Calla took another sip of the coffee, studying the couples. She remembered watching people like this before Brent started locking her up. Going from where she was to where these women were in life seemed impossible. Maybe they were right, and she would recover and live a normal life, but she didn’t know how she would get there. Brent had taken too much for her to ever hope for normal.
Chapter 14
Thario wasglad he was getting out of here today. He'd slept, but only because he'd been totally bored since there wasn't anything else to do in the hospital.
His head felt better, but the doctor warned him that he really had to take it easy. If he pushed too hard, he would end up with more pain than he had to start with.
He knew Frog would be glad to see him, just like he would be happy to see his dog. Danika and Sharp said he could stay for a while, but he needed to find a place of his own. Maybe he would take a look at the cabin out near Elowen and Griz. He liked it up there in the mountains. It would be different. Trips to the doctor would take longer. He had friends here he could stay with in the San Diego area when he had multiple appointments.
The cabin was worth looking into. He would be close to Griz, and Elowen was really cool. Dating wasn’t happening for him, so there was no reason to stay in a populated area for that.
Frog would have plenty of room to run. His dog was getting old, and eventually, he wouldn't be able to run, but he might as well move out where he would have some land before Frog got too old to enjoy it.
The door opened, and Danika poked her head in. "You decent?"
He laughed. “I’m dressed.”
“Good enough. Calla is with me.”
He almost choked on his breath when she stepped in. Every nerve in his body seemed to be alive, which overwhelmed his concussed head, and he winced. From the way her eyes darted away from him, she took his reaction wrong.
He stood, though his head spun, and moved to her. "Hey, how are you?"
Her gaze flicked to his, then away. "Okay."
“Good. My head still hurts a bit, but I’ll recover.”
Shock filled her face, and her eyes went wide. "Oh, your head hurts."
He nodded. "Yeah, the doctors want me to rest and relax for a few days. I'm not used to relaxing. I like keeping busy. They don't want me watching TV, either. It kind of sucks because I can't relax with a movie or reading. I'm just going to have to sit around and do nothing."
She studied his face and frowned. “You have a cut near your hairline. That has to be annoying.”
He nodded. "It is. But we got you out of that place. If I'd known, I would have come to help you sooner."
"But you didn't know. No one knew. I mean, I guess people in high school should have known. At first, they were giving me privacy, I guess, but no one came looking for me. Of course, I had no way of contacting anyone. My brother took my computer, my phone, everything. Maybe he sent emails and texts back to my friends telling them lies. I have no idea what happened.”
“That must have been very hard.”
The nurse came in and gave him the last of his paperwork, along with a few prescriptions. He was finally free.
Luckily, Danika had brought dark sunglasses for him to wear during the drive home.
When he got into the house, he almost collapsed on the couch. He was tired, but glad to be out of the hospital. Danika had set up a bed for him to sleep on in the corner of the little room up front that was her office. He stepped in, and Calla came downstairs. She entered the small room, her eyes bouncing from the walls to him, then to the floor and ceiling.
“You okay sleeping down here?” she asked.
“Yes. They were nice enough to allow me to stay.”
“They’re good people.”
Danika poked her head in and smiled. "I'm going to put a couple of pizzas in the oven. So maybe fifteen minutes and we'll have food."
Thario nodded. “Sure. That sounds great.”
Danika left, and Calla stayed. He glanced around and realized the only place to sit was on the air mattress because the mattress blocked Danika's office chair.
“Um, I would offer you a seat, but there really isn’t anywhere to sit.”
