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“I will never leave her side again.”
I chuckle quietly. “Okay, brother, you might want to rethink that one. I am glad you’re getting on board with her being in your life now, but she might stab you if you never leave her alone.”
Stone nods again. “She can. I’d let her.”
“Of course you would,” I mutter as I walk over to my mom, who has woken up while we were talking.
She shakes her head at Stone before glancing up at me. “She has been out the whole time. Doc should be back in soon to check on her and Raven again. Are you staying for a while?”
“Yeah. I’m going to stay.”
“Okay. I am going to head up to one of the rooms and sleep. My old body did not like being in that chair so long.” She chuckles lightly.
“Thank you, Mama.” I give her a hug and a kiss on the forehead as she leaves. She stops next to Stone and lays a hand on his shoulder.
He doesn’t look away from Raven, so she bends down and whispers in his ear. Then she walks out, not waiting for Stone to say anything back to her.
I pull the chair close to Presley and give her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down. “Get all the rest you need, angel,” I murmur.
I take out my phone and send Josh a text. He has been running the shop for me since I’ve barely been over there with all that’s been going on. He’s really been put to the test, being trusted to run everything with no one going over and checking in on it since we’ve all been busy around here.
Once I confirm that everything is going smoothly with him, I sit back as much as I can in the chair and shut my eyes.
What feels like not even an hour later, Presley’s breathing changes. It goes from soft and even to panting. Her hands start moving around until she is pushing her fingers in her ears and whispering, “No,” over and over again.
I glance over at Stone and see him checking over Raven. Her eyes are barely open. She looks exhausted, but she is awake. Her head is turned, and she is watching Presley with furrowed brows.
I grab Presley’s hands and try to pull them away from her ears, but she sobs and clutches her ears tighter, like she is trying to block out the noise.
“Presley!”
She jolts up and tries to scramble out of the bed. I grab her legs to keep her still, but she keeps fighting me.
“Pres, please. Wake up,” Raven says groggily.
Presley
Your fault.
You created this monster.
You became a monster.
Your baby’s death is your fault. You failed, Presley, don’t you get that?
You shouldn’t have taken off on your own. You are weak. You couldn’t do anything to save your baby girl, and you can’t do anything to save this one.
Raven is dead. It’s your fault.
You got someone we love killed because of your stupidity. And yet you think we still want you?
Monster. Monster. Monster.
I gasp and jolt up, scrambling to get out. Leave. Run.It’s what you do best. You run. You ran once. Do it again.
“Presley! Open your eyes and breathe with me, sweetheart.”
“I’m sorry,” I gasp again. My heart physically hurts as I raise my hand to rub at my chest. “I’m sorry. I can’t. I’m sorry,” I sob. Someone grabs me and wraps their arms around me, holding me close. “Please don’t make me leave. I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to be strong. I needed to be strong.”
