Waiting For You

Chapter Thirty-six

"At least that's something," I replied with a huff. He nodded and frowned seconds before our attention was drawn to a sound out of the room.

It was loud footsteps followed by a softer squeaky noise. With an alert expression, my father walked in, holding tightly Aurora's small hand in his. A silent sigh of relief left my father's lips and Aurora ran up to me, her hand breaking free from my father's grasp.

"You're awake!" she yelled, climbing onto my bed. I laughed at her and reached out to pinch her cheek.

"Did you doubt me?" I asked her with a playful pout.

"No," she stated, puffing her chest, "I just missed listening to your stories..."

I smiled at her and looked over her head at my father. He was still standing by the door, looking at me with teary eyes. Slowly he walked closer to me and sat down by a chair next to me, reaching out to grasp me from the shoulder.

"You really scared us," he said with a smile. I shook my head.

"Scaring each other runs in the family," I told him and snorted when he rolled his eyes at me.

While I felt pretty rested, excluding the persistent headache, everyone else looked exhausted. Aurora had fallen asleep in seconds after she lied down on the edge of my bed. My Dad and Alex had been harder to convince to go to sleep. In the end, after Dad decided to close his eyes, I gave up on trying to get Alex to rest. He seemed as if he was scared that if he closed his eyes I would be gone.

Morning came soon and the police arrived to get my statement about the attack. Since it was public and there had been many witnesses, my point of view didn't matter in the bigger picture. But the cops needed all their bases covered before they prosecuted Matt. Grasping the moment, my father went ahead to ask the police how he could get a restraining order from Matt for me.

As afternoon approached, Dad decided to give Aurora to Laura for the night, so I was alone with Alex for a bit until my dad returned. Dr. Sterling arrived soon after that, asking Alex to leave us alone for a second as he ran some tests. With a pout Alex took off, mumbling something about getting a cup of coffee. A couple of minutes later, when I was alone, I heard someone open my door.

"Well, that was fast," I mentally said to Alex, keeping my eyes closed and letting out a relaxed breath.

"What?" Alex called back confused. I opened my eyes only to see Alex's father walk inside, closing the door behind him.

"Alex, your father –"

I felt as if a brick wall fell between our bond, making a shiver ran down my spine. His father stopped walking by the foot of my bed, pulling out his phone to set it by my feet. He sized me up with a glare and then took a deep breath.

"I imagine you feel the interruption of your bond with my son," he said, his voice flat and calculated. "In this day and age, these cellphones are pretty handy. You'd be surprised by all the things that can be found in the App Store. My new favorite application. It's one that gives off waves that interrupt soulmate bonds. The same waves schools use during exams and tests".

I kept on staring at him, not sure what to reply. Slowly, I sat up, my eyes not once breaking contact with his. I felt as if one wrong move, one wrong word, would be the end of me.

"Interesting thing the soulmate bond," he went on, folding his hands before his chest. "Mighty, natural, unbreakable. Were you aware that my wife isn't my first soulmate?" I frowned.

"Alex never told me that".

"Why would he? We never told him or Chris. But Pamela is my third soulmate. She's my third soulmate by choice," he replied, making my eyebrows shot up.

"By choice?" I repeated.

"Yes, my first two soulmates are pretty alive. Both of them contained qualities that didn't match mine; views that differed from mine. So I found a way, the only way, to break the unbreakable soulmate bond".

"Congrats," I snapped, tired by his game. "What do you want with me though?"

"Hunter Anderson, son of Aaron and Estelle Anderson, what I want is for you to get yourself out of my son's life. I want you to break your bond with Alexander".

I had to do a double-take on his serious expression. There was no way he was serious. What kind of father...? What kind of sick motherfucker...? What kind of human would ask for something like...? I began shaking my hand and he raised his hand in an act to stop me.

"Don't waste your breath. Just tell me one number. Just tell me how much money you want in order to break my son's heart," he said dismissively. I couldn't help but laugh at him, as I shook my head.

"Yeah, I can see now why your son hates you so much," I muttered. "I wouldn't break up with Alex even if you offered me all the money in the world".

Alex's father squinted at me, ready to say something, but he didn't get the chance. Alex burst into the room with a paled expression, fear embedded deep in his features. He was heaving, the fact that he ran here being clear. His eyes hardened as his eyes fell on his father.

"What are you doing here?" he asked through gritted teeth.

With a half bored expression, his father reached and took his phone from my bed. He shut off the app that was blocking our bond and then he walked past his son.

"So now you don't even talk to me?" Alex asked, as his father opened the door.

"You made it clear that we are not on speaking terms anymore," Mr. Richardson replied.

"I made it clear?" Alex question and laughed bitterly. His father shook his head and left the room without saying another word. "What did he want?" Alex asked me, his annoyance with his father still clear in his tone.

I hesitated for a moment, but then I realized that it was better if he knew. I wasn't about to cover up his father's behavior.

"He wanted me to break up with you. Break your heart, so that our bond would break. He even offered me money..."

Alex seemed like he was about to explode. His paled expression was now one filled with anger and rage. He had walked closer to me after his father left and so I managed to grab him by the sleeve of his shirt before he ran after him to do something he'd regret.

"He's not worth it Alex..." I muttered to him through our bond so that he would calm down. "Just let him walk away".