“All right,” I manage to choke out.
Hearing me, Gabriel opens his eyes and gives me a soft smile.
“I’m fine,” he says as his hand lifts and I know he’s searching for mine, but I don’t deserve his love.
“Please don’t do this alone,” he begs, and I know he’s talking about Whitaker. His hand is still searching for mine, but I can’t give it to him. “Please.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, and he grabs my hand before I can pull it away and draws it in. “I fucked up. I promised to keep you safe and I failed.”
“You’re not a fortune teller, Liam. This is our job. Shit happens. Listen to me?—”
But before I hear his next words, Mabel rushes in. I let go of Gabriel’s hand because I don’t even deserve to hold it. Hedeserves someonegoodbecause he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and he deserves the best. Not someone like me.
“Honey, it’s okay,” Mabel says. “It’ll be okay.”
“I’ll step out so Clark can see him,” I tell her.
“No, no, you can stay,” Mabel says as she tries to reach for me. “I’m sure you’re really shaken up, having seen the attack. I really think you should stay.”
I shake my head and turn from them.
“Liam!” Gabriel calls, but I rush out to the waiting room.
“Clark, you can go back,” I say before turning to Matthew. “Can I have the keys to get some clothes out of my trunk?”
“You need to have someone look at your wounds.”
“I will. They’re waiting for a room to open up to take me back and asked if I had something dry to change into,” I lie because I deserve to hurt. I don’t deserve to have someone help me. Why waste time on someone like me?
“Okay,” he says, giving me the keys just before I see Jesse come out of the bathroom.
“Don’t give him the keys!” Jesse snaps, but I’m already out the door. I manage to get in the car and pull out just as Jesse reaches the parking spot. I see him in my rearview mirror, standing there… watching me flee.
As I drive, I call Michaels.
“How is Hyde?”
“He’s going into the OR right now, but he was coherent when I saw him,” I say.
“How are you?”
“Fine. I need to talk to that security guard we arrested after Nadine’s murder. Richard.”
“No, you need to stay at the hospital. We’re making progress, Paige. We got two names off the ring. The issue is that the names we matched the ring to belong to two people who are deceased.”
“Did one of them fake their death?”
“The female died in the hospital, so it would be pretty hard to fake that death. The male was killed in a car crash and is more likely to be the suspect. He goes by the name of Whitaker Marret. While his face was unrecognizable, his ID stated who he was and his mother identified the body.”
“Check him, now.”
“You know we can’t check things right this second. We’d have to dig up the body to verify. I’ll have to let you know how fast that approval happens.”
“I’ll go fucking dig it up myself if you don’t. I’ll do it after I’m done talking to Richard. You told me you want this to end, Michaels. How many more people do you want to die before you’re happy?”
“Fine. I’ll have Richard ready for you.”
“Thank you.”
