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“Yeah.” She lowers herself to the ground and takes my hand. Knowing she wants that connection despite the night she had makes me feel more important than ever.
“Let’s go around the building so you don’t have to walk through the parlor,” I suggest.
“Good idea.”
The sun warms my skin when we step outside. Navy must like it too because she tips her head up to absorb the rays. Like this, hand in hand, walking down the sidewalk, I get a sense of déjà vu, back to a time when things were still shitty, but at least we had our walks in the sun.
“Remember the first time we met?”
“I do. You took me to the gas station while our parents fucked.”
I chuckle. “I wasn’t sure if you knew about that.”
She shrugs lightly. “I may have been six, but I don’t ever remember being a kid.”
“I kinda got that sense from you. I think that’s why I tried so hard to shield you from all the shit.”
She swings our hands back and forth. “You couldn’t save me from this life back then, and you can’t do it now. Some of us were born to live on the dark side.”
“It’s not so bad once you embrace it. It’s when you try to run from it that it becomes an issue.”
“I’m starting to see that.” She sighs and steps inside as I hold the side entrance open for her. “Crap. I don’t have my key card.”
“I got it.” I pull the master from my pocket and unlock her door.
“You have a key to my room?”
“For all the rooms,” I say, forgetting I let her believe she was the only one with access. “It’s for security.”
She gasps. “What the hell happened?”
I take in her room that’s still a disaster from the Sheriff’s Department tossing the place. The only change since this morning is that her slashed mattress has been replaced with a new one, the plastic still on it. It’s wild that all this happened this morning. It feels like weeks or months have passed in just a few hours.
I explain what happened while she stands dumbfounded, her arms wrapped around her middle. I wish I had the foresight to have someone pick up in here because now, on top of whatever trauma she went through last night, she has this to deal with.
“Sorry I didn’t tell you before. I was distracted.”
“Will they be back?” she asks before sucking her inner cheek between her teeth.
“Wish I could lie and say no, but I have no fuckin’ clue,” I say, fully knowing I have no business sitting in Navy’s room when I should be out there, making sure everything is going well, that this won’t happen again.
“Okay.” She scans the room, looking overwhelmed as hell.
“Why don’t you get in the shower, and I’ll clean up?”
“I can do it.”
“Not today, you can’t. The doctor said shower and bed. That’s it.” I wish I installed bathtubs in these rooms instead of being cheap and only putting in walk-in showers.
“I’d argue, but I’m too tired.” She opens a drawer, finding it empty. After closing it, she looks down, spotting her clothes. “Guess they couldn’t be bothered to put things back where they found them.”
“The whole place looked like this earlier. Everyone worked their asses off to get it back to normal so we could reopen.”
“I’ll just be a minute,” she says, stepping into the bathroom.
“Take your time.” Once the door closes, I get to work, cutting the plastic off the mattress and settling it onto the bed frame. After that, I go to the linen closet in the hallway and find a set of fresh bedding. If all I can do is make sure she has a comfortable and clean bed to rest on, then damn straight it’ll get done.
I’m tucking the sheets around the mattress when a pained cry comes from the bathroom. The hairs on my neck stand on end as I rush over and pound on the door.
