I knew I hadn’t been a saint, but I couldn’t think of a thing I’d done to deserve this darkness. I’d never been particularly religious, but surely, if he existed, God wouldn’t send me to hell. I’d already been there, thanks to Ally. I just wished that if I were in hell, I could bring her with me. In my opinion, she deserved it more than I did.

“Emma, can you hear me?”

That sounded like Jesse. I smiled. If I could hear his voice, then this darkness wasn’t hell. It couldn’t be.

“Emma, it’s Daddy. Open your eyes, baby girl. We miss you.”

I really must be dead. There was no way that my mom and dad were both talking to me. For that to take place, they would have to be in the same room together. That hadn’t happened since right before they separated when I was younger.

“I just saw her eyes move again. Someone get the doctor.” My mom’s voice echoed through my head.

“It’s time to wake up, Emma. Come on, baby. You’re safe here. No one will hurt you.”

There was Jesse’s voice again.

I didn’t want to open my eyes, but I wanted to see him. It was probably just a trick of Ally’s, but it didn’t matter. I’d do anything just to see him again for a minute. I didn’t care if he wasn’t real.

I tried to open my eyes, but they refused to cooperate with me. They weren’t ready to face the world just yet. I decided that I wasn’t either. I’d much rather stay dead and never face the pain again. I let myself relax as I slipped into a peaceful oblivion.

“It’s been a week. Why isn’t she awake yet?”

“Emma went through a lot, Mr. Daniels. She needs time to heal, both mentally and physically. When she’s ready to wake up, she will.”

“You’re sure that nothing is wrong?”

“We ran tests when we brought her in. As you’re well aware of, she was beaten. Despite the condition of her body externally, she has no internal injuries. She had a concussion, but that was it. Everything else came back normal.”

“I just want her to wake up. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do to make that happen.”

“There’s nothing you can do, Mr. Daniels. You just have to wait for her to be ready. She has to want to come back to you. She’ll be ready one day. It could be tomorrow, next week, next month, but eventually, she will. I imagine that she’s trying to shut everything out to protect herself from what happened to her.”

“Emma, if you can hear me, I need you to wake up. You’re starting to scare me. I just want to see those beautiful eyes of yours.”

Jesse. It sounded as if his voice was muffled, like I was underwater. I tried to concentrate on it to break the surface. I just wanted to see him. That wasn’t too much to ask. I clawed my way out of the darkness. I have to see him. The darkness had protected me, but I was tired of it. I want light. I want him.

My eyes slowly opened. I blinked a few times as I tried to adjust to the brightness. After spending an eternity in darkness, the light was hard to accept.

“Jesse?” My voice came out as a hoarse whisper.

“Emma! You’re awake.”

His features slowly came into view as he hovered over me, blocking some of the light. All I could do was stare at him. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“Where am I?” It hurt so much to talk. I felt like gravel was embedded in my throat.

“You’re in the hospital. You’ve been here for almost two weeks.”

I closed my eyes as I tried to remember how I’d ended up here. I could remember nothing besides the chair Ally had tied me to. My eyes squeezed shut as I relived her hitting me, cutting me.

“Ally?”

“She’s gone. She fell off the bridge at the same time you did. Andy tried to find her, but he couldn’t. The water was too dark. It’s a miracle that I found you.”

Bridge? Water? I tried to force my memories to appear, but still nothing came to me.

“I don’t remember the bridge,” I whispered.

“What do you remember?” he asked softly.

“Water, first. Please.”

His eyes widened. “Of course. I’m an idiot. Let me find the nurse.”

He was gone a split second later. Before I could even process the fact that he had disappeared, he was back. A woman appeared with him, carrying a pitcher. She smiled down at me.

“Emma, my name is Adrienne. How are you feeling?”

“I need water.”

“Of course. I’m sure your throat feels raw.”

I nodded as I watched her pick up a small cup from the table and then pour water into it. She pushed the button on my bed, so I was almost in a sitting position. I opened my mouth and sucked the water through a straw. I’d never felt something so amazing in my entire life. When the cup was empty, she poured more water and held the cup as I drank.

My throat still hurt, but it was bearable now. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. How do you feel?”

“I hurt everywhere, but it’s not as bad as it was when I went to sleep.”

“You had several injuries when you came in, so we have an IV in with pain medication to help you.”

“What did she do to me?” I asked. I was terrified of what I didn’t remember.

The nurse frowned. “What do you remember, Emma?”

“A chair and a…a knife. She cut me. I remember her hitting me when she came to Jesse’s house and then later when I pushed her down the stairs.”

The nurse’s eyes widened.

“I was trying to get away. I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“You were trying to protect yourself. Given your condition, it’s obvious that she deserved it.” She smiled. “That’s off the record, of course.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you remember anything else?” Jesse asked from beside me.

I struggled to see through the fog that clouded my thoughts. I needed to remember. I needed to know what else she’d done. She’d put me in a car trunk. I recalled the movement of the car as it drove over potholes. I remembered cold and darkness.

“My mouth was covered, so I couldn’t scream. I remember the trunk of a car, but then I can’t recall anything else.”

“Take your time, Emma. You went through a lot,” Jesse said as he took my hand in his.

I looked down as he joined our fingers together. I closed my eyes as I tried to remember the source of the coldness I’d felt.

“You were there. You tried to help me.”

He nodded. “I was.”

“Andy, too. She made me get out of the car even though it hurt. It hurt so much,” I whimpered as I remembered the pain. “My shoulder took most of the impact when she dropped me to the ground. We were on a bridge. She pushed me to the edge when she saw you and Andy. You tried to reason with her, but she wouldn’t let me go. You ran toward me, but she pushed me over before you could get to us in time. The water was so cold. I don’t remember anything after that.”

Jesse lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. “I went in after you, but I couldn’t find you. I thought I was too late. Ally fell in, too, and Andy tried to save her, but he couldn’t find her. When I finally found you, you weren’t breathing. I almost lost you, Emma. I almost lost you.”

Tears ran down my cheeks as I stared up at him. We’d almost lost each other. Why had Ally done these things to me? Why had she hurt me so much? I remembered the cuts on my face. Unable to stop myself, I turned away from Jesse.

“Emma? What’s wrong?”

“My face,” I whispered. “She cut me. I must look horrible.”

He cupped my face and gently turned my head. “The cuts on your face were a lot shallower than the other ones. You still have black eyes, but the cuts have healed a lot while you’ve been asleep.”

“I’ll have scars.”

I wasn’t a particularly vain person, but the cuts bothered me. For the rest of my life, I’d see them every single time I looked in the mirror. They would be a reminder to both Jesse and me of what she’d done to me.