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“You must be a mom,” I said. That little kiss was something a mother would do.
“Mmhmm. In fact, she’s about your age. Close enough anyway. I don’t get to see her much thanks to work. She has my hair and my eyes,” she said.
“If she’s your oldest, she did a great job training you,” I said.
This time, she chuckled. “She’s my only child, and she sure did. I know I’m not family to you, but until you’re strong enough to leave here, I will be. My heart breaks for you. You’re just a baby. You might legally be an adult, but you’re just a baby. This never should have happened to you.”
I nestled in closer to her, my eyes squeezing tight as more tears fell. I couldn’t hold her because of the pain, but I held on to the arm draped over my chest tighter.
“Thank you. When I saw everyone leave, I got scared. I’ve never felt so alone.”
“You know, when I was fourteen, my parents were killed in a car accident,” she said, her voice a little quieter.
I looked up, and she adjusted so she could look into my eyes. “They were? I’m so sorry. This must bring back terrible memories for you.”
She looked at me with kindness and smiled softly. “It’s incredibly sweet for you to think of me, especially when you’re going through so much right this very second and mine was almost thirty years ago, but don’t you worry about that. It does bring up some memories, but mostly because I didn’t have anywhere to go. So, I know the alone feeling you’re talking about. And when you looked at me like you did, I couldn’t leave you alone.”
“Were you in the accident, too? Did the staff leave you alone at the hospital?” I asked. I didn’t know if I wanted to know out of genuine curiosity or if it was because I was terrified of the silence, but the sound of her voice comforted me in ways I just couldn’t let go of. Not yet.
“Yeah. I was the only one to survive. I was in a coma for a few days, but I woke up after about a week. It was a different time back then. They kind of expected me to deal with it. It was a busy hospital. ‘No time for hand-holding,’ they said. So, I spent several days alone. It was scary. I didn’t want you to have to go through that.”
I sighed. “Thank you. I appreciate it more than you know.” I paused. “Well, no, I guess not. I guess you know exactly how much I appreciate it.”
“I do, and you’re welcome.”
Her fingers combed softly through my hair as she hummed softly to me. Her body gently rocked against mine. At first, I’d tensed, thinking it would be painful, but when I relaxed against her, I realized she knew just how far she could move without hurting me.
I felt a little childish, but my whole world had just exploded. I’d just lost my mother—a woman who was never much of a mom to begin with, but she was mine, and I still loved her despite that. This kind of affection was something I hadn’t experienced since I was a little girl. Childish or not, I welcomed it. More than that, I needed it.
I knew enough about death to know this was the easy part. I had caring arms wrapped around me. Every hour or two, I’d have someone in here checking on me and talking to me. I’d have cops in and out of here. Hell, I’d probably have random visitors stop by to wish me well. I wouldn’t even doubt someone from the newspaper stopping by for a story because I was apparently the lone survivor of this horrific tragedy.
No, the hard part would come when I went home in a few weeks. When I walked into the house surrounded by my things. My parents’ things. When I would finally be alone. Truly, devastatingly alone. No one to call and talk to. My friends from school all had family members who went to that church. So, they would have their own grief to deal with.
Right now… Right now, was the easy part. So, I’d take any solace I could. I needed something to hold onto when it was time for the bad to start. And as Angela ran her fingers through my hair, I fell asleep to the gentle sounds of her humming and my crying.
CHAPTER THREE
Angela stayed with me for an hour after that. I vaguely remembered someone coming in, but she shooed them away. That hour seemed to pass like seconds but also like days. Time felt like it flew by but stood still. Before I knew it, Doctor Wyatt had returned to do the wound check he’d mentioned earlier.
I got a look at the gnarly bruising on my ribs, a few of which that were broken, as well as the wicked surgical site. I’d only caught a glimpse of the wound in the church, but it was obscured by all the blood. I hadn’t seen the actual damage and how bad it was. Now, I was able to see just how large of an injury it was.
They brought me food—not that I would call it that. For the next two days, all I was allowed to have were liquids. If I tolerated that, after forty-eight hours I’d be allowed to move to soft foods. After that, they’d just continue increasing consistency until I could tolerate food as normal.
Fun.
I had almost dozed off for a nap—only one of probably a billion I’d take throughout the day—when there was a soft knock at my door. I looked over and saw the detectives from the day before walk in.
“Good morning, Miss Wilder,” the woman said. “I’m Detective Carol Abbott, and this is my partner, Detective Dale Hauer. We heard you were feeling better today, so we wanted to stop by and talk to you about what happened.”
I pushed my tray farther away. The pain medicine kept me feeling relatively nauseated, and while the smell of broth was normally pleasant, it just made me want to puke.
“I figured you’d be back this morning. Look, obviously, I want to help. My parents were killed. Alotof people died.Ialmost died. But… I don’t know how much help I’ll be. I don’t remember anything at all.”
They looked at one another before Detective Abbott took a step closer to the foot of my bed, pen and paper in hand. I was glad she took the lead. Her partner was a shit yesterday. I didn’t care much for him. He even had one of those faces you just wanted to punch.
“You don’t rememberanything?” she asked, her brows furrowed.
I shook my head. “I remember going to church yesterday. I went with my dad like usual. Well…” I sighed and rolled my eyes. “I guess we didn’t regularly go to church. We’d only recently started back up. We went a lot when I was a kid. My mom, dad, and me. After she left when I was younger, he just didn’t care anymore. But the last year or so, we’d been going at least twice a month.”
