"Good, good," he says. It sounds like he's distracted. "Do they have any leads?" he asks, and my hand tightens on his. He squeezes back softly.
"They'll never find him," I murmur sleepily, my eyes barely open. "It was Alison, Cam."
"How do you know for sure?" he asks and I pull my hand out of his. "Liv…"
"No," I blast, the increase in my heartbeat blipping loudly from the machine. "She threatened me yesterday. She told me I'd forgotten my place and she was going to remind me, that I'd never see it coming." I pause to swallow and rest my jaw. "She's right. I never saw it coming and then it was too late. I tried to fight back, to defend myself, but he was too strong and he just kept coming and coming and coming," I murmur, my breath hitching on a sob.
"Fuck," Bash murmurs, walking into the room and over to me. He elbows Cam out of the way, and takes my hand, using the other to wipe the tears off my face. "You're okay now, Livvy. You're safe," he tells me again.
He keeps telling me that. I think he thinks if he says it enough I'll start to believe it. I feel safe with Bash—Cam, not so much.
"Why haven't you answered your phone, Stone?" Bash snaps.
"It's been missing since before the game yesterday. I looked everywhere," he tells us. His gaze meets mine, "If I had known, I swear, Liv, I'd have been here. I didn't find out until now."
"Who told you?" Alexa asks, my parents looking on cautiously.
He looks down and swallows.
"Alison?" Alexa asks incredulously.
Cam nods. "Yeah. She was at the frat when I went down to get breakfast."
"Of course she was," I murmur.
Cam looks at me and I stare at him. His jaw is set and gets tighter every time he sees Bash squeeze my hand. My jaw is killing me, but it's time to say what needs to be said.
"Cam," I begin.
He shakes his head. "I know, Liv. I've been a shit boyfriend, but I didn't know. I swear," he pleads.
"If you're going to remain friends or associate with Alison in any way, we're done. We can't even be friends," I say flatly. "I can't be friends with anyone who has anything to do with the bitch that had someone do this to me."
"No," my mom states. "Shedid this. It might not have been her fists, but she did this."
I blink in agreement with my mom—nodding hurts my neck, jaw, and head too much.
"I'll make sure she never sets foot in the frat house again. She's ruined," Cam says.
I blink at him and he relaxes his shoulders just a little.
"I know it's unreasonable to be mad at you when you didn't know about this, but I am," I confess to Cam, who takes a seat in the chair on the other side of my bed. "I think it's because you've been absent."
He wants to grab my hand, but it's casted, so he rests his hand on my shoulder. "I know, Liv. I'm sorry. Christ, I wish I'd known."
"Did you see Alison yesterday?" my dad questions.
Cam nods. "Yeah. She was at the frat. She's seeing one of the linemen."
"So she could have taken your phone, sent the message to Olivia—" my dad begins but Cam cuts him off.
"Wait—what? They sent a message to you frommyphone? What did it say?" he asks, his eyes blazing with anger.
My dad tells him and Cam's anger grows.
"I can see why you'd be pissed at me," he tells me, "even though I had nothing to do with it. I've been around her. I let this happen because she wiggled her way in."
"Yeah," I admit.
