“She needs a doctor,” I roar as loud as I can. A few people glance my way, and I yell once more until a nurse comes over with a wheelchair. I gently sit her down in the chair as the nurse asks me a million questions.
“I don’t know shit. She was just like this,” I tell her as I run my hand through my hair.
“You’ll have to wait here,” the nurse tells me before turning and pushing River away from me. Part of me wants to stay, but the other part knows I have to go. So that’s what I do. I turn and walk out of the hospital without ever looking back.
Chapter 24
River
Questions and more questions. I have answered none of them. The only thing I gave them was the number to my parents, and I’m not even sure why I did that.
I understand why Royal left me. I get it, I do. I’m a complete fucking mess of my own making. I don’t know what to feel or how to react to any of this. I just want to crawl under a blanket and hide, and maybe that’s what I’ll do.
The doctor talks to my parents right outside the room, and I can hear everything they’re saying.
“She wasn’t attacked from what we can tell, but something traumatic happened to her. She isn’t speaking to us. If you’d like to try, that could be really helpful,” he tells them. I don’t hear a response, but the curtain is pulled back, and my parents both step in. My mother looks at me and then looks to my father.
“What have you done to yourself?” he asks, noting my hair color. I don’t answer him, I don’t plan on answering him.
“You need to tell us what’s going on, River. This is going to become a spectacle your father doesn’t need,” my mother snaps at me. I knew it would come down to them. Not me. Not what happened to me, but what might happen to them.
“She’s right. If something happened and it gets out before we can control it, there’s going to be hell to pay,” my father tells me.
“Nothing happened.”
“Something clearly happened, or you wouldn’t be here,” my mother reminds me.
“I said nothing happened.”
“Then why are you acting like this? Where have you been?”
“Nothing happened,” I repeat as my mind goes on a loop. My father huffs out a breath and leaves the room, only to return with the discharge paperwork. The doctor said he could prescribe me something to help ease the anxiety I clearly feel, and for that I’m thankful.
I stand from the bed in a daze and follow my parents out to the car. The driver speeds off, informing my father that he didn’t see anyone lurking around, such as reporters or anything like that.
I look out the window, not really caring about much at all at the moment. I watch the other cars go by, the trees, and still I feel nothing but numbness.
We make it back to the house, and as soon as we step inside, they’re on me again.
“We will not tolerate this kind of behavior. You took off, and for what? You had everyone at the party wondering where the hell you’d gone. Greg was here, and you’ve embarrassed this family in front of him,” my mother scolds me.
“I’m not marrying, Greg.”
“You’ll marry who we tell you to marry. Don’t you dare forget you won’t see a dime of that money until you do,” my father hisses in my direction.
“I don’t care about the money! Don’t you get that? I don’t fucking care!” I scream as I reach up and tug at my hair. I can’t deal withthis. I don’t want to. I just want to crawl under my blankets and forget this ever happened. Maybe tomorrow I can leave again. Maybe I can get myself out of this sad little place I’m in and move on.
“You should care! That’s all you’ll ever have,” my father reminds me.
“You think I need money to be happy?” I ask, looking between them. “Look at you two. Neither of you are happy, and you have all the money you could want,” I tell them before snatching the bottle of pills out of my mother’s hand. I turn and head up the stairs and straight to my room.
Locking myself inside, I tap a pill into my hand and take it. I pray this works. I pray the image that’s ingrained in my mind will fade with these.
I crawl into bed and close my eyes, pulling the blankets over my head. Then I reach over and play with the piece of string Royal used to make a small ring out of. I let my fingers glide over it slowly until my eyes close. Yet, every time they do close, I see him. That man. That bastard who tried to take what wasn’t his. I could have told them, but for what? Do you really think my parents would believe me?
Not a chance in hell. Not in this world. But I don’t need them. I just need to get some rest, and then I’ll be out of here once more. I don’t need their money. I don’t care about their money.
I clench my eyes shut and try to force myself to sleep. It does little good when all I can see is him. My eyes jerk open, and my chest rises rapidly. It’s hard to breathe. My hand lands on my chest, feeling my own heartbeat as I try to calm my nerves a little.
