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I saw red as I sprang to my feet, attacking him. I had him on the floor, beating the hell out of him, when his friend came out of nowhere, tackling me. He and my father beat me until the world went black.
Sometime later, I awoke in the hospital, only to find myself alone. Defeat filled me as I lowered my head, brokenhearted and wondering if Elsie was saved.
I tried crawling out of bed, holding my injured ribs as I fought against the pain with every inhale and exhale. A nurse came running into my room, making me lie down in bed. “My sister, Elsie,” I rasped. “I need to know….”
The nurse’s eyes were full of sympathy as she murmured, “There’s no record of your sister here.”
The next day, I pressed the social worker, promising to reveal what happened to me if she’d tell me what happened to my sister and father. She informed me a neighbor discovered Elsie’s deceased body on the floor, but no one knew what happened to my father.
Mackenzie’s sobs pull me from the past. I didn’t realize I’d been crying until her fingertips wiped the wetness from my cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Chase. Did you read Elsie’s note?”
I nod. “Yes. It turns out she committed suicide because she was pregnant…” Bile rises in my throat. Sucking in a deep breath, I hold it before exhaling. I repeat it several times before I feel composed enough to continue. “Elsie was pregnant with my father’s child. She didn’t want it, which was understandable. She was worried sick about telling me. She wanted to get an abortion but wasn’t sure if it was possible because we were both underage. She was also concerned about the expense…”
“There’s more, isn’t there? What is it, Chase?”
My eyes locked on hers. “She was experiencing morning sickness in school, and a couple of the mean girls she’d been having issues with started bullying her. They accused her of being pregnant, but since they hadn’t seen her with any boy except for me, they said it was mine. Gina Mowers, one of the bullies, had to take it further. She started a rumor in school that both my dad and I were fucking Elsie, and she became pregnant with a deformed, monstrous baby, the product of incest. Obviously, they were wrong about me, but hit the nail on the head about my dad.”
“Oh, shit. Girls can be so damned cruel.” Sympathy and anger battle for dominance on Mackenzie’s face. “Is that why Elsie committed suicide?”
I nod.
“Oh, fuck, Chase. I wish I could say something to ease your pain.”
My voice is soft. “Listening is enough. I’ve never told anyone about Elsie until you.”
Mackenzie’s amber eyes glow from gratitude. “I’m honored you told me. Sad as hell that you endured all that.” Soft fingers rub my jawline again, but I don’t pull away.
“It sucked. I lost everything when I lost Elsie. She was the only person on this earth who cared for me.” As soon as I say those words, Mackenzie’s face changes. Her eyes lower to my chest and her cheeks are scarlet.
“Kenz?” It takes her a few moments, but her gaze lifts to mine. “Don’t feel guilty.”
“How can I not feel guilty, Chase? I treated you like absolute shit when you moved in. And you had gone through all that and?—”
“I wouldn’t have wanted your pity, Kenz.” My tone is harsh. Frigid. I received enough pity in school after my sister died, and it didn’t change one goddamn thing. “I didn’t understand why you acted the way you did toward me at first, but over time I figured it out. I understood it.” I push a lock of her long blonde hair behind her ear. “I always want your genuine reaction, angel. Not some fake bullshit.” My voice is raspy. “Everything between us is real.”
She nods. “I understand that. Still, you had enough baggage you were carrying with you. Then you moved in with me. You had a lot of new changes to deal with—school, family, and a foster sister who was rude and acted like she hated you.”
Images of our first meeting roll through my head. Pearl, a nurse who wanted to foster me, brought Mackenzie to my hospital room so I could meet her. I was still pretty banged up, but I didn’t care about much at that point. Until I sawher.
Although a part of me regretted looking like shit, the other part didn’t care about anything except staring at Mackenzie.
Pearl stepped into the room, a wide smile on her face. She moved to the side, giving me my first glimpse of the beautiful blonde with big amber eyes. I sucked in a breath, my heart hammering inside my chest like a drum.
Mackenzie’s hair shimmered like spun gold as she stood framed in the light of the windows of my hospital room. She wore a navy T-shirt and a blue denim skirt, revealing her petite frame. The wedge heels of her sandals clicked against the floor as she moved closer to my bed.
“Mackenzie, this is Chase. Chase, this is Mackenzie.”
Holy shit.My mouth was drier than cotton, my throat like the Sahara Desert. I was in a trance, my eyes locked with hers, whiskey and amber staring into each other’s souls.
I felt something I’d never felt that day. I’d feel it every time I looked into Mackenzie’s eyes in the days since. The broken pieces of my heart and fragmented soul shook and trembled as though disturbed by the wind before lifting like a tornado, swirling and clicking into place, making me whole.
It was stupid. Irrational. Heady. Yet I was never more certain of anything in my life. Peace stole over me, even as every nerve ending in my body crackled and tingled.
I was intact.
Unbroken.
Alive.
