My breaths calmed, but Dad held me tight and guided me to the living room to sit on the sofa. He fetched my drink and sat beside me, stroking my shoulder as I stared at the faint red marks on my arms. They itched.
“How do you feel about getting out of the house for a bit?” he asked. “We could get a real coffee, or go for lunch. Or we could go out on our bikes?”
The scoff didn’t sound like disgust. More horror.
I would never ride a motorbike again.
Because all I could picture was Zolt on that dirt track, grinning.
“Okay. We could go back to Nana’s for a bit. Portugal. Wherever in the world you want to go—”
“No. Here.” My voice was dry. Crisp. “I don’t want to run.”
“A holiday is not running.”
I raised my brows.
“Okay. Right. No running.” He paused, gearing himself up to speak, sighed, then did. “Well, I spoke to youruniversity.”
I sat upright.
“The placement at the hospital will have you back. It would mean restarting the placement, and you’d have to work over the holidays and into next academic year, most likely, but… The offer is there.”
I nodded, clasping my hands around his. “Yes. Yes, I’d like that.”
Something I could fix. Something normal, away from the cameras. Maybe I could rebuild what had been wrecked.
“It’s not StormSprint, but—”
“I couldn’t go back. Not with—not before—”
“They’ll clear your name, Fia,” Dad said softly, kissing my hair. “You didn’t do this.”
Mum stood at the doorway and smiled weakly at me. “How’s my girl?”
I shrugged, and then my lip was wobbling again. She sat at my feet and placed her hands on my knees. “You are more than welcome to go back to bed. I can bring you up some lunch?”
I nodded. “Can I… can I have my phone back, please?”
They shared a look, and Mum nodded before leaving and coming back momentarily. “Before I give you this… I can put blocks on certain words, if you would like.”
“Like my name?” I laughed, but it came out strained.
“Yes, like your name. And his.”
My heart rate picked up, but I shook my head. “I need to know, Mum.”
And I scrolled through to find headline after headline of the downfall of a man I’d once loved.
29
Chapter 29
Zoltán
No matter what I drank, I couldn’t shift the taste of chemicals.
The last few days had escaped me. I did as I was told, opened my mouth, swallowed, stepped in the machine, took a deep breath, looked left, looked right, stayed still.
