***Trigger Warning***

As you might have suspected, I had a million questions for Jeremiah after his big surprise. He informed me that next week we would be flying out to Australia for a week, changing hotels every day or so to avoid any prying eyes. When he told me all this, I was too excited to fight with him anymore. It was clear that he put a lot of thought into this and that he did it for my happiness. He was thinking of someone other than himself and I can't tell you how refreshing that is.

With my eager mind fighting against me, I do my best to sleep. I'm going to be spending the whole day with Jeremiah and that tends to be taxing. I've made up my mind that I'm going to enjoy it no matter what. How could I be mad when I was going to see my friends and family in just one short week?

It's much darker when I finally open my eyes. I wake up to Jeremiah talking in a hushed tone. I could hear him but didn't see him. I throw on my robe and quietly get up, following his voice.

I grab a cup and press it against against the door to hear him better. "Tell her she doesn't have a choice, I leave next week. I have to get this done now!" I peak through the crack in the bathroom doorway. He's fixing his hair, his face is red from anger.

"If she doesn't listen to you, let me know and I'll deal with it." He says before hanging up the phone.

My mouth moves before my mind does. "Everything okay?"

Jeremiah looks at me as if he's a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. "Yeah, just work."

I step into the bathroom. "What happened at work?"

"One of the girls who works for me is trying to call off." He pulls me against him, exposing me to the smell of an outdoor campfire. I liked the smell, it always reminded me of family camping trips. "Which is bad because she's very popular and I have a guy from out of town coming just to see her."

I make my way to the sink to brush my teeth. "Why's she's trying to call off? Is she okay?"

He joins me. "Ever since she got a new boyfriend she barely comes in."

I chuckle. "Well, it wouldn't be a cakewalk to be in a relationship while working as a stripper. Can you imagine how insane you'd be if it were me?"

He goes to say something but the sound of my phone ringing cuts him off.

I answer it. "Lyra speaking."

"Hey Lyra, I have some bad news." Lucy's deep voice comes through the line.

I hate when sentences start like that. "Go ahead, I'm bracing myself."

She yells at someone on the other side of the line. "Our boy in 209 is throwing a fit. He keeps asking for you."

"What?" I gasp, making Jeremiah's eyes widen. "Why me?"

"Don't know."

I'm about to say I'll come in just to cure my curiosity but then I remember I'm supposed to spend the day with Jeremiah.

I bite my lip. "I'm sorry Lucy, I really can't come in today. I have plans I can't reschedule. Tell him I said to behave himself and I'll see him soon."

"Okay, I'll tell him. But I don't think he's going to like it. Enjoy your day off kiddo." Lucy is probably the only person in the world I'd let call me kiddo.

I speak right as the call ends, before J can say anything. "That was work, a patient was asking for me."

"Why you?"

I start combing through my hair. "I have no idea. They're probably confusing me with someone else, it happens." I'm careful to leave out the part about who the patient was.

He seems to accept my answer and continues getting ready. "I want to take you out to Serephina's."

My mouth instantly waters. Serephina's is my favorite restaurant. It's this really fancy Italian place Jeremiah hates going to because you have to dress up to even get in. I'm shocked he wants to take me. "Really?"

He grins. "Absolutely. It's been so long since we've been there. I think it'll be the perfect way to get us back on the same page."

I hug him. "I'll get ready now! Thank you!"

"Of course! All I ask is that you wear that gorgeous little black dress you know I love."

"We'll see." I tease. I go to my room and throw on the dress. I do a full face of makeup, excited to have a reason to get this dressed up.

When I'm done getting ready I practically run out to the front door to meet Jeremiah. He's wearing his black Lou Vuitton shirt and blue jeans paired with his Lou Vuitton belt. He looked good, but I thought he'd be wearing a suit or at least dress pants. How's he going to get in?

When he sees me, his face falls. "Don't hate me."

I felt an ache in my stomach. I had a feeling I knew where this was going. "You're not taking me to Serephina's are you?"

He looks down. "No. I'm sorry, my work just called and I really need to go in."

I keep my composure. "I told my work I couldn't go in less than a hour ago. Can't anyone else handle it?"

"I'm sorry, it has to be me." He kisses me on the cheek. "I'll try to hurry home and maybe we'll still get to go."

"It's okay. Bye Jeremiah." I walk away without giving him the chance to respond. I don't know why I believe him about anything anymore. He's so unreliable. Like, I get that work comes up and sometimes you can't do anything about it, but I told my work no so why couldn't he? He didn't even try.

I get out of the dress and throw on my scrubs. I refuse to wait for him. If he's going to work, then I should too. I don't even bother removing the makeup, I spent way too long on it.

I wait for him to pull out, then I get in my car and drive to work. I imagine all the ways I can kill Jeremiah on the way there.

When I walk through the doors, I hear Lucy yelling and I run to her aide.

The scene I walk into shouldn't have been as funny as it was. Lucy has her hands up in surrender, standing by the door. I wonder why until I see Brexton pointing a gun at the older security guard who is handcuffed to the hospital bed. The other two security guards are shaking in the corner. His voice is as calm as I remember it. "If you don't shut up I'll shoot you right between the legs buddy."

I laugh and cross my arms. The look of relief on Lucy's face when she sees me makes me laugh even harder. "Someone really missed me."

Brexton whips his head around, his eyes sparkling. "You made it! I thought you weren't coming."

"It's a good thing I did. Now can you do me a favor and put the gun down?"

He smirks and lowers the gun. "For now."

"And let him go, please." Everyone else in the room is looking at me like I'm some sort of wizard as he frees the guard from his handcuffs. "Thank you."

Brexton walks towards me. Seeing him standing catches me off guard. He's tall, very tall. He's also so much more alive compared to the last time I saw him. I'm guessing the half dose of Ativan really helped. "Do all these people have to be here?"

I take inventory of the people in the room. "Most of them."

Lucy chuckles. "I'm out. You got this Lyra?"

I nod. "I've got this." I meet the eyes of the man who was attacked. "Why don't you go take a break, get a coffee or something?"

He looks more than happy to oblige. "Probably not a bad idea." He gives Brexton a mean look as he leaves the room.

My anxiety rises as I realize that I'm more defenseless now with just two security guards. I don't why I thought that was a smart idea. Brexton just proved what he's capable of and now I made myself more vulnerable.

As if he senses how nervous I am, he goes to his bed and sits down. "I'm sorry. I just needed to see you again."

The raw sincerity in his voice makes my stupid heart race. Why was he doing this to me? I don't usually negotiate with terrorist but I couldn't help but like this guy. There's something sweet about him. "Why did you need to see me?"

"I wanted to thank you for helping me yesterday. I know you're the one who got my meds changed so that I'm not half dead." He shows me his wrists. "You also saved my wrist."

I smile. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Can I ask you something?"

The way he's looking at me makes my heartbeat do crazy things. "Sure."

"Do you believe I raped and killed all those women?"