“Elliot,” I call. He looks over his shoulder at me. “I’ve got her.” I nod to Lucy.
He straightens, his eyes falling back to her. “I’m going to stay too. I’m going to get us some food. You guys need to eat.”
I roll my lips and nod my head even though he doesn’tsee. I can’t think about food. I can’t imagine anything I eat staying in my stomach if I wanted to eat.
Vinny doesn’t speak as he walks by me, and I know everything that’s happened will be weighing heavy on him. He’ll blame himself for not pinning down Sarah sooner, but I already know it’s all on me. I never should have meddled.
I stand looking out the window as the room empties, quietness falling heavy when it’s just me and Lucy left. She hasn’t said more than a couple words since she turned up. I know her silence comes from a place of pain. She’s hurting, needing something only her best friend can give her.
Like Elliot, I crouch down in front of her, waiting. I place a hand on the side of her face and her icy blue eyes drift open and land on mine. I give her a small smile, telling her I get it.I feel the same.
She lifts her neck from the seat and I slide in under her, letting her rest her head on my thigh.
“I’ve sat in so many waiting rooms impatient for the doctor to come back so he can tell us what’s wrong with her.” She sniggers under her breath, her tears seeping through my jeans. “Always ready to go get ice cream with Mum or have her come home to us for the weekend.” I sit quiet as her voice struggles to fill the room. “She’s the best person I know, Mason. How does this happen to someone so good? There are so many bad people in this world. Why her?”
“I don’t have the answers. I wish I did, but I don’t,” I say in a pained daze, imagining Nina as a child.
“She would know. She always has the answers.”
My head drops back to the wall, my eyes drifting closed.
Wake up, Angel.
“Mase.”
I jolt awake, my eyes flicking open to find Elliot standing in front of me. A nurse is hovering at his side, smiling softly at me. I sit up in a rush, my neck jolting in pain from the unnatural way I’d been sitting. I remember Lucy on my lap and slow my movements, grasping her upper arm to steady myself.
“What is it?” I rush out. My heart is pounding. Adrenaline has my eyes flicking wildly between them.
“It’s Nina.” A grin stretches wide across his face. “She’s awake.”
“You said she was awake!” I whisper-shout at Elliot as we stand outside of Nina’s hospital room. The doctor arrived at the same time we did and the nurse informed us all that Nina had gone back to sleep. They’re in her room now, doing an assessment on her.
“She was! I spoke to her,” Elliot says.
“What?” I snap. “What did she say?!”
“She told me I was beautiful,” he tells me proudly, a smirk on his face.
“Fuck off!”
“Straight up. She said, ‘You’re so beautiful, Ell.’ Then I ran to get you.”
Fuck! I just need to see her. “Why won’t they let me see her?!”
Lucy gives me a hopeful look. “It won’t be long now. Tryand stay calm.”
“Never in the history of life has someone stayed calm after being told to stay calm, Lucy!”
The back of Elliot’s hand meets my chest. “Don’t speak to her like that.”
Not being able to wait any longer, I walk to the door and push it open. I try to calm my movements, not wanting to rush into the room like the maniac I feel, but my entire body vibrates as I stand on the threshold.
All eyes in the room flick to me.Allthe eyes. But my gaze is stuck on the most perfect—captivating pair of them all. Nina is lying back in the bed, her head turned to the side as she looks towards me in the doorway.
She smiles.
She fucking smiles, and it’s just about all my heart can take.
