“You told the paramedics that he’s a missing person, right? Well, I’m sure the police department will be notifying her soon if they haven’t already.”
Before she takes Asher, I again make myself look dumb by telling him what’s going on. He’s unconscious, but the idea of people doing anything to him while he’s unaware makes me sick to my stomach. Hopefully, wherever his brain is right now, the message comes through.
“Hear that, honey? We just need a few x-rays and your friend is going to be waiting for you to come back,” Sammi assures him. My throat burns as tears prick my eyes. It’s such a small thing, really. But I get the feeling that whether I’m here or not, she’ll keep talking to him. Like she probably did to me while I was fighting for my life.
When they’re gone, my body crumbles, unable to hold itself up for a moment longer, and I don’t move for a very, very long time.
CHAPTER 32
CHASE
“Are we free to go or not, Isaac?” Blakely sighs.
Isaac is exasperated with her. “You’re essentially asking me to ignore two break-ins here.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not asking you to do anything. All I said was that with the strategy that you guys thought was best, a seventeen-year-old would have died. Now he’s getting treatment in a hospital. Maybe a win is a win. He’s been on the missing persons list for three years. He was taken when he was a freshman in high school.”
“I should have known you’d have tried something like this.”
“Probably so. Maybe you should call his grandmother and tell her that her baby boy isn’t dead in the woods somewhere.”
Isaac crosses his arms and looks up to the ceiling. “I’ll forget this ever happened if you leave the crime fighting to the professionals from here on out. How about that?”
“Sure. Unless my life is in danger again.”
“Just as fiery as the day I met you. Go on, then. We have a crime scene to process here.”
None of us need to be told twice. We’ve given our statements, and if there’s nothing else keeping us in this hell-hole, I’m the first out the door. After three unanswered texts to Easton, I’mitching to make sure him and Asher are okay. “Anyone else getting nauseous from the déjà vu?” Brady asks in the car.
My head thunks against the seat. “Tell me about it.”
“God, I’m so sick of driving you two to this podunk hospital wondering if someone is going to die.”
We’re quiet for the rest of the drive, all too exhausted to do anything but make it to Easton in one piece. It’s well after midnight and the adrenaline roller coaster is taking its toll. But the important thing is despite the hell getting here, we got everything we wanted. Aaron is in jail, Asher is alive, and there’s nothing that can interfere with Easton’s big day tomorrow. Today? Either way. It’s going to be perfect for him.
It only takes some minor poking around to find Easton and Asher tucked away in a darkened bay with the lights off. I’m hoping that Asher’s only sleeping, but Easton most certainly is. He’s passed out cold with his knees drawn to his chest and his hood covering his face. Blake makes a soft noise at the sight.
I feel bad waking him, but we might as well go home and sleep there instead of a chair in the emergency room. On silent feet, I approach him and run my hand along his back. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go sleep in a real bed.”
He uncoils slowly, like a cat, blinking up at me with bleary eyes. “You think he’ll be okay overnight?” When he looks over at Asher, it’s clear he feels connected to the kid.
“I do. The police are getting in contact with his grandma. I’m sure she’ll be here in a few hours. There’s not much we can do for him tonight except let him sleep.”
A yawn threatens to crack his jaw. “Yeah, okay. I just need to let him know I’m leaving.”
While I stand there in confusion, Easton goes over to Asher’s sleeping figure and takes his hand lightly. “You need your rest so you can get better, so I’m going to go, okay? But your grandma should be here soon. Hopefully by the time you wake up. Thenurses here are the best and they’re going to take great care of you. You’re safe here, and soon, you’ll be able to go home. Won’t that be the best? Just focus on getting better. Everything is going to be okay now. You did good hanging on this long. You’re so strong, Ash. Let them help you, okay? You’re going to need it for a while, but you can do it. Don’t give up on yourself.”
Like he didn’t just fully eviscerate everyone standing in the room, he offers Asher one last smile and walks out of the room. Brady wipes his eyes on the collar of his shirt, and I have to swallow several times to get rid of the boulder in my throat. I don’t even attempt to look at Blakely or I know I’m gonna lose it. We follow behind him silently, and presumably my friends are reeling from that interaction like I am.
Easton really is something too pure for this world.
Brady offers to drive home and Blake doesn’t even pretend like she’s going to turn him down. It’s going to take a force of nature to make all of us transform into humans by this evening. I’m pretty sure I’ve aged five years in the last twenty-four hours. Easton immediately lays his head in my lap after climbing in the back seat, making his intentions to go back to sleep very clear. Even despite the bone-deep exhaustion, I keep my eyes open. Maybe so Brady isn’t the only functional adult or maybe because the night is almost too peaceful to be ignored.
Eastonis too peaceful to be ignored. I can feel it radiating off him like sunrays. There isn’t a second of it I’d be willing to miss, so I don’t. My fingers find their way into his corn-silk hair on their own accord, running through the soft strands again and again. When Easton makes a pleased noise, just loud enough for me to hear, I try to bottle this feeling so I can recreate it for him as often as I can. He’s missed out on this his entire life.
Something urges me to look up, and when I do, Brady’s warm brown eyes find mine in the rearview mirror. No words are exchanged, it doesn’t last more than a couple of seconds beforehe looks back at the road, but words pass between us all the same. A confirmation of kinds. A depth of gratitude that knows no limits. A blessing I didn’t know I needed.
He was never unsupportive. He wouldn’t dream of it. But knowing that Easton is safe, and feels it, opens the door for Brady to finally leave that damn hospital room. That means just as much to me as any of the rest of it, knowing my worries over my best friend can finally be put to rest along with everything else. He deserves the peace just as much as Easton does.
