, now sleeps the swan. Behold a dream, the dream is gone …"

My lips curl up as my eyes are still closed, but he must notice that I'm no longer out, because he stops. "Little nymph," he hums. "Are you pretending to be asleep?"

"No," I lie, grinning. "I didn't know you could sing this well. You've been holding out on me." I mumble the words, licking my lips because they're dryer than the Sahara Desert. "And Pink Floyd too? Have I died and gone to heaven?"

He lets out a disbelieving sigh and I can only imagine the look on his face.

Warm lips find mine and I eagerly accept them before I flick my tongue against his. "Lester…" I whimper, my eyes slowly fluttering open.

"I'm so sorry," he chokes out between kisses. "I'm so fucking sorry for what happened." He pulls back to look at me, his eyes glossy as he takes my face in his hands.

I cough because my mouth is so dry, and I quickly realize that I'm in a bed, with an IV line in my arm. Lester grabs a glass of water from a table beside us and holds me by the back of my neck to sit up. My lips eagerly wrap around the straw before I empty the entire glass.

Setting the glass back down, he faces me. "It's all over now. You're safe, okay?" He grips my face again, tighter this time, as if he's afraid I'll disappear if he lets me go. "I thought I lost you. I was so scared that I might be too late."

I swallow audibly. "I knew you would get to me in time."

"I love you, Daisy." His voice skips, and I cover his hands with mine. "You're all I have."

"I'm all you'll ever need," I answer him without a doubt in my mind. "I love you, too. More than anything."

His lips lock with mine once more and he kisses me so thoroughly that all the thoughts in my head seem to dissipate. He's all that matters.

He said that I'm safe, which means that Rosemary is out of the picture.

That thought pulls me out of it and I slowly tear my head back to break up our kiss. "What happened? How long was I out?"

"A day and a half. It's the medication. Your leg needs a lot of time to heal."

I blink, my eyes painful as the bright lights burn above me. "She's gone?"

He only gives a slight nod, but I can tell that he's doing his best to keep his emotions inside.

"Oh, Lester." I sigh, reaching for his face. "I'm so sorry." Rubbing my thumbs underneath his eyes, I gather up the tears. "Tell me what happened."

It's hard for him to talk about, but he gives me the story anyway. Part of me is afraid to find out what she did to my leg and if it will heal well. Though, truthfully, I don't care much about the scars that will cover my flesh as soon as it does. Because it doesn't compare to the inner scars that are ingrained into Lester's being.

"I buried her in the forest," he tells me. "Just like she wanted. With the wolves and bunnies."

It hurts to talk, so I just nod as I hold his hand. I look around the room, noticing the odd, dark colors on the walls instead of the usual clean white. "Where are we? This doesn't look like a normal hospital."

He squeezes my hand. "I called Landon before I left home. I knew Rosemary would try to hurt you. I also knew we couldn't go to a normal emergency room because the cops would come to ask questions. Landon has contacts everywhere, so he flew over as soon as he could and took me to a doctor with a private practice."

"Your brother is here?"

"Yeah." He huffs a smile. "I contemplated calling your parents, too, but the doctor said you will be fine soon. The damage to your leg wasn't enough to put your life in danger. You've lost a lot of blood, but the doctor gave you a transfusion. And you'll need to rest for a while. But you're strong."

I lean on my elbows, trying to sit up. "I'd like to meet your brother."

"I'll go get him." He gives me one last kiss before he gets up and leaves the room. I take a breather, letting everything that happened sink in.

The recollection of Rosemary flaying off my skin is something that's going to haunt my nightmares for a very long time. The sound of the knife carving into my flesh was one the most awful things I've ever heard.

But most of all, it was the loss of control that did it. Being paralyzed, not being able to do anything but watch…

I've always wondered how Lester's victims felt in the moments he worked on them. Now I've had VIP tickets to that particular show and I can safely say that it is not fun.

It's going to take me some time to get over that.

Vague flashes of Lester and Rosemary talking and fighting bounce through my head. I kept waking up, then passing out basically in the same heartbeat.

Something I do recollect well are Lester's wails of pain.

He had to kill his childhood best friend, the only person who ever knew what he truly went through. I know their connection was strong and it breaks my heart that he had to end her life.

He did that for me. To save me.

I can't help but feel some guilt over that.

What if I hadn't been in the picture? Would they have reconnected and become killing buddies? Would they maybe have fallen in love?

Staring unseeingly at the ceiling, I'm pulled out of my thoughts when someone clears their throat. My eyes flash to where it's coming from, and I let out a loud gasp as I stare straight into the eyes of the man I love. Only he's not the man I love.

"Holy fucking beachball tits," I squeak. "You look exactly the same."

It's like Lester cut off his long brown hair and combed it backward in style, then dressed up in an expensive suit. Same sturdy build, with muscled arms that are visible even through his clothes, and the same dark brown, hooded eyes and sculpted face with delicious lips.

It's only because I'm so in love and never want anyone besides Lester again that I don't suggest having a threesome with these hot twins.

Lester's brother walks toward me and takes my hand in his, softly shaking it. "Daisy." He smiles, giving me a peek at straight white teeth. "It's nice to meet you. I've heard a hell of a lot about you."

