AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t know, exactly. The hospital couldn’t tell me anything, since I’m not family. The detectives were a little more forthcoming, but not much.”
“Is she going to be okay?”
“I—” He audibly swallowed. “I don’t know, sweetheart.”
“What the helldoyou know, Bryant?” she snapped, ignoring James’s attempts to calm her.
“I know she was found this morning in a house she’s listing. And she’s pretty beat up.” When he met her gaze in the rearview mirror, her stomach twisted at the grief in his eyes. “Livvy… she might not make it, sweetheart. You need to be prepared for that possibility.”
“No. You don’t know her like I do. She can’t—she won’t.” Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on her breathing. But she couldn’t seem to draw in enough air through the vise of fear gripping her lungs. “She’s strong,” she whispered.
“Livvy.” James’s gentle voice prodded her to open her eyes and turn to him. She saw her own fear mirrored in the crystal blue, but underneath she saw the strength she so often relied on him for. “Just breathe, little one. You need to breathe, and calm down so you can be strong for Shannon. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes.” She gripped his hand, centering herself with his touch. “I’m calm. I’m calm.”
“Good girl.”
While he’d been coaching her through her mini panic attack, Bryant had found a parking space. The three of them climbed out of the car and James’s hand on hers was the only thing that kept her from running through the white, sterile halls in search of her best friend.
Bryant had worked some kind of magic with his police contacts and gotten them cleared through. The uniformed officer standing guard outside her room made it clear which one she was in. Gesturing for them to stay put, Bryant stepped forward and spoke to the officer in hushed, secretive tones before waving her and James on.
But now that she was here, she couldn’t move. Fear, the deep, primal kind that came from the possibility of losing someone you love kept her rooted to the spot.
“Livvy?”
At the sound of her name, she looked up at James. Her Daddy. The vise around her chest loosened and she was able to breathe again. “I can’t,” she whispered, shame heating her cheeks and bringing tears to her eyes.
James lifted a hand to her cheek. Part of her expected to see disappointment in his face, but she was met only with compassion. “Yes, you can, little one.” He dropped his voice so only she could hear. “Daddy’s right here. We’ll go together.”
“Okay.” Focusing on him, she matched her breaths to his as he took one deliberately deep breath, and then another. “Okay.”
Hand in hand, they walked the few short steps to the doorway. The sympathy on the officer’s face was genuine, nothing like what she was used to seeing from Detective Michaelson.
She couldn’t decide if that was better or worse.
A squeeze from her Daddy’s hand propelled her forward and together they stepped inside.
Nothing, she realized, could have prepared her for the sight of her best friend in a hospital bed, pale and lifeless with dozens of wires and tubes connected to her. Shannon, who had always seemed larger than life, looked like a tiny, frail little girl in the large bed. Her right eye was black and blue, a stark contrast to the white of the bandages around her neck.
“Oh, Shay.” Olivia rushed forward, picking up her friend’s limp hand. There was so much she wanted to say, but the words all seemed to get stuck in her throat.
Bryant and James flanked her, quiet sentries guarding their princess. As grateful as she was for their silent strength, she desperately wished she could will some of it into the lifeless form in the hospital bed.
They’d only been in the room a few minutes when the sound of a throat clearing had them all turning to face the door. Detective Rogers stood just inside the room, her face a stony mask. “I’m sorry to intrude, but I need a few moments with Mrs. Monroe.”
“Can’t this wait?” Bryant snapped.
Forcing a smile, Olivia squeezed his hand. “It’s fine. Will you stay with her while I go talk to the detective?”
The muscles working in his throat told her he wanted to argue, but he eventually nodded. “Whatever you need, sweetheart.”
James once again took her hand, and they followed Rogers down the hall to a small, empty waiting room.
“I know this is difficult for you, but I just have a couple of questions. Would you like to sit?”
“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be,” Olivia said as James guided her to a chair. “We’ve been out of town since Friday and we just got home.”
Rogers jotted something down in the small notebook she’d pulled from her jacket pocket. “That’s helpful. Anything you can give us might help us piece things together. You and Ms. Wright are friends, correct?”
