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“Were you outside the room all night?”
“Yeah. I just... I sat down, and I couldn’t get up again.” I sniffed through the headache clogging my sinuses, rubbing my hands together as shocks raced up and down my spine. “How was Katie?”
“She’s... I mean, she’s fine? She didn’t seem like she was gonna sneak off and try to hurt herself, at least. I think she’s just really... defeated... right now. It takes a lot of energy and willpower to kill yourself, so wallowing is a blessing right now, I think.”
My cheek twitched at that, my mouth drying as Nathan shrugged a little in my peripheral vision.
“Julia’s got us on round the clock watches, though, just in case. I’ve been meaning to ask you, Brandon... What the absolute fuck possessed you to think coming here was a good idea?”
When I closed my eyes, all I could see was Katie in that hospital bed, wrapped up after her surgery. All this effort, now, to keep her out of harm's way didn’t seem worth it, and I gulped down the dense lump in my throat.
“I don’t know. I panicked. I trusted Bert, again, and I’m beginning to see that even when it’s personal, that’s the wrong thing to do. Everything’s a mess. Audra’s stressed beyond belief, and Bert’s starting to get secure and take liberties.” I shook my head wildly; I couldn’t even begin to think about the mess back home that I’d singlehandedly made. “I have to get them to prep the plane... I’m worried. Katie already has a phobia of flying, and she threw up all other the place at the merenotionof it...”
“Can’t Julia dose her up again?”
I hadn’t talked to Julia about leaving. I hadn’t talked to anyone, yet. Shaking my head absently, I stepped through the threshold into the kitchen to head for the designated handwashing sink.
“I guess, given how weak she is right now, it’s probably not the best idea. You could still contact the ship and have them turn around.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. The ship would be slower but flying is really stressful...” Trailing off, I blinked hard as I turned on the tap before clearing my throat roughly. “No. Katie said she wants to gonow, and flying is the fastest way. That’s what she wants, so that’s what I’ll do. No ship.”
I just did exactly what she said I should stop doing.I frowned as I scrubbed my hands of blood, the cuts on my palms stinging fiercely. Katie pointed it outexplicitly—I made decisions without considering what she wanted, and I changed things, expecting her to just go with it. Nathan’s gaze bored into the back of my head, and I clenched my jaw hard.
“I was thinkin’ last night... what if Mason sent that exploding box?” So much had happened so fast, and I cast Nathan a confused look over my shoulder. “What if it was a warning that he knows where you are and can get to you? There’s two ways off this island, and neither of them are particularly reliable in a pinch.”
“Oh, right... that. I’m so overwhelmed right now with...” I couldn’t even put it into words, and I nodded absently as I picked under my fingernails. “We’re leaving, anyway. So, it doesn’t really matter if he found us here, right?”
“That’s not the point, Brandon.Howdid he find out about this place?”
The hairs rose on the back of my neck at that, and my breath hitched at the exasperation in Nathan’s tone.How...
“Didn’t Bert disappear the other day? And Bert is the only one who knows about this island that’s not on it. What if Mason snuck that package onboard because Bert gave us up?”
“Fuck.” Gripping the edge of the sink with white-knuckle tightness, I closed my eyes and ducked my head under the weight threatening to crush me. “Audra’s the only other person, but she doesn’t know details, so yeah... you’re right. I wouldn’t put it past him to fold easily.”
My head was going tofuckingexplode. Trusting Berthold when I had leverage on his greedy self was one thing, but Mason wouldn’t even need to finish his threat before it was accepted. Bert would do anything to get his ass out of hot water long before it boiled.
“... One problem at a time. We’ll deal with Berthold when we get back.” Turning off the tap with a sharp swat, I turned to face Nathan as sourness tainted his expression. “For now, Katie’s wellbeing is my priority. It’ll be a few days to ready everything, anyway. I have to figure out how to fix this between us.”
“Maybe you could divorce her and start over from the very beginning.”
Glaring hotly at him, I frowned unimpressed, and Nathan’s frustration glimmered in his eyes.
“At least consider scaling back your expectations. Going back home isn’t going to magically make things right, Brandon. Your problems will still be your problems, and you seem keen on talking to everyonebutKatie about them.”
“Sure, divorce her. I’ll consider it.” Rolling my eyes as Nathan scowled darkly at me, I waved a hand in dismissal when disgust blocked the words in my mouth. Walking over to the wall of refrigerators, I popped one open and grumbled to myself at the lunacy of the whole situation. I’d rather shoot myself in the foot than get adivorce.
ChapterSeven
KATIE
“... Divorce... I’ll consider it.”Those four words raced around and around in my head, so big, and bold, and loud that nothing else could force its way into my mind. Clearer with every passing moment, it became so obvious that my wholelifewas a mistake. My dad had the right idea when things became too hard, when the weight of it all became too dense.
“Hey, baby.” Glancing over as Brandon slipped into the room, I wiped my bleary eyes and gulped down the tightness in my throat. He held up a plate with a cup of yogurt and a small egg sandwich, and my stomach roiled as the smell curdled in my nose. “I brought you breakfast. Are you feeling a little better?”
“I can’t even think about food right now.”
He paused at my croak, and I covered my mouth as bile rose up at the stench. Backtracking to set the plate on the counter, he smiled apologetically. The smell of the egg sandwich wasGod awful, and I blinked my eyes in a futile attempt to stop them watering.
