“Oh my god! What did you do to him?!” she screamed, over and over. “You killed him! You fucking killed him!”
I moved closer to Ember as I started to feel the places on my own body that took a beating. My eye was definitely blackened, and blood dripped from my nose. Ignoring both that and Kinsley, I moved to the bed and focused on my girl. Grabbing her clothes off the ground, I put them back on her, wincing as my shoulder protested. I didn’t stop until her body was completely covered.
Kinsley’s volume had now maxed out, and the fact she hadn’t even noticed Ember pushed me over the edge. I screamed at her, thickening my voice with venom. “As much as I don't want to, I understand that you are probably a victim in this as well. But the truth is,youare as much at fault for what’s happened to her.”
Kinsley’s face crumpled as realization crashed in. A fresh sob making its way out as she forced words into a question. “Wh-Why were her clothes off?”
I shook my head at her. “You don’t get to ask fucking questions,” I snapped. “Not until you understand the damage of what you and that pathetic piece of shit have done. This is something that she will now have to carry for the rest of her life because youthoughtyou knew him. If you choose to call the police over this, just remember that you’ll have to explain to them what kind of a man he was. You’ll have to admit you loved a rapist. If you're smart, you’ll do both of us a favor and use whatever money you can access to clean this up. After that,plan to stay out of her lifeforever.”
Kinsley looked from Ember to Bodhi and then threw her body over his, clearly making her choice. Picking Ember up and ignoring everything else around me, I carried her through the carnage and straight to my car. I had to fight myself to physically let her go, even though I knew it was just to lay her in the seat next to me. That feeling stayed with me as we drove away. I kept looking over at her every few seconds, as if she’d disappear.
Activating the speakers through my phone, I called my brother.
“Hey.”
“Greyson,” I said, trying to keep my voice low. “I need you to go to Ember’s place for me and grab everything from one room. It's the one with a stripped bed. Don’t ask questions to anyone there. Just go in, find the tan room, and grab everything you see of hers. Clothes, bags, photos, all of it. Bring it to my house when I ask for it. There’s a body there and a woman with it. Ask if she needs help disposing of it. If she’s not there, feel free to light the place on fire.”
There was no hesitation from him. “Give me 45 minutes.”
Ending the call with a click, I sat in the stillness. Looking down, I eyed my hands that not only had blood but pieces of tissue on them.
Will she let me hold her with them? Or will she run for good?
Glancing over at Ember, my eyes lingered on her frame and then her face. I hated how fragile she looked. She was nothing close to that word. She was thefarthestthing from it. Withevery rise and fall of her chest, my haze lifted. A few more in, and I finally let myself breathe. As oxygen flooded me, so did a unique sense of clarity.
There was not a goddamn thing in this world that would ever touch her again. I would make sure of it.
When I pulled up to the house, I let the car run for a few minutes as I sat there looking down at the blood that covered me. Almost transfixed, my eyes followed the drips that fell down onto my seat and floor. Watching as it puddled, I'm reassured that there wasn't anything I wouldn’t do for that woman next to me. My eyes stayed glued to the crimson color as I dialed another number, the only person I knew that had any kind of medical experience. The ringing pulled my thoughts back to reality and I looked over at her, just as Kyrin answered.
“What's up? I'm in the middle of my break and I—”
“She was drugged Kyrin. I need to know what to do to help her. She's asleep.” The panic was definitely there—even I can hear the way it's laced into my voice, despite my best efforts to keep it hidden.
“Fuck man, hold on.” There's some shuffling as he moves to a quieter area. “Okay, depending on what she was given and the dosage, it can be anywhere from two to three hours before she wakes up. Watch her closely. If it goes much past that, you'll have to administer an IV of reversal agents.”
When I answered him, I'm pissed off at my own words. “I don't have the things needed to do that.”
“It's a simple IV starter kit. I can bring one now if you want it,but her body will need time to process through whatever drug is in her system. What the fuck happened man?”
I don't have any desire to answer that question, especially when it's not my story to tell. “I'll call if she doesn't improve. Keep your phone on, yeah?”
“Yeah,” is all he says before the line disconnects.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door and made my way around the car to get Ember. Once it's opened, she's cradled against my chest. The blood instantly smeared over her skin, but I didn't even think about that. His blood didn't matter, just like his death didn’t matter—only she did.
Once inside, I moved straight to my room and placed her on my bed. I trusted Kyrin and his knowledge, which meant I didn't need to worry about triggering her right now. By the time she woke up, we wouldn't be anywhere near a bedroom, not until she could handle that. Carefully, I stripped her down and replaced her clothes with clean ones of my own—the ones she would always belong in. Tucking her into my comforter, I moved to the bathroom and positioned myself so I had full sight of her. Quickly stripping out of my shirt and pants, I stepped into the shower and scrubbed my skin as I counted her breaths. Her chest rose a total of sixteen times by the time the water was running clear. By then, most of the blood had washed down the drain and I worked on washing everything else away. As soon as I was done, I was out and dressed beside her.
I sat next to her on the mattress and straightened my back against the headboard. Moving my hand over hers, I gentlygrazed my thumb along the skin on her knuckles. I knew that the only answer was to wait, to sit in this silence until she was back with me. As a last ditch effort to calm myself, I started talking.
“About a year after my mom died, Greyson got really sick. We thought he had caught some weird stomach flu but Kyrin researched the symptoms when they got worse. He was convinced Greyson was severely dehydrated. After working a double, I came home and figured out rather quickly that Kyrin had taught himself how to administer an IV. I don't even know where he had gotten the supplies, but it was one of the first times I had seen him actually be serious about something. After another hour, Greyson had stopped vomiting and was able to hold down water. Kyrin slept in his room that night.” I took another breath and held her limp hand, letting my mind move to another memory. “That year on Easter, Greyson found a chocolate bunny in the freezer. He tried to cut it, and the knife ripped into his thumb. That was the month that Kyrin learned how to stitch. It wasn't long after that, I figured out he was volunteering a few hours at a hospital to swipe their supplies—all because we had no health insurance. I made him promise to stop and found another job that offered benefits.” On the end of that sentence, a small uncomfortable laugh escaped me. I paused my story when I realized she still had the inept ability to make me open up, even unconscious.
For the next little while, I just continued talking. I started with my childhood and went from there. I reached for everypiece I could of myself and offered it to her. Even if she didn't hear, even if she didn't remember, I wasn't going to let her be the only one that felt uncomfortable. I talked until I'd carved myself out for her. Every fear, every dream, every thought I've had——including the ones I originally had about her. Once I finished, I just sat with her, tracing her fingers.
Soon, an hour and a half passed and my phone vibrated with a text from Kyrin.
Any updates?
I went to type my response when I felt it, her hand giving a slight flinch. In my head I thanked her, relieved I wouldn't have to kick my brothers ass for poking her with needles.
