Cursed Heart (Cursed #2.5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

right now. It fills my heart with hope—for what, I’m not sure—but I’ll take whatever she’ll allow me to give her.
    Allowing her some space, I move from the bed back to the chair. Resting my feet up on the bed, I try to relax, waiting for the moment she’ll need me. Closing my eyes for a brief moment, I think back to the times that I wanted so badly to have that one person in my life. Growing up, all I ever found were people that wanted to push me away. No one has ever needed me the way I needed them. The women that served as my foster mothers were cruel, abusive, and only wanted me around when there were household chores. The men that acted as fathers pushed me around, belittled me, and made me feel as though I was worthless. My self esteem as a child and adolescent was slim to none.  I can only thank God that I got out and on my own when I did. Now that I’m an adult, and looking back, I want nothing more than to show love and compassion to that one person that will need me more than I could ever need her.
    Opening my eyes and looking next to me, I realize that this woman could be that very one.
    I peer to the side of the room as the curtain slides to the side and one of the ER doctors walks in. Approaching Gretchen, he extends his hand to her with his introduction.  He asks her questions related to her pain, the symptoms she’s experiencing, and evaluates the bruises along her face and on the back of her head. Detailing the results of her scan, he confirms that she does have a severe concussion. The news of the tests builds more rage inside of me and the need to find the fucker who did this to her is intense.
    The conversation between the two is detailed and he ensures her that she’ll receive a prescription for the pain. As he’s explaining any additional side effects, Gretchen shows a sense of humor that surprises me. After all that she’s been through, she’s still able to smile, laugh, and look at the positive side of everything that has gone down.
    She truly is an inspiration—one that I should be able to follow and learn by. No matter what life throws at us, it’s important to think of the things that we have…right now I have her . She’s the rock that can pull me from my darkness and show me the light through those bright green eyes. There’s no question in my mind, I want her in my life, and she can help me become the man I want and need to be.
    As the doctor leaves the room, I move from the chair and stand next to her.
    “Are you always this way?” I ask in a curious tone.
    Scrunching her brows, she looks up at me with a confused expression.
    “What way?”
    “You’ve had one hell of a night, Gretchen, yet you’re still acting as though nothing has happened. Your responses are short, carefree, almost as if you don’t have a worry in the world.”
    I’m simply in awe with the way she’s handing everything.
    “You really don’t know me very well, Christian. I’m a high stress head case. Believe me, it’s best that you stay as far away from me and my shit as possible. You’ve been nothing but nice since I met you a few hours ago, but really, you can go home now. There’s no reason for you to stay here. I’m sure you have a life to get back to or someone that wants you back home.”
    Her words feel like a slap across my face and pain radiates down into my limbs. My heart pulls at my chest and a feeling of loss seeps into my pores. How could she possibly think that I don’t want to be here with her right now?
    I know I have nowhere else to be but by her side…she doesn’t know this, though.
    “As much as I don’t know you, Gretchen, you don’t know me, either. I have a lot of shit on my plate, too, and this place is the only escape I have. Believe me when I say this is the only room I want to be in right now. Didn’t you ever learn not to judge a book by its cover?”
    Rolling her eyes in my direction, she shakes her head at me.