Page 26

“Noah?” Rosy rouses slowly.

She looks exhausted. The circles beneath her eyes are stark against her pale face. It’s the heart on her nose and the whiskers drawn across her cheeks that have me wanting to cradle her into my arms and smooth away everything she’s had to endure.

“Hey, I’m here,” I tell her, curling my hands around one of hers and stroking across the top of it. “Is there a reason you don’t want to go to the hospital?”

There are cuts and bruises littered across the parts of her body I can see. Her wrists are chafed, and we don’t know the extent of what happened to her, so it would be the logical place for her to go. Where she needs to go.

“I…I want to be here. I need to be here. I didn’t th-think I would ever get out of there, that I would ever see any of you again. Nothing good happens in a hospital. Everyone I’ve ever k-known has never come out. Please…don’t m-make me go.” She hiccups, and tears track down her cheeks as she stares at her hand in mine. It’s hard not to have her look at me, to have Rosy retreat inside herself.

“Okay, we’re not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. Would you consider someone coming here? A doctor, that is?” Logan must know someone who can do that or at least have details we can use. We’ve spent too much time taking decisions away from her. We need to come together and agree on solutions based on what she needs and wants.

Rosy bites down on her quivering lip, her fingers twitching in my hold, then nods.

“Thank you. We’ll get that figured out, and in the meantime, we’ll get you cleaned up.” I place a kiss on her hand, then stand.

Nate gently picks her up from Max’s lap. Whatever he murmurs to her is too quiet for me to decipher the words.

I stride into the bathroom, feeling slightly more controlled now that we know what to do next. For what comes after that, I’m rattled and out of my depth.

I grab a cloth and wet it, readying to wipe her face. “A bath. I-I need a bath, please.” Rosy croaks. I hesitate, because I don’t know the extent of her injuries and we might end up washing away…evidence.

“Rosy—”

“Please, Noah.”

I turn on the tap for the large oval bath, and relief fills me that we got an extra-large one installed for Nate. I don’t add anything to the water. I don’t want to risk getting anything in the open wounds and hurting her further.

Once it’s filled enough, Nate sits Rosy on the closed toilet seat and strips down to his underwear. When he turns back to her, her eyes widen at him.

“W-what?”

“Want to make sure you’re okay. Bath’s too hard and big for you to sit in alone,” he says gruffly, holding a hand out for her to take, letting her make the decision if she’s okay with it.

“Would you rather be alone?” I ask, ignoring the scowl Nate directs at me. I don’t want to leave her either, but we can’t force her to let us stay.

“No,” she immediately responds, shaking her head jerkily. “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m being like this.”

Her shoulders curve in, and the jacket she wears swamps her even more as she makes herself smaller.

It takes a second for me to gather myself. Rosy needs us to be strong and care for her. Because somehow, we all keep failing her time and time again. Between the four of us, we should be able to do things right. Only, we’re letting her down.

“Whatever you need, we’re here for you.”

“I don’t know what I need. I d-don’t know anything anymore.” Her expression is haunted, vacant.

An overwhelming wave of helplessness surges through me. I don’t know how to reach her or what she needs from me to help anchor her.

“A bath,” Nate decides, taking that decision away from her.

My mouth opens, ready to tell him to step down. Except she nods, glancing up at him, eyes wet with moisture.

“Okay.”

She slips her hand into his, standing shakily as she fumbles the jacket off her shoulders.

My body freezes as her naked skin is revealed.

Rosy…