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Tiffany’s anger surprises me. I watch her gaze drops down my body, assessing.
She gasps loudly. “Oh, my God. Natalie. Your hand. Your knuckles. Let me get you ice. Chloe, do you have an ice pack?”
Looking down, I see my swollen, red knuckles and realize they do hurt. I hadn’t noticed that before.
Brady speaks up. “Chloe. See if we have any frozen peas. That works better than an ice pack.”
Chloe nods and walks away.
Tiffany is still standing there. “Natalie.”
She waits for me to look up. “Natalie. Can I tell Cooper it’s okay to come in now? I’ll tell him to stay outside if you want, but I know he wants to see for himself that you’re okay.”
“Why are you being so nice to me? You don’t even know me, and I was rude to you the night we met.”
Tiffany gives me a sad smile. “Yeah, well, I can be a lot to take in all at once, but I think we have more in common than you know. And, nobody deserves to be treated the way I’m guessing you were treated tonight.”
Her words take me by surprise, and I momentarily wonder if I am the first girl Darby has assaulted.
“Thank you. If you don’t mind, can you let the guys know they can come in?”
Tiffany gives me a small smile and walks away as Chloe comes back in. She gently places a small baggie of frozen peas on my knuckles then squats back down in front of me. “Nat, do you want to come with me to get cleaned up in the bathroom?” She’s running her fingers through my hair, moving it away from my face.
“Yeah. I think that’s a good idea.” I go to stand up, and Brady tightens his hold on me just enough for me to feel it.
I lean into him. “Thank you…for everything.”
He touches his forehead to mine. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No. I’ll be okay.” I gingerly get up and start toward the stairs.
I can hear Chloe stopping behind me. “She’ll be right back. Take a deep breath and then calm Cooper down before we get back. I’ve got Nat.”
Brady lowers his voice. “Try to get her to talk to you. We don’t have any idea what happened. I’m worried.”
“We’re all worried.”
I hear Chloe coming up the stairs as I sit down on the edge of the bathtub. Was it only a few hours ago that I was showering the sand off from our relaxing day at the beach?
It feels like a year has passed since then.
Chloe walks into the bathroom carrying a washcloth and a bottle of water. She hands me the water and rummages around in the medicine cabinets until she finds what she is looking for. Then gives me a bottle of ibuprofen before turning on the hot water and wetting the washcloth.
I stand up to look in the mirror for the first time, and I don’t recognize the person looking back at me. My hair is a hot mess, my eyes are swollen and red from crying, and there is a little blood spatter on my chin and cheek.
Was that from his broken nose or when he spit at me?
Chloe comes over and starts to gently wipe at my face with the warm, wet cloth.
We hear a knock at the door, followed by a gentle voice.
“It’s Tiffany. Can I come in?”
Chloe leans in, whispering, “I swear she’s usually awful. I think an alien has invaded her brain or something.” She winks at me, attempting to lighten the weight of the massive cloud hanging over us right now, but it doesn’t work.
I shrug. “She’s been nice tonight.”
Then we both gasp as we hear Tiffany. “Shecan hear you both. Let me in.” Luckily, she’s laughing.
