The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 206

"Mom..."

"Mom, please don't go..."

Hearing the quiet, desperate whispers escaping her lips, and seeing the clear tears sliding down her cheeks, Garrison's heart broke into a million pieces.

It wasn't until this exact moment that he realized Sloane was still trapped as that terrified, grieving ten-year-old girl who had lost her mother.

"Sloane... Sloane..." he whispered, holding her hand firmly. "Don't be afraid. I'm right here..."

Sloane's eyes snapped open.

The bright light temporarily blinded her. She gasped for air, her face drenched in tears, the pillow completely soaked beneath her. Someone was gripping her hand securely, their touch radiating warmth. She turned her head and saw Garrison.

He was sitting beside the bed, clutching her fingers in one hand while bracing his other arm beside her pillow. He leaned in close, looking as if he had been frozen in that exact position for hours. His eyes were bloodshot, a rough shadow of stubble dusted his jaw, and his lips were severely chapped. He looked more utterly ruined than she had ever seen him. But his eyes blazed with an intense relief, like a drowning man who had finally hit solid ground.

"You're awake."

"Yeah." The memories of everything that had happened came rushing back. The familiar, icy detachment returned to her face as she sat up and leaned back against the headboard. "How long... was I out?"

"Not long, less than two hours," Garrison replied softly. "I thought you were going to sleep a bit longer. Did you... have a nightmare?"

"Can you tell me what you were dreaming about?"

Sloane was genuinely taken aback. This was the very first time Garrison had ever tried to understand her nightmares. But she wasn't about to hand over her darkest secret; that wound belonged strictly to her.

"Garrison, why are you... here?" she asked, smoothly deflecting the question.

"To take you home."

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