Page 89 of Born to Scar

“Sir, she isn’t alone.”

He shakes his head. “She needs us.”

“She needs doctors,” the nurse argues.

“I’m not saying she doesn’t. All I’m saying is that she needs us, too,” he says in a desperate, pleading whisper.

“Give her some time, Jay. That’s all she needs, man,” I reason with him, pulling him away from the window.

Every eyeball in that waiting room is staring when I get him back into his seat. “Sorry,” he mutters, looking around at our friends.

“What was all that about, Jay?” Bik asks. These guys are seeing a different side of him. I’m not sure our friends know exactly how he is when it comes to protecting Indy.

“Cam made a good point, and I need to get back to her.” He shakes his head. “We need to get back there to her.”

Bik looks to me to explain, and for the first time during this whole nightmare, I’m not comfortable with telling them this. I let the silence linger, thinking of the best way to answer his unasked question.

“She isn’t angry at any of us. She’s angry at her father and herself, but she’s…”

“Ashamed,” Lainy finishes in a whisper. Of course, she would know. She’d get it.

Lain walks to the window. “Will you ask her if she’ll see me?” she asks the nurse. “Lainy Walker,” she answers the question we can’t hear. Maybe she’s right. Maybe Indy will talk to Lain. Lain nods and comes back, sitting in a chair closer to the desk. “Maybe it’ll get one of us back there to her.”

I nod, blinking tears away. As right as she is, I want to go back there. I want to be with her. I want her to know how much this isn’t her fault, and how much I love her and how much I need her.

“Do you have a brush?” I ask. Lain looks in her bag, then back at me, pulling out a comb. “She needs it. Take it back there with you if she says yes.” Every single set of eyes is on me. “What?”

Jay’s brows shoot to the top of his head, eyes wild, as if I had just told him a life-changing secret. “How the fuck do you know what she needs?”

Oh. I haven’t told them I saw her. “Uh, while everyone was sleeping, I went to find a drink machine. When I rounded a corner, she was standing down the hall with a nurse. She didn’t see me, but I watched until she was escorted into a room. Her hair is a mess.”

“That’ll be a perfect icebreaker, Cam. That’s smart.”

“You saw her?” Jay’s voice cracks. “How did she look?”

He doesn’t give a fuck about her appearance. “She was lucid, talking to the person she was with, but not smiling, and she looked tired. And she looked…I don’t know, hurt or sad. Probably both.” There are multiple exhales around the room.

“She’s back?”

I nod.

“Lainy Walker?” the nurse behind the window calls out. Lain jumps from the chair, comb in hand. She nods, and the smile that breaks over her face is victorious.

“She said yes,” I whisper. It makes me equally happy and sad. The duality breaks my heart right in half. But this isn’t about me. This is about Indy and her healing. And I’ll do anything for it. Even if it means having to let go.

“I’ll be back, guys.” And with that, Lain leaves us to see Indy, while the rest of us sit out here, waiting for our turn.

Waiting.

CHAPTER 38

INDY

Lain knocks and comes through the door. I’m sitting in a chair by the window, looking out into the darkness. When I turn to face her, she holds a comb up, deflating all the tension between us. I chuckle, standing. She smiles, hugs me, and hands it to me. Running it through my hair is a nightmare, a tangled mess.

“Can I?” she asks. I stop trying to force it through the knots, my gaze finding hers. My sister was the last person to brush my hair. Lain stares back with nothing but patience and love in her eyes. I nod because I don’t trust myself for anything more. Not right now.

We sit in silence for a bit while she works to get the rats’ nest out of my hair. “I haven’t had anyone brush my hair since my sister,” I whisper.