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Turning, I head up the stairs without taking his hand and without waiting for either of them to say anything more. No, I might not know what’s best, and I may damn well be making a mistake. But it’s my choice to make.
18
CADE
We’ve been at this godforsaken place for a good hour. Walking around, looking, sitting… thinking. All while Morgan stares at random spots. She believes this is going to help her get over the nightmares. But the longer we’re here, the more I notice her movements becoming rigid, and with each disjointed maneuver, I worry it’s making everything worse, making her worse. She’s already spiraling. Why else would I have had to pull her off the bottom of a damn pool?
“Are you ready yet?” Ryder asks her. He knows I was ready to leave before we even stepped foot in this place, but we both know who’s calling the shots.
She remains silent. Another clear indication that she isnotall right, and this field trip of horrors is making everything worse.
“Morgan.” I say her name softly, and she turns to look at me. A twisted expression on her face that I can’t quite read. “It’s getting dark, and we really shouldn’t be here.”
“No, y’all shouldn’t be here. I’m good. I want to see it in the dark again.”
Ryder flails his arms around, the little patience he arrived with is obviously nonexistent now. “Are you fucking serious? We can’t be here. Don’t you get that? There’s nothing else to see. Nothing you see in the dark will make what happened better.”
Morgan calmly walks up to her brother. “If you don’t back the fuck off right now, you will regret it.”
“I already regret it, Morgan. All of it. What happened to you, what happened to Lenny, keeping the footage, everything.” He starts in a full-fledged yell, but each word drops in volume until he pauses, his vision locked on Morgan. “But what I really regret is not being able to help you with whatever it is you’re looking to find here.”
For the first time I can recall in forever, I see gentleness in her expression as she wraps her arms around her brother and whispers something to him that sounds like “I don’t even know what I’m looking for.” It’s not long before the moment is over and she continues, “But leave if you want. I’m gonna stay a little longer, then I’ll head home.”
“Fine.” Ryder knows he’s fighting a losing battle. Though, like me, he can’t give up and just leave her here.
We continue around the hospital, the sun setting, the rain outside looking a little heavier than it was when we arrived. And I pray the roads aren’t flooded because there’s no way we’re staying here any longer than necessary.
We’re walking around the landing on the fourth floor when a noise draws my attention to the main lobby doorway. Quickly getting Ryder and Morgan’s attention, I hold my finger over my mouth then point to the entrance where two officers are walking in.
Fuck. This is not good. We can’t be caught here.
We watch as they search around before one heads up the staircase.
“I’ll lead him away,” I whisper.
“That’s the stupidest fucking thing,” Morgan replies, her voice low as we move into the corridor.
“She’s right. Let’s just wait them out. It’s not like they’ll go through the entire hospital.” Ryder hunches down and peeks around the corner.
I’m not feeling their strategy. “You really want to sit here and wait for them to find us?”
Morgan turns a pissy expression to me. “Well, you didn’t have to follow me. So, if they do find you, it’s your own fault.”
God, she’s so stubborn.
Ryder waves us back. “The two of you should argue a little louder.”
I look at him, hoping he’ll be the one to grasp reality as I say, “Take your sister, and get the fuck out of here.”
“Oh my God,” Morgan surprisingly says at a lower tone as she tells me, “You don’t always have to play the hero, Cade.”
“And you don’t always have to be the fucking villain, but here we are because of you.”
“Again—you dumb fucks followedmehere.” Her face is in mine as Ryder moves beside us.
“Y’all can fight about it after we’re out of here. But we’re sticking together. Hopefully they haven’t found our vehicles because that could lead them straight back to us being here if they run the plates.”
He’s right. Which is why I was happy that Morgan at least took the liberty to park in some brush on the far side of the parking lot away from the hospital. But we found the Jeep easily, so they could too. “We’re fucked.”