Squinting my eyes, I lock them with Lester, who is leaning against the doorframe. "Only good things, I hope."

"Of course. My brother is completely smitten with you. A little obsessed, actually."

Biting my lower lip, I try to suppress my smile. "Well, I'm a little obsessed with him, too."

He chuckles. "So I've heard."

"I wish you could've met me at a better time. One where I didn't look like I've been eaten by a giant monster and then shit back out. I must look like hell."

Landon laughs, and Lester immediately steps forward and gets to the other side of my bed. "You're always beautiful, Arcadia."

"When you're all better, you two should come over to my new house in Las Vegas. It'd make for a nice vacation. I'd say both of you could use it. You know, after everything."

"Right on," I say agreeably, smiling first at him, then at Lester.

We stay like that all afternoon. Landon and I get to know each other better and he tells me fun stories about the party days in their twenties. He leaves the day after, while Lester and I stay in the clinic for a few more days as I heal.

I call my mom to tell her that I'm in Alabama for a short trip and let her know that I'm doing well. She says Dad is still upset and misses me so much, and that she hopes we can make up soon.

After staring death in the face, there's nothing I want more.

I take a deep breath as I step through the front door of my parents' house. The dogs instantly greet me by jumping up my legs and smothering me with kisses, and Mom takes me in a deep embrace.

"Hi, honey," she mumbles against my ear. "I've missed you."

"Missed you too, Mom." My arms wrap tightly around her waist as I snuggle my nose in her neck.

"Your daddy's in the garden. He has some things to say to you, okay? I hope you'll hear him out."

I nod before I pull out of her hug and do my best to walk normally, not letting her see the damage of my leg. I'm wearing loose-fitting jeans and my thigh is wrapped up with bandages that Lester changes daily. It's healing well, and the doctor was able to save most of the skin, including the initials I carved there. Once it heals completely, I'll always have three very large scars there in a rectangle shape, but I can live with that.

I find my father in the garden, sitting on a chair with a cigarette in his hand. He seems to be lost in his own mind as he looks up at the sky, his upper body covered by a warm coat because it's still winter.

"Dad," I say, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Instantly sitting up, he meets my eyes. "Hi, mo nighean ."

His expression is melancholy, and he's hesitant to get off his chair to meet me halfway. I grab a chair instead, scraping it over the brick ground to place it next to him before I take a seat.

We both stare ahead at a large bush, neither of us confident enough to meet the other's eyes. After a few minutes of silence, he takes a deep breath and says, "I'm sorry. I may have overreacted a little."

A loud snort escapes me and we lock eyes as I stare at him in disbelief. "A little? Dad, you tried to kill my boyfriend."

His tongue trails over his lower lip as he ponders, before taking a deep drag of his cigarette. "I still want to. But your mother will kill me if I try anything."

I cross my arms with sass. "Good to know she always has my back."

"I never meant to upset you," he continues, reaching forward to grab my cheek in his hand. He softly squeezes it, the corner of his lip tipping up. "I always just want you to be safe. Sometimes it drives me nuts to have a daughter as great as you. I see danger lurking in every corner. And just like I would for your mom, I'd happily kill every bastard that dares to do you wrong."

"But, Dad, Lester would never do me wrong. I love him and he loves me."

His nose scrunches up at that thought, but he shakes it off. "I know you've always been advanced for your age. Way ahead of your time, to my dismay. But he's your professor, sweetheart. It doesn't sit right with me." He finishes his cigarette, then puts it out on the ashtray on the armrest.

"I understand why you're worried, but I think if you two just meet, you'll find him to be interesting and kind. He's a good man, Dad. He might be an unconventional choice, but so are you."

He cocks an amused eyebrow, reaching inside his pocket for another cigarette. Lighting it, he takes a deep drag before he blows the smoke out into the cold air. "You've got me there."

I take the cigarette from him and take a drag myself. "I'll always be your little girl, you know."

Nodding his head, he swallows. "Professor Gilbert told me that Dr. Beaumont mistreated you. Is that true? Did I really miss that?"

Shit . I never wanted him to know about that, nor my mom. Because I know they'd try to blame themselves.

"I knew that what he did was bad and I know what you must be thinking. But he didn't do anything against my will, Dad. He really did help me, in a way." I hand the bud back to him. "He's gone now, so there's no use to dwell on the past. You can't kill him for it. He's been six feet deep in the ground for months."

I can see the emotional torment flash over his face as he stares ahead, and I get up from my chair to wrap my arms around him from the back. My chin rests on his shoulder and he takes my hand in his, brushing his thumb over it. "I'm sorry, mo luaidh. "

"Me too," I quietly say. "You know I didn't mean anything of what I said, don't you? I was just so angry with you. I don't believe any of the things that flew out of my mouth. I've always been thankful to you and Mom for adopting me. And besides the fact that you go a little crazy sometimes, you've always been the best father I could wish for."

He lets out a groan underneath his breath. "I just love you so goddamn much."

"I know." I give him a kiss on his cheek. "I love you too, Dad."