I shake my head. “I’m okay. Keep going.” The jello really is helping, though I’m sure I’ll still feel like shit once they start dialing back my pain meds.
“What about friends? Anyone he’d known for a really long time?”
My finger begins restlessly tapping on my thigh. I want to help. I need to help. I’m painfully aware that if we don’t find him first, he will come back for me again. And I’d never forgive myself if something happened to one of them for protecting me. But I can’t help like she wants me to because I can’t tell her anything. Not a single useful piece of information. “No. He only had work colleagues he’d see semi-regularly, but none of themlasted longer than we lived in that particular area.” After a long moment, I mutter, “I’m sorry.”
Her face goes from open and accepting to stern in a heartbeat. “Don’t do that. Don’t apologize. Not to me or to anyone. Anything you can tell me helps, even if it doesn’t feel like it would be relevant.”
It’s embarrassing how long it takes me to remember what triggered all this to begin with. “There… there was someone else. He was really young and didn't even seem my age at first glance. I saw them get engaged in the park. It was why I left. He was cheating on me.”
She makes an appreciative, almost hopeful noise. “Could you describe him? Or would you recognize him if you saw him again?”
The details are a little hazy, but I think I’d at least be able to recognize him. “Maybe. He was blond, like me. If you told me he was a sophomore in high school, I would believe you. Big round glasses. That’s all I can remember.”
Blakely squeezes my calf. “That helps me out tremendously, lovebug. Thank you.”
This conversation has been going well, so obviously I have to ruin it. “He didn’t say anything when I woke up before.”
She takes the change-up in stride, looking over at Chase’s unconscious form fondly. “I’m gonna stick up for my friend a bit, if that’s okay?” When I realize she’s waiting for confirmation, I nod. “Chase has the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. When he cares about someone, he’s all in. Nothing is done in halves with him. You scared him something terrible, Easton. Not that he will hold it against you, nor will anyone else in his life, but he was bad off while you were gone. Then being in a hospital this long, waiting day in and out for you to wake up… It’s been so hard on him, but there’s nowhere else he would rather be because you’re here. That means something. He may need sometime to process everything, but he’s got to be allowed to feel this. So no, he didn’t say anything earlier. But he’s still here and he will continue to be until you’re discharged.”
She smiles at me, understanding bright in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. It was the only thing I could control.” I don’t know why I say it, maybe to put it out into the universe. Maybe just to remind myself.
“I know, sweet pea. We’re going to get through this, all of us. I promise.”
It’s not much, that little promise, but I hold on to it with everything I have.
CHAPTER 6
CHASE
Blakely definitely could be a professional sweet talker, to the point that it’s alarming to witness the depths of her powers. Not alarming enough to make me get involved, of course. I’ve been busy soaking up every second of not being the person in control. But it’s something that I’m keeping an eye on. It’s like watching a reality show, specifically the trashy kind where someone reveals their ulterior motives to an empty room with a camera, and then you get to watch it play out, wondering if it’ll work.
Her ulterior motive? Keep them from putting Easton on a psych hold where we can’t protect him. It is not a minor accomplishment by any stretch of the imagination. But when the charge nurse comes stomping in the room with a stack of discharge paperwork that needs to be signed, I see the glimmer in her eyes that only appears when she’s won.
I don’t know how she’s not more exhausted. We’ve been camping out in this hellhole for almost five days, and I can’t say that anyone has made an executive decision except for Blakely. Even Easton has been deferring to her, like he sensed the pack order and just fell in line.
Having friends is so weird sometimes.
Landon comes and goes occasionally with supplies. She’ll go out and sit with him for a little while in his car. Then, no more than half an hour later, she comes back ready to go another round with the medical professionals and keep Brady and me in line while being so compassionate to Easton that it makes my chest ache. Very odd. I’m a big fan, but I can definitely recognize that it’s strange.
While he’s signing away, she pulls me out into the hall, so like a good little duckling, I follow along until we’re in a more private area. “What’s up?” I ask.
She tucks her hair behind her ear. “The three of you should move in with me until we find this guy. I’ve got a really bad feeling and I can’t shake it.”
“What kind of bad feeling?”
After waiting until the coast is clear again, she says, “Like the kind that’s telling me he’s more dangerous than we thought and not to underestimate him.”
I sigh through my nose. “I’m not scared of this guy, Blake. He’s just a bully, picking on people smaller than him.” Out of nowhere, she smacks me on the chest. “Ow. What the fuck was that for?”
Her glare is lethal. “If you’re not scared of him, you’re stupid. And you know who is scared, is Easton. If for no other reason, do it so he can sleep better in my gated and patrolled community and state-of-the-art security system. I have the room for all of you fuckheads. Don’t make this a thing, just come home with me.”
There’s an edge to her voice that doesn’t come out often, she’s rarely scared of anything, but she really is this time. “Did you find something out that I don’t already know?”
She shakes her head, shifting her gaze out the window watching the rain race down the windowpane. “Nothing concrete. But I know when something is off. Please, Chase.”
“What about my family at my house?”
She shifts on her feet, uncomfortable. “I may have suggested they go home. The fewer people to keep an eye on, the better.”
