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“They burned down my clinic,” Austen whimpers and begins to cry again. “It’s all gone.”
Coco takes Austen’s ringing phone and answers it. As I focus on driving, I hear Coco explaining to Suzanne how they’re safely in the vehicle.
“We’re going back to the hotel. Everything is okay. They just startled Austen. She’s panicking. It’s okay.”
Despite Coco’s words, Austen sounds like she’s dying. She’s crying and making squeaking noises as her throat locks up from the panic.
Though I don’t know what Suzanne is saying, I picture her rallying a rescue party to save her daughter from the world. What will I do if someone shows up to take her back to Banta City?
I’m making mental plans for such a possibility when we arrive at the hotel. Austen’s still struggling to calm herself. Coco exits the SUV with Austen’s purse.
“She has pills to help her deal with these panic attacks,” Coco says, and her voice breaks.
“I have no fucking idea what’s happening,” Goose mutters as I help Austen out of the SUV. “Why is she losing her shit?”
“She’s scared!” Coco cries. “Don’t you ever get scared?”
“Yeah, of real shit, not made-up stuff.”
I frown at Goose and silently tell her to shut up. She glares at me, not so subtly telling me to get my woman under control.
“I found them,” Coco says as we reach the hotel’s side door. “We need a drink.”
“Just wait until we go inside,” I say, startling Coco and Austen who stare at me as if I’m doing something weird. “We’re nearly inside.”
The ride up the elevator is painful with Austen crumpled in the corner, crying and hiding behind her hair. She’s completely lost in the past right now. I squat next to her and stroke her head.
Once upstairs, I guide Austen to her bedroom. Meanwhile, Goose puts away her food and seems ready to bolt. Feelings aren’t her comfort zone.
Right now, Austen can’t see past her feelings. Fears from years ago mix with those from her clinic and then the dumbasses today. She can’t see past her panic, even struggling to drink enough water to get her pill to go down.
Coco stands in the corner, trying to explain everything to Suzanne. I sit on the ground in front of Austen like I did that first day at her clinic. She lets me hold her hands as she sniffles and flinches at imaginary threats.
“We’ll be at the Pigsty tomorrow,” I tell her. “I know you can’t really picture my home but try to imagine us on a comfy couch. The room is quiet. It’s just you and me. We’ll do a pot edible and chill to a ‘Transformers’ marathon.”
Austen’s breath hitches, and her gaze sharpens. She’s here with me again. I feel her trying to picture what I’m saying.
“Let me tell you about the Pigsty while you wait for the pill to kick in, okay?”
Watching me, Austen nods as her sniffles turn into hiccups.
“I have a club brother named Hobo, whose rough appearance might seem intimidating. But he’s gone gaga over a woman named Xenia. She’s staying at the Pigsty, too. Before McMurdo Valley, she was a chef in Vegas. She cooks the best damn food for us. If you pout, she’ll make you waffles. At least, it works when I do it.”
Austen’s tears end as she listens to me. I caress her hands resting in mine. She looks so tired now, yet her panic has passed.
“They were going to hurt you,” she mumbles in a ragged voice. “I saw them hurting you.”
“People like to start trouble.”
“We weren’t doing anything. I was behaving.”
“They were jealous,” I say, making a mental note of her “behaving” comment. “Here I was, this sexy man with all this thick hair. And I was with three beautiful women. Once I tattled on them, they couldn’t let shit go.”
“It’s a regular restaurant, not some shady place.”
“I know, but it’s a small town. They have people coming through all the time. Acting aggressive is a move they probably pull on strangers, just to feel good about themselves. But it didn’t go like they wanted today.”
“I thought you were going to die,” Austen says as her eyes fill with tears. “I saw you already dead.”
