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He nods. “You can come back in if you want to.”
“Lyric, put Dr. Gardingdale on the phone,” she demands before I hang up.
“Okay.” My fingers tremble as I hand the phone to Dr. Gardingdale. “Ayden’s mom wants to talk to you.”
Sighing, he takes the phone and starts reassuring Aunt Lila that Ayden’s all right.
I squeeze by him, rush into the room, and relief washes over me. “You’re awake.” Tears pour out of my eyes at the sight of him sitting on the bed as the doctor checks his heart rate.
Ayden’s bloodshot eyes widen at the sight of my tears. “Lyric, I swear I’m fine.” He opens his arms, indicating for me to come to him. “Please, stop crying. I hate seeing you cry.”
Against the doctor’s protests, I climb into the bed beside Ayden and rest my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “I’m not going anywhere unless I have to,” I tell the doctor. “So you might as well continue checking him.”
The doctor sighs. “Fine. Just take it easy on him until I can check all of his vitals.”
I nod and press my body closer to Ayden, breathing in his scent and warmth. “I thought you weren’t going to wake up.”
He rubs his hand up and down my back, tracing the length of my spine. “For a moment, I thought the same thing too.” His voice cracks and he clears his throat. “But I’m okay now. Everything’s okay.”
I push to my elbows and peer up at him, trying to read his vibe. “Did it . . . Did it work?”
His gaze welds with mine as he nods. “I saw the house . . . I saw them.”
I suck in a sharp breath. “You saw the people who took you?”
He nods again. “I saw the woman who . . .” He blinks down at the scars on his hands then looks back at me. “And I saw my father . . . Saw him . . .” He swallows hard. “Kill my mom.”
I stop breathing, and for the first time in my life, I’m speechless. My poor, sweet Shy Boy. Why does he have to keep going through so much pain? He’s already been through so much already.
He brushes my hair out of my eyes. “I’m okay. I don’t want you to worry about me . . . Everything’s going to be okay now.” He traces his fingers across my jawline. “I just really want to go talk to the detective.”
“Your mother can drive you down there just as soon as I make sure you’re one hundred percent okay,” Dr. Gardingdale says as he enters the room, shutting the door behind him.
“You called my mom?” Ayden’s brows knit as he stares at Dr. Gardingdale. “Why?”
“Actually, that was me.” I pull a guilty face as Dr. Gardingdale hands me back my phone. “Sorry, I panicked.”
“It’s fine . . . I needed to call her anyway, considering what happened.” Ayden sighs exhaustedly, his head slumping back against the bed. “I just don’t like that she’s probably worried as hell right now. I hate worrying her.”
“I know you do, but trust me, we love that we get to worry about you.” I sit up and press my lips to his.
I’ll kiss him over and over again
Every second I get a chance
After what happened
How can I not?
How can I ever not be with him?
“Are you okay?” Ayden checks as he studies my face closely. “You look pale.”
“I am now,” I say, sitting down beside him. “You might have a real problem though.”
His head angles to the side as his face contorts in confusion. “And what’s that?”
“That you’re never going to get rid of me.” I thread our fingers together. “I’ll never want to leave your side again after what just happened.”
He chuckles, the tension momentarily vanishing from his eyes. “I’m perfectly okay with that problem. In fact, I think I should never, ever get rid of it.”
“Good, because it’s not going anywhere.” I rest my head against his shoulder and close my eyes, breathing in the moment.
It’s such a small thing, being here with him, but it feels so immensely important, because he’s still him.
I just hope to God he stays that way.
EVEN THOUGH IT MIGHT SOUND insane, I thought I was going to be stuck in that memory forever. Then I heard Lyric’s voice, pulling me back to her. When I opened my eyes, there she was, leaning over me with worry in her eyes.
Thankfully, the longer I grasp onto her the more she settles down. If I could, I’d stay this way forever. But I know I need to get to the police station so I can tell Detective Rannali about my father and give him descriptions and a name.
My father. I involuntarily shudder at the thought of what he did to my mother. All this time I thought she died of a drug overdose, that she did it to herself. But my father killed her, just like he probably killed my brother. What really gets to me, though, is that the entire fucking thing was planned. That my mother had us so she could give us to these horrible people. That my father actually believed I was supposed to be ready to take on his whacked out beliefs.
I suddenly feel less guilty about what happened and really, really fucking angry. It’s hard to sort through all my emotions when I’m so fucking torn.
Hate or not.
Guilt or fault.
Live or rot.
I don’t know what to do.
What kind of person I am.
Who to blame.
Myself?
My mother?
My father?
Suddenly, the door bursts open and Lila barges inside with Ethan right behind her. Her anxiety is written all over her face, her eyes are wide, and her hair’s a mess like she ran in a windstorm to get here.
“Ayden Gregory,” she starts as she storms toward my bedside. A scowl etches her face as her lips part, but then she whispers, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Lyric scoots out of the way as Lila throws her arms around me and hugs me so tightly I can barely breathe.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again,” she says with a few tears dripping down her cheeks.
Ethan gives me a pat on the shoulder and a sympathetic look as Lila continues to strangle me with her death hug. I notice Ethan’s eyes are a little red, like he was crying before he got here. It makes me feel like the world’s biggest asshole, because Ethan hardly ever gets too emotional, so he had to be extremely worried.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize to both of them. “I just needed to do this, and I knew you’d never let me.”
“You’re damn right we wouldn’t have.” Lila steps back and motions at the monitors around the room. “Because I knew something like this would happen.”
“But I’m fine.” I sit up and wince as my muscles groan in pain.
“I don’t care if you’re fine.” She wipes the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand then waves a finger at me. “You won’t do this treatment again.”
“I don’t have to do it again.” I swing my legs over the edge of the bed. “I know who’s been after me and who has my sister. I know what they look like and know one of their names.”
Lila’s eyes pop wide as her hand falls to the side. “The treatment worked?”
“Well, I don’t remember everything.” And I don’t want to. After what I saw, all that pain and ugliness, I think it might be better if what happened to me is left locked in that box in my head. As long as my mind will let things be that way. “But I remembered enough.” I stand up and the blood rushes from my head. “I need to go talk to Detective Rannali.”
Ethan steadies me by the shoulder as I teeter sideways. “Careful. The doctor said that your body went through a lot of stress today.”
“Maybe we should wait until tomorrow to go to the police station,” Lila says, eyeing me over as if I’m going to break at any moment. “After you’ve rested.”
“I’ll never be able to rest until I talk to him.” I force myself to straighten my stance. “Please take me there. I need to go. Now.”
She and Ethan trade a questioning look, and then Ethan shrugs. “He’s probably right. He
’ll be able to relax more after he talks to the police. He’s been waiting a long time for this.”
Lila shakes her head, still furious and upset, “Fine. But we’re going to make this as quick as possible. I want to get Ayden home.”
Home. The word carries so much more meaning now.
I’m so damn grateful to have a safe place to call home.
After Lila is reassured again and again that my health is okay, Lila and Ethan drive me to the police station. I want Lyric to go with me, but after the whole lying ordeal, her parents told her she needed to go home. I worry she’s in trouble, but she assured me that she could handle what her parents consider punishments.
