Ever After by Heather McBride Read Free Book Online Page B

would not be happy at all with me falling in love with Corrine. I was fairly certain they would oppose any kind of relationship with her. It simply was unacceptable for someone like me to be with someone like her. I knew I was expected to keep with people that were like me. I knew I was breaking the rules and I didn’t care. I wasn’t exactly like any of the people in my family anyway.
     
    I had seen the kind of look Corrine gave me in other people’s eyes before. I had seen it more than I care to admit. It was a harsh mix of fear and confusion. Corrine was much the same but in a split second, the look in her eyes changed. She stared at me as if she’d known me forever, as if I was familiar to her. The way she clung to me when I took her home was an amazing feeling. I could tell she felt safe and secure in my arms as if nothing could ever harm her. I just hoped it wasn’t me who would end up harming her in the end.
     
    I would wait forever for her to wake up if I had to. It would be worth every second of waiting to look into her beautiful eyes just one more time. I would wait an eternity just to see that look of acceptance and desire. I was also desperately hoping the other thing I saw in her eyes was love. Our differences be damned. I could keep myself in check even though to be so close to her would no doubt be very difficult for me. I was willing to try… well, scratch that. I had no choice. I was in love with her and I had to be with her, it was beyond my control. I would only leave her if she told me to and I was wrong about the way she looked at me.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
    Awakening
     
     
     
    William studied me for a minute as I slowly woke up. I wasn’t even sure what to think of him being in my hospital room, at first. If it had been any other guy, just sitting there while I slept I would have freaked out. It wasn’t that way with William though; it made me happy to see him again. I didn’t feel awkward or self-conscious with him, which for me was very rare.
     
    “Are you feeling okay?” He asked as he got up, stretching his arms out.
     
    “I guess I’m sort of stiff.” I moved my shoulders and they felt like I had been laying there for years. “Gosh.” I whispered as I rubbed my stiff neck.
     
    “The doctors want to do some more tests. They can’t figure out what caused you to black out.” Concern filled his eyes. “You were really dehydrated too.” He noticed me eyeing the tubes in my arm with disgust.
     
    “What else is wrong with me?” I hated even to ask.
     
    “I was here for all of it so here it is,” he sighed. “They found four bruised ribs and of course a bad cut on your head. You got stitches in the back of your head and a cut on your left leg.”
     
    “I’m in bad shape then, and you said I have to have more tests to see what caused me to pass out by the river?”
     
    “Afraid so, they were waiting for you to wake up before they did anything more.”
     
    “Well, it could be worse.” I looked down at my hands, a bit embarrassed. “I could have woke up and you wouldn’t have been here.”
     
    “That wasn’t going to happen.” He smiled. “I knew since that day by the river that you needed me in your life. I hope that doesn’t sound weird. I don’t want to freak you out or anything.” He shook his head slightly. “I cannot explain it all really.” I could only smile and enjoy the fact that he was feeling exactly how I was.
     
    The same pull I felt toward him was affecting both of us. I had been afraid the feelings I was having now were merely one-sided. The intense, deep look in his eyes told me this was no game. The feelings returned seconds after I woke up. He was here and he needed me as much as I needed him. I didn’t even know his last name or where he was born, but I did know I loved him. I knew then, Gram’s vision had been