The Last Time I Cried Your Name novel Chapter 186

Petty blacked out from the sharp pain in her stomach.

When she finally opened her eyes, she realized she was lying on a hospital bed.

Harris was right there, his hands braced on either side of her pillow. His voice was soft, like he was scared she might be startled. “How are you feeling?”

Petty’s gaze was still a little unfocused. She looked at Harris and needed a few seconds to pull herself out of her thoughts, to bring her mind back from the tree-lined roads of Misty Vale.

“How did I…”

“It’s probably a reaction to all the stress,” Harris said. Aaron had filled him in, at least a little.

Last time Petty was kidnapped, Aaron had answered her phone when Harris called. They’d crossed paths before. Plus, Aaron knew Harris was Petty’s friend and a decent guy, so he felt comfortable leaving her with him.

Petty’s eyelashes fluttered.

Trauma?

Her?

What kind of trauma did she even have?

She’d just found out the truth, that things between her and Franco were truly over. Even though she’d already decided she was going abroad, she never planned to get tangled up with him again anyway.

Thinking of Franco made her stomach hurt all over again.

Harris pulled the covers up around her shoulders. “You’ve just been under too much pressure. Try to get some rest.”

“I want to go home,” Petty whispered, her voice scratchy.

Aaron heard her and didn’t hesitate to step up. “Okay, Petty. Let me take you home now.”

He hadn’t chosen this hospital for any other reason except that, at the time, it was the closest one to Misty Vale.

Laura was actually a patient here too. If it hadn’t been urgent, he never would have brought Petty to this place. It just seemed to invite bad luck.

Once Hassan was gone, she hardly needed them anymore. Later, after starting martial arts with Malcom, the physical exhaustion made sleeping easy and she didn’t touch the pills.

But tonight, she knew—sleep just wasn’t going to come.

She still had to keep her strength up, needed the energy to train with Malcom, to protect herself and, like she’d said, to disappear from Franco’s world for good.

Still, Harris had told her last night that her physical exam was normal. Was all this pain just her body reacting to stress?

She remembered when she first got sleeping pills from the doctor. The doctor had hinted gently at a few things to watch out for.

His words were soft and careful, but Petty knew what he meant. He was talking about depression, warning her about symptoms that showed up in her body.

The next morning, when she woke up, she saw a message on WeChat, one she’d missed by half an hour.

It was from Laura—a photo.

The sunlight slipped through the gap in the curtains, lighting up the hospital room. On the sofa sat a man, quiet and elegant, his eyes closed, leaning his head back. He looked like he’d spent the whole night keeping watch right there.