I do a terrible job of looking through the trees and forest floor as I run down the path leading to the lake house, but I just know she’s not there. I can hear Starling is out of breath behind me, but I keep running as my feet meet sand and I only slow when I reach the start of the wooden dock. The lake is still, an endless surface and I have to hold in my tears because, what if she’s in there and it’s too dark to find her? My head whips in both directions, the lake house showing no sign of life with the place locked up, the other direction homing boats and a building further down shore.
In my blind panic I almost miss the crumble pile of black clothes contrasting with the sand, near the edge of the water near the boats. The clothes are connected to pale limbs, dark hair splayed across the floor like a rag doll. I’m done thinking, breathing, living as that natural force between us has me barrelling down the shore and slamming my knees to the rough stones hard. Grunting in pain, I lift her pale body to mine and wince at how cold her skin is. She remains still and lifeless, her tiny frame feeling even smaller. Pushing her stiff hair back from her face, I drag her upper body over my lap as I try to figure out if she’s even alive.
“Robin, Baby, I need you to wake up for me. Please.”
Her lips are blue and cut, dry blood coating the side of her mouth and there are faint bruises on her face and neck like she’d been held roughly, but not strangled. I take one of her hands in mine and notice her finger nails are cut up too, a pang of pridethat she’d at least tried to fight beating through the panic I could only feel in my chest.
I’d found Mum passed out from drinking too many times when I was younger, but once my sperm donor had been removed from the picture, she’d gotten better and it had never happened again. Her unresponsiveness didn’t mean Robin was dead and with shaky hands I felt at her wrist, then at her neck and managed to find a light pulse that finally allowed me to exhale.
My voice was shrill and broken. “Baby please open your eyes, I’m here. I’ve got you.”
She doesn’t respond and I’m incredibly aware of how cold she is and that the rain has completely soaked her to the bone. How long has she been out here? It’s like she was just dumped, closest to the boats but just away from the water’s edge so she wouldn’t have drowned. Had someone planned to take her on a boat? Throw her over?
Ignoring my own chills, I pull the hoodie off me and lift her to slide it over her head, adjusting the arms, gripping her tightly to warm her.
Heavy breaths catch up to me and Starling appears, drenched and nearly heaving. “I’ve checked the lake house and down the shore, no one is here.”
Leaning the side of her head onto my shoulder, I hold the tip of my finger underneath her nose. “She’s breathing.”
“Does she need CPR?” he asks me and I can only just hold back my annoyance.
“You’re a fucking detective, surely you should know if she needs fucking CPR? She's breathing.”
“Has she drowned?” Starling starts to ask me, but Cardinal's large body knocks past him, practically taking Robin out of my arms as he leans over the two of us on the floor. He checks her pulse points accurately and fast, opening one of her eye lids,angling her face to check all areas of her iris. He moves with experience and confidence, opening her mouth next to examine inside, but freezes. Leaning into her face, his fingers run over the skin around her mouth and I now see a rash has formed there. He leans further and sniffs, sharply sitting up.
“Someone used chloroform. Her eyes are inflamed and her skin has had a reaction. She smells sweet, but it’s not natural.”
I grip her tightly. “Fuck, she needs a doctor.”
“If I can check the first aid kit there might be stuff in there I can help her with, but my knowledge is at a very basic level.”
My eyebrow tilts up. “You knew to look for this.” I state, not accusing but stating the fact.
“Family shit.” He mumbles, focusing again on Robin. “We need to get her warm and dry. Can you carry her back to the house?” Protectively my hands tighten around her arms, irrationally like he’s going to snatch her away from me. “I’ll tell the others we’ve found her and get the first aid kit from Merle.”
“You were in his room, were you with him all night?” I ask, needing the clarification that he couldn’t have possibly done this.
“After I took Wil to Mavis’s room, I went straight to his room to start strategizing how we can all leave or find a safer route than the bridge to get to the village.”
“None of you are leaving.” Starling tries to be commanding, but Cardinal just rolls his eyes.
“Legally you can’t keep us if no one has been arrested. If you’ve arrested Bran, you can do whatever you like with him. Once she’s better,” he points down at Robin’s still form, “We’re leaving.”
Giving myself just a moment, I look up at the thick clouds, biting my lip to hold in a sob. I could have lost her right from under my nose if I’d woken up any later. Exhaling out a shaky breath, I plant a soft kiss to her temple and her eyes twitch.Adjusting her body into a bridal carry, I rise on shaky legs and pull her close as possible to my chest. I need the reassurance I haven’t lost her.
“I’ll do anything if you stay with me.” I whisper into her hairline as we start to walk back up the shore to Nightingale. “I promise anything. I’ll give you everything if you promise to be ok.” Unable to keep them in, hot tears roll down my cheeks and drop into her hair. They run down her bruised, ghastly skin. She doesn’t stir, her eyes don’t flutter again, but I can feel her slow heartbeat against my chest and that’s the only thread of hope tethering my feet to keep walking.
Chapter twenty-five
Robin
CHILLSwere slicing through my body, then suddenly they weren’t. The change in temperature was shocking, prickling at my skin until I was able to unclench my jaw and relax into the warmth that took over. I had been so cold, now I feel like a toasty burrito. Blinking my heavy eyelids and looking down at how my body is wrapped tightly in two blankets, I’m a swaddled infant. I try to move but it’s no use; not only am I wrapped up well, but my limbs feel too heavy to be of any use. I can barely keep my eyes open, so I don’t fight it and let them close again, pushing away the nausea with sleep.
A burning sensation in my chest wakes me and this time I’m able to keep my eyes open. The pounding in my head hasn’t lessened with sleep and my mouth feels so dry, like I’ve lickedup a bunch of sand. I’m sore all over. Studying my position, I’m comfortably laid on an unfamiliar bed and I’m no longer trapped in a blanket vise. The room is dark, a low light coming from a lamp across the room. I must have kicked out of the blankets, but the warmth now comes from a firm surface pressed against my side. My arms strain and feel like jelly as I lift one, the slight movement making me feel dizzy, which is weird. I let out a little groan, and the hard surface next to me shifts.
“Roo?” It takes me a second to recognise the voice as Wrens. Expelling energy I don't have to turn my head, suddenly he’s in my field of vision, holding my face softly with both of his hands, looking at me with pure relief. His smile is watery but grim. I wince at his touch because my skin really hurts. Everything is sensitive, but also because memories flood in of why I left his hotel room in the first place. The rest is pure darkness, smothering me from leaving the hotel room.
“I thought you were dead,” he croaks, wiping a tear away that escapes down his pale cheek. “I’ve never been so scared in my life when I couldn’t find you. Then,” he breathes deeply. “I found you near the water. You have bruises and scrapes, but I’ve cleaned them. Do you want some painkillers?”
