“I’ve got him,” Keoni replies, his voice so startlingly calm it catches me off guard. His demeanor doesn’t match the chaos around us. “I need you to act like the last two days never happened, and I had a small breakdown. Everything is fine.”
“What? How’re you so calm?! Where is Mich?—”
“No one was here. Nothing happened. The last two days didn’t happen as far as anyone outside of you, us, and the neighbors of Sapphire Valley are concerned. Do you hear me?”
He tries to move my arms and they go limp, causing his brows to furrow. “What’s wrong with your arms?” he whispers.
“No fucking way,” she snaps, her voice thick with fear and anger. “I won’t accept that?—”
“You need to, Britt!” he shouts. I’m staring at him in bewilderment. When he catches my gaze, he releases a shaky breath, and in a much lighter tone, says, “For me… please.”
“But… I… What happened?”
My heart cracks as his face tilts toward the ground. “I… had a mental breakdown. You feared for my safety, so you called it in…” He pauses, and I can see the gears working. He says I’m the smart one, but he’s tactical. “But, Levi picked up Ayden, and they found me driving away from a national park a few miles south of Sapphire Valley. A ranger saw me, he can attest to it. That’s the story.”
“No… No, that’s all…”
“Britt,” I whisper, my voice hoarse and my teeth beginning to chatter. “Listen to him.”
I can hear the soft whimper, caused by tears I’m sure, come through before she says, “Can I come over?”
He looks up at me, sorrow etched across his beautiful face.
“Not right now. I need to take care of Ayden. Please make sure no one comes here.”
“Okay…” There’s a brief pause. “I love you guys so, so much. You’re my family. Please don’t forget that.”
Heat stings my eyes as I catch the raw pain on Keo’s face.
“We love you, too. I’ll explain later. Okay?”
“Okay. Okay… talk soon.”
She hangs up, and he hovers over me. “Did he break your fucking arms?”
I shake my head. “No,” I grit out through my teeth. “Dislocated.”
He places a hand on my shoulder and grabs my upper arm, rotating it until he feels the tension. “Breathe.”
I suck in a breath and begin to say, “Call an amb?—”
My vision spins as he roughly pops my arm back into place. Tears streak my temple as I scream through my clenched jaw. “K-Keo!”
“Ayden, I can’t call an ambulance.” His hand moves to the back of my neck, lifting me slightly. His forehead presses against mine, and the pain in his voice breaks me. “I killed two people tonight, and I nearly lost you. I…didlose you for nearly two minutes.”
The breath he takes is filled with a sob, and I vibrate with need to hold onto him.
“I don’t want them to come and take me from you before I can hold you. And as badly as I want to do that right now, I can’t. Ihaveto make sure you’re alright. Your body is still in shock.” He leans back, red rimming his eyes. “I need to make sure you’re alright.” He repeats it, almost like a mantra.
My lips tremble, and he shifts his hold to my face, his thumbs rubbing along my jawline in a gentle, massage-like motion. “You’re still cold. Let me get the other arm in, and I’ll get more blankets.”
He does just that. He sets me down, and with the same careful precision, pops my other joint back into place. The moment I start choking out a scream, he has me sitting up in his arms.
Through the tight embrace, I lift my arms to hold him. His soaked shirt clings to him, not drying fast enough—I know he must be just as cold, if not more uncomfortable, than I am.
“Keo… I don’t want you to let me go, but… your clothes.”
He nods quickly and is on his feet in seconds, tossing his shirt aside and rushing toward the bedrooms. I don’t miss the bruises and cuts along his side—and even some along his neck. The burn scars across his upper shoulders tighten my chest because now I know exactly who caused them.
