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“Hush, you guys, I’m fine, okay?” Charlotte’s voice ringing out behind the curtain only added fuel to their ire.
“Tell us who did this, Charli. Let us take care of him for you.” Spencer placed a hand on the curtain to pull it back, but I knocked it aside.
“Give her some privacy. She’s shaken up, let her tell you when you can see her.”
“Right. Sorry Charlotte,” he called out.
The doctor popped her head between the curtains. “She’s fine. I’ve cleaned and bandaged her cheek, and I’m just finishing up the exam right now. The plastic surgeon will stitch her up momentarily. Go to the waiting room on the fourth floor. Dr. Weaver will come out and let you know when you can go back and be with Charlotte. Except you, Detective. I understand she was attacked, and she informed me that you are her protection. Everyone else, settle down. She’s upset enough.”
“Fine,” her dad grumbled. “Boys, come on.” They formed an angry line behind their father and followed him out of the ER.
“Cade?” I peeked inside the curtain and Charlotte waved me toward her bed. “Crisis averted?” she asked.
“Yeah, they’re gone.”
“Good. I don’t want them getting into trouble. You either, for that matter.”
“That’s why I put Trevor in charge. I can’t stand this. He hurt you. He scared you. How long have you been keeping this to yourself, Charli? I could have made you safe a long time ago if you’d only told me.”
“I’m so sorry, Cade. I should have said something. But I liked being normal again. I felt safe here and I wanted to keep that feeling. I have no good excuse.”
“I let my feelings for you outweigh my suspicions that you were hiding something about the crash. I ignored my instincts and let my questions fall to the wayside in order to be with you. This is my fault.”
“Hey, it is in no way your fault. This is solely on me.”
“I should have made you tell me the truth.”
“You can’t make me do anything.” She laughed, then flinched and placed her hand to her cheek. “No one can. I always do what I want.”
“I bet I could have persuaded you.” I winked, trying to tease her and lighten her spirits.
“Huh, maybe.” She blushed. “I honestly thought I would be okay. He freaked me out in an I’m-going-to-have-to-learn-Krav Maga-and-maybe-kick-his-ass someday kind of way. Not in a stabby, murder, death, kill kind of way. Nothing like what I write in my books. Know what I mean?”
I nodded, encouraging her to go on
“He wrote letters and left comments on my social media, stuff like that. I didn’t think he would hurt me. If I had, I would have never kept it a secret. He was annoying, you know? A semi-scary pest. He didn’t get all terrifying and threatening and murdery until tonight. And I had no idea he thought he was Tim. That’s super gross and inappropriate. I thought he was lost in the stories and thought since I wrote them, I was Adaline. Not in a sick, perverted fantasy way, but a more innocent, blurring lines of reality type of way. At least that’s what his letters and comments felt like. God, I don’t even know what to think anymore—”
A nurse interrupted us with a smile. “I’m going to take you up to plastic surgery now, Miss Cassidy.”
Charlotte looked nervous.
“I’m right behind you Charli baby, and your family is up there already.” I patted her knee and tried to soothe her. I vowed to myself that I would make her feel safe again.
She took a deep breath as her fingertips drifted across her bandaged cheek. “All right, I guess I’m ready.” She paused, and looked at me, panic visible in her eyes. “Um, no, I’m not ready yet. You know how I feel about needles, Cade.” She addressed the nurse. “Can you knock me out? Put me under until you’re done?”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. But no, we can’t do that. Dr. Weaver is wonderful. She’s fast and the best at what she does. You won’t feel much, and she won’t leave a scar.”
“All right.” After inhaling a huge sigh, Charlotte sat in the wheelchair. “Let’s go.”
Minutes later, I was waiting in the hall outside her door while the nurse prepped her for the stitches.
“Caden Barrett.” An angry voice startled me, and I turned around.
I recognized him immediately, especially after seeing his face on the entertainment segment on the news the other night with Charlotte. It was Trent. Still, I played dumb. “Do I know you?”
“We have an ex-wife in common. My name is Trent Bishop, and I should make you suffer for being a blind idiot. I should let you go on thinking the worst about me and Charlotte, so you could finally get a taste of how much you hurt her when you let her go all those years ago. But I won’t, because she’s my best friend in the world and I love her.”
His words didn’t register. All I felt was jealousy. It hurt, and shamefully, it made me want to hurt him. “Will you be staying at her place?”
