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“Abbie,” she shakes her head, her face crumpling. “She… she’s my best friend. I think she has an eating disorder. She has been losing weight and always says she is not hungry, but I can see she is getting weaker by the day. When she called just now, I could barely hear her on the phone but it sounded like she couldn’t breathe well.” Burying her face in her palm, Noelle drags in a painful inhale. “It’s my fault. I should have been a better friend. Made her go to a doctor. Force her to eat. I knew she needed help, but I chose to respect her wishes and let her be even when I could see she was killing herself.”
Fuck. I know exactly what she is going through. I also know this is a one-way street to nowhere good.
“Don’t,” I say with an edgy tone. “Don’t ever do that. Don’t blame yourself. Just don’t.”
“She’s relapsed three times in four months.” Her voice cracks. “I don’t—I just don’t know what else to do…”
She lapses into silence and moodily stares out the window, apprehension reflecting on her face. From the corner of my eye I notice her wringing her hands together. I hate seeing this badass girl so shaken. And although I’m still not clear with our situation, I reach across the center console and grip her hand. Right now I need her touch as much as she needs mine, even if she doesn’t know it.
She glances over gratefully. “Thank you for helping me.”
“No problem,” I murmur.
I want to be here for Noelle, regardless of our conversation before, but this is so over my head I don’t know if I can.
I know what it is like to lose a loved one, so I know what she is going through. And the fact that I know is what makes me hesitate for a second. She sits upright as we reach her street and as soon as I park the vehicle, without even waiting for me to kill the engine, she unstraps her seatbelt and makes a dash to the front door. My heart is racing as I kill the engine and dash after her.
Whatever happens, I need to be there for her the same way I wish someone had been there for me.
Chapter Fifteen
Noelle
Abbieislyingonthe couch, but her breathing is labored. She is sheet white and her eyes look almost like they are trying to retreat into her face.
“No, no, no, no.” I fall to my knees and gather my unconscious best friend in my arms. Heart thumping, I cup the side of her face and tap her awake. “Abbie? Wake up. Please wake up. Abbie, please stay with me. Stay with me.”
The front door was left open because I couldn’t even remember to close it, and Maverick rushes in. He takes in the scene with wide eyes and let out a breathless, “Oh, my God.”
Just then, Abbie’s eyes flutter open and she whispers my name with a strained voice.
“It’s okay, I’m here. I’m here.” Hugging her sickly frame, I glance up at Maverick. “Call an ambulance. We need to get her to the hospital.”
Abbie’s eyes fly open. “No, no,” she clutches my arm, fear resounding in her voice. “No hospital. Please.”
I gaze at her, listening to her distressed pleas. Then turning back to Maverick, I nod, “Please.”
He takes his phone in his hand and steps outside.
“I hate you.” Abbie is sobbing, her voice throaty and dry. “I hate you so much.”
“I’m doing this for you, Abbie.” My tone is gentle but firm.
“No, you’re doing it for yourself.” She rolls away from me and slowly, painfully, if her winces are an indication, sits up, glaring at me. “Everything you do, you do for yourself, Noelle.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is. You are selfish, and now you are going against my wishes and trying to force me go to a hospital when I don’t want nor need to go.”
How can she say she doesn’t need it?
I reach out to hold her, but she angrily slaps my hand away. “Stay away from me!” Her voice comes out strangled. I think she was trying to scream at me but she can’t even master the strength for that anymore.
Now, my patience is slowly wearing thin. Swallowing my frustration, I become placating once again. “Abbie—"
“You’re a selfish bitch, Noelle. That’s what you are.”
“What?” I snap back.
