“But you told Ares?” He’s hurt.
“I didn’t. He just knew. He watches me and catches me when I’m not pretending. He noticed when I’ve been really low and he’s helped me. He’s the one who found Dr Finn and encouraged me to go to the first appointment with her. Ares takes me to every single appointment and waits for me to be finished. He’s not the bad guy you think he is. Please, can you let him in?”
The door to the room opens and Uncle Marcel walks through it. “You’re awake.”
“Where is Ares?” I ask him. “Can you tell him I want to talk to him? Please?”
“He’s outside. He hasn’t left since he brought you here,” Uncle Marcel says. “I can go and get him.”
“I will,” Dad grunts.
“Thank you.”
“That boy is my nephew, Dom. Remember who he is before you treat him like shit for falling in love with your daughter,” Uncle Marcel warns.
“It’s because of who he is that I don’t want him near my daughter,” Dad retorts.
“Fuck off. You’re not squeaky clean, McKinley. You’re forgetting who’s been the one to help you bury more bodies than we can even count.”
“Okay, you two, out. Bring Ares back in here.” Mum pushes both my dad and my uncle out of the room. Once the door closes, she comes and sits on the edge of the bed. “What can I do? How can I help you?”
A fresh wave of tears falls down my face. “I don’t know.”
“Did something happen? To make these feelings come on? I’m trying to work out what’s caused this? Why would you go to such extremes to try to end your life?”
“Nothing happened. It just started. It wasn’t that bad at first. I’d just feel sad and couldn’t figure out why. I thought it was hormones, you know. I thought I had it under control.” I know I took those pills. I really did just want it to end and it would have. I look up at my mum again. “Who found me?”
“Ares did.”
I close my eyes. “He’s going to hate me. He’s going to leave me.”
“No, he’s fucking not.” The sharp tone has my head snapping towards the door. Ares. He’s here. He looks… tired, worried, heartbroken.
My eyes widen. His heart. I broke it. I sit higher on the bed. “Are you okay?” I ask him.
“No,” he says, walking over to me. “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit. Like I messed everything up. Like I failed,” I reply honestly.
“You didn’t fail. It was a setback maybe. But it’s not your fault. You haven’t messed anything up.”
“Is your heart okay?”
“It will be,” he says. “I was scared. Finding you like that… I never want to see that again, Zara.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s… We’re going to figure it out,” he tells me.
“I’m going to grab a coffee. I won’t be long,” Mum says. Then she looks to Ares. “Can you stay? Don’t leave her alone, please.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he assures her.
As soon as my mum walks out the door, I pull the covers off me, crawl on my knees over to Ares, and throw my arms around his neck. Sobs rack my body. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened,” I tell him. “I’m sorry. I really thought I was getting better.”
“You are.” Ares runs his hands up and down my back. “You’re talking about it. That’s a huge improvement, P. And now that your parents know, maybe you’ll get better help.”
“My dad is going to lock me up in a padded cell.”
