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Elara’s breath disintegrates, holding herself very still as the shock ripples through her. Laith was attacked last night. By an animal.
The same night she has no recollection of.
But there’s no way she’d hurt anyone. Except with no memory, she can’t prove she’s not the one responsible. What if she had done something terrible to him? She could have killed someone, and she would never know.
“I'm going to go see him in the hospital,” Elara says, turning away. “Just so that he knows that someone understands what he's going through.”
The excuse must be believable, because Kira and Jordyn just nod. In some ways, it’s not a lie. Elara’s someone who can understand what Laith’s going through, because she went through it too. With a rushed goodbye—so that no one gets achance to ask too many questions—Elara hops back in her car and drives off.
The trip to the hospital is quick and tense. There's something wrong here that Elara can’t shake. Too many pieces of the puzzle that don’t fit. But she has to make sure Laith’s alright. The alternative isn’t one she’s willing to imagine.
Laith smiles as he sees her poke her head nervously around the door. Elara walks in, working hard not to wring her hands. She bites her lip as she registers he’s covered in scratches just like the ones she’d had. Except there’s more, and they’re not just confined to his arms. There's white gauze everywhere, down his arms and on the leg sticking out from the white sheet, as well as small bandages on his face and neck.
His smile widens. “Hey, thanks for visiting me.”
His words just make her feel worse. He shouldn’t be smiling at her. Not if her worst fears are correct.
“Hi,” she says, finding her throat tight. She sits on the chair beside his bed, now not sure what to say.
“It’s great to see you.” Laith shifts, then winces as the bandages pull. “Guess it’s my turn to feel the scratches. Gotta say, I’m not a fan.”
Elara cracks a smile, even if it's a reluctant one. “Yeah. I wouldn’t recommend it either.” She laughs softly, putting her hands under her legs. It’s partially because she feels a little uncomfortable, but also because she doesn’t want him to see that her stitches are completely healed, and have been for quite some time. That’s not a normal thing, and right now, she needs to be normal.
Elara sighs and shifts closer to the edge of the chair. She needs to know what happened. She needs to know if she’s responsible. If she's the one who caused this, she can’t let it happen again. Laith seems to be okay for the most part, but therecould be a next time. She has to figure out what happened so she doesn’t kill anyone.
“How did you get attacked?” she asks casually, trying to play it like it’s nothing at all, when in reality it could be the difference between her being the culprit and it being someone else.
He sighs. “That’s the same thing the animal control officers asked me this morning, just like they probably asked you. I pulled over because I saw a car on the side of the road and I thought they might need help.”
Elara winces, glad that Laith leans back and closes his eyes, so he doesn’t see it. He’s talking about her car. And he pulled over to help. Although she has no idea where she was or what she did in the forest last night, all signs are pointing to it having been her who attacked him last night, even if there’s no memory of it. All that she can remember from last night is a sense of pain and change, although she can’t put into words what that means.
She shifts, wanting to apologize, but knowing she can’t. If something is happening to her, then it’s better that she doesn’t draw attention to herself. At least not until she knows more about what is going on.
“A wolf came out of nowhere and clawed the crap out of me,” Laith continues. “I managed to call 911, but they never did find the person the car belongs to.”
Of course they hadn't, because she came out of the forest this morning, climbed in and drove home. She's surprised, and considers herself lucky they hadn't towed it as part of a crime. Not that there’s necessarily a crime here, since Laith had only been attacked by a wolf. There’s no proof that anything out of the ordinary happened, which is the only thing saving her bacon right now.
Unless someone finds out about last night…
“Well, I’m just glad you’re okay,” Elara says warmly. That’s the other thing saving her bacon. Not to mention, she’s not sureshe could live with herself knowing she seriously hurt someone. “Let me know if you need anything.” She reaches out and gently squeezes his hand to comfort him. If she’s responsible, then that's the least that she can do.
Laith smiles briefly. It's hard to believe that just a few days ago he had asked her out on a date, and now he’s sitting in the hospital, and she might have been the one to put him there.
“Thanks for coming to see me.” He watches her from under his lashes, and she smiles softly. Surely he realizes there’s nothing but friendship between them? There’s no spark, no chemistry.
Not like there is with Kade.
Elara suppresses a frown, unhappy that he’s intruded into her thoughts again. She doesn’t need any more mysteries in her life right now.
There’s a soft knock at the door and Elara turns to see a police officer standing in the doorway, holding up a notepad like a white flag of surrender. “Sorry to bother you, but I need to speak to this young man here.” He nods toward Laith, and Elara hurriedly stands and heads for the door, waving at Laith as she leaves.
She has to work on not breaking into a run as she makes her way down the corridor. Her heart is thumping and her palms are sweaty in a way that’s oddly familiar, but she’s not sure why. She presses the button for the elevator, crossing her arms and then quickly uncrossing them in an effort to look natural. If she looks like she’s in too much of a hurry, then the officer will think it's strange. She can’t afford to be connected to what happened to Laith.
Still, Elara can't help but panic as she heads out of the hospital and goes back to her car. The edgy, jagged feeling spikes as she realizes that eventually Laith is going to hear, or figure outthat it’s her car that he stopped to help. The college campus isn't that big, and people are entirely too nosey.
It’s only a matter of time.
Elara stops outside the exit, her breathing harsh in her ears. Something’s wrong, terribly, awfully wrong, but there has to be a plausible explanation for all of this. Although she has no idea what it would be. Everything seems to lead back to her and the wolf scratching her.
