Endless

ENDLESS Lynn Rush FHL Press Also By W INGED TRILOGY Crossed Clipped Crowned TOUCH OF FROST TRILOGY Frostbite Absolute Zero Cryostorm VIOLET NIGHT TRILOGY Violet Midnight Violet Dawn Violet Storm CONTEMPORARY NOVELS SURVIVORS SERIES Limitless Fearless Endless TWIN RIVER HIGH SERIES Coverup Crush Project Personality Chaos Theory WOODHAVEN HIGH SERIES In The Penalty Box Crossing The Line KENT ACADEMY SERIES Homecoming & Hookups Copyright Copyright © 2023 by Lynn Rush, LLC All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Copy Edited by Nancy CantorProofread by Chip HCover by Lynn Rush, LLC. Contents Content Warning Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Chapter Thirty-Five Chapter Thirty-Six Chapter Thirty-Seven Chapter Thirty-Eight Chapter Thirty-Nine Chapter Forty Chapter Forty-One Chapter Forty-Two Chapter Forty-Three Chapter Forty-Four Chapter Forty-Five Chapter Forty-Six Chapter Forty-Seven Chapter Forty-Eight Chapter Forty-Nine Chapter Fifty Chapter Fifty-One Chapter Fifty-Two Chapter Fifty-Three Chapter Fifty-Four Chapter Fifty-Five Chapter Fifty-Six Chapter Fifty-Seven Chapter Fifty-Eight Chapter Fifty-Nine Chapter Sixty Chapter Sixty-One EPILOGUE What's Next? Sneak Peek into EXILED Thank You! About Author Content Warning This book deals with some issues that may trigger an emotional response in those who have experience with human trafficking, sexual abuse, drug addiction, gang violence, OCD, flashbacks, mental health struggles, anxiety, death of a parent, and depression. Specific chapters to point out are (but not limited to): 7, 28, 48 I just want you to know that this story is one of empowerment and overcoming dire circumstances; however, I would never want you to risk your mental health by reading this if these topics are still sensitive to you. Dedication You. You are a survivor. You are strong. You are loved. Chapter One Lizzie One. Two. Three. Three numbers that ruled my life now. Or any derivative of. Three. Six. Nine. Those worked, well. But only in batches of three. Couldn’t count straight through, disaster would happen. I didn’t know exactly what disaster, but I knew something bad would happen. I had to keep counting. Coming here every day and counting to Damon. Then he’d wake up. God, I’m stupid. I slapped my book shut and sat back in the hard, unforgiving hospital chair, staring at a man I didn’t even know. But for some reason I had to be here. Every single day. Whether I counted to him, read to him, or watched movies with him. I needed to be here. I’d once been alone in a hospital, in a coma no less, with no one to sit with me. My parents had been killed. I’d been all alone. Damon’s mom died, which landed him in here, beaten to a pulp. He’d tried to attack the guy who killed his mother. I didn’t blame him, but now he was stuck here. I brushed my finger along the raised skin on his temple, then to the other scar below his left eye. The scars were mostly healed by now, but the evidence of the severity of the attack he’d suffered would remain forever. The rest of his pale skin was smooth. I insisted on having him shaved every day when the nurses bathed him. His big brother, Drey, said he’d like that. But I fought Drey when he tried to have Damon’s gauges removed from his ears, and his other piercings. Didn’t feel right to make those choices when Damon wasn’t around to voice his opinion. And, I kind of liked them. Which was totally strange. They were so thug-like, but that was Damon, I guess. If only he’d wake up. He’d been asleep for nearly a month! I scrubbed my face and sat up, taking a deep breath. The scent of rubbing alcohol and cold. Yeah, cold smelled. And I knew. I, too, had been in a coma before. Years ago, and only for a week or so, but it screwed me up. Drey and his wife Sarah came by every day. I absolutely swooned every time I saw them together. They had such a wicked-awesome romance it made me jealous. She was a former sex slave who escaped. Drey had left the gang life after having lost his little baby and the baby’s mother to a drug overdose. They survived it all and managed to find true love. They came every day as well, but they also had lives and couldn’t sit here all day like I could. I didn’t have a life. I wasn’t sure I ever would. But at least I’d finally gotten my butt out here. New York was a prison for me in more ways than the agoraphobia. The memories. The fear. The… I shook my head and reached for my water. “Want some, Damon?” Waiting a beat in case he answered me this time, I took a drink. “You know, my voice is going to go hoarse if you don’t wake up soon. I need someone to talk back to me so my vocal cords don’t poop out.” Staring at his lips, I had to smile. They were pale and pasty, yes, but still full. I imagined a slight curve to the right side as he let out a laugh at me talking to him day in and day out. A total stranger. Yes, it was weird. Then again, so was I. “What movie are we watching tonight, bubba?” Silence. Not one single movement. “Vin Diesel it is, then.” Again. He royally kicked ass, and I need a little kick-ass going on right now. Who knows, maybe if I tweeted out to him he’d come kick Damon’s ass. I laughed to