Jake’s eyes widened. Holy shit, he hadn’t even considered that. He’d been promising Rye he was safe all this time, when the truth was, they had no idea if that was actually the case.
“Don’t worry,” Wayne said quickly, as though he’d heard Jake’s thoughts. “We’re gonna figure this out, and we’ll make sure he and his mom don’t go anywhere without protection until we do. Rachel and I won’t let anything happen to him. Not again.”
With a short nod, Jake said a quiet “yeah, of course.” Then he hooked a thumb back over his shoulder. “Mind if I head back out there? I need to talk to Sue about something and sit down for a bit.”
“Ah, no, no. Go ahead. I’ve gotta make these phone calls anyway.”
“Thanks, Wayne. Let me know what else I can do to help.”
Wayne nodded, but he was already dialing the phone, and then he sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair again.
Jake turned and limped back out into the main room.
“Thanks,Sue.Youhaveno idea how much I appreciate this,” Jake said quietly as he stuffed the small pill bottle she’d just given him into the pocket of his jeans and set his new cane up against the desk next to him.
Sue smiled softly at Jake and then took a seat in the chair to his right. “I might have some idea. You’ve talked to Dr. Snow?”
“Yeah. I’ve got an appointment set for next week. Cora told me not to worry, but now I’ve got this weakness in my hip. I’m sure it’s just muscle fatigue from this last week, though.” At least, that was his hope.
Sue’s hand set gently on his shoulder for a moment, and she gave him a light squeeze. “From everything you’ve told me, that’s probably right. And I’d tell you to keep taking it easy, but I’m pretty sure you haven’t been taking it easy.”
Jake chuckled and shook his head. “Well, you know me, Sue. And with Rye there the last week, I probably did more than I normally would when my leg’s acting up. It should be, uh...” He was going to say it should be better now. After all, he’d only have to cook for himself and do laundry for himself and take care of himself. But the truth might be something not quite so black-and-white.
“Aw, don’t tell me that you, Jake Wright—the man who has always said he thrives off quiet time and seclusion—are going to miss having a roomie now,” Sue teased with a crooked smile.
And Jake could only roll his eyes and grin back at her as he shook his head. Yeah, the truth was somewhere in the middle. He did love the quiet beach and his home and his life, as much as it wasn’t what he’d always pictured himself doing, but he’d also definitely appreciated having Rye there for the company, despite all the stress and worry, of course.
He tore his eyes away from Sue and looked back across the small room. Rye sat next to his mom on a wooden bench near the front of the building, the tension back in his shoulders as he stared down at his hands, which were clasped tightly in his lap. His mom had her arm around him, and her eyes were red from crying. Rachel had pulled up a chair to sit with them and seemed to be asking Rye questions... that Rye wasn’t really answering.
God. What awful things—
“He sure seems healthier than what you described to me that first day,” Sue said, and when he glanced back at her, she was watching Rye too.
Jake cleared his throat and nodded and then turned his attention back across the room. “Yeah, yeah, for sure. He’s been okay, mostly. Sometimes, uh, he wouldn’t eat. He didn’t have lunch today. I think he was too nervous about coming here. And a couple of times, he had this nasty cough, but it seemed like it was almost more tied to something, uh, emotional, maybe, rather than him being sick.” After a pause, Jake added, “I’m not sure he’d agree to a checkup, but...”
“Yeah, I expect not. Though, given what you just said, I’d really like to listen to his lungs and make sure there’s nothing going on. Pneumonia can hit hard, and it’s easy to do a round of antibiotics to stop an infection if there’s something there.”
That thought made Jake’s stomach drop. “Maybe I can talk to him. Convince him. If he refuses, I mean.”
Sue nodded, and then they both sat in silence again, watching as Rachel continued trying to talk to Rye. Rye looked to be getting progressively agitated, though, and Jake was just about to stand up and intervene or something, when Rachel said, “That’s okay, Rye. We’ll try again later, when you’re ready, okay?” Rachel’s eyes met Jake’s for the briefest moment before focusing back on Rye, but Jake could both see and feel her concern.
Rye kept his chin down as he blinked several times and then squeezed his eyes shut again. His arms moved to clutch at his stomach, and he seemed to shrink in on himself a little more.
But then he nodded. And he pulled his feet up onto the bench, wrapped his arms around his legs, and buried his head down into his knees as he trembled.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rye
Hefeltsmall.Andthat somehow didn’t really make any sense, since he was big now. Taller than his mom by a few inches even.
But as Rachel had been asking him questions—simple questions that should have been really easy for him to answer—he’d just felt smaller and smaller and smaller, until he was that little boy again. Just eight years old. Walking home from school and wondering if he’d gone right on past Sycamore Avenue because he’d definitely walked too far.
“I just need to ask you a few questions, Ryan...”
His stomach was a knot of pain and ick. Still. Even though Rachel had left several minutes ago.
“What can you tell us about what happened to you?”
