Page 88 of Left In The Dark

He carefully lifts me in his arms, but it doesn’t matter how gentle he is, I writhe in agony. I think both of my legs are broken and my wrist is sprained. I can lift my head, so my neck isn’t broken. It still hurts like a bitch, though.

“Try not to move. I don’t know how bad you’re hurt yet.” He moves in the wrong direction and I reach for the partly open barn doors.

He’s going the wrong way. Why is he going the wrong way?

He sets me down on several bales of hay and it prickles at my skin. Looking around, he tugs at his jacket collar, breaths panicking and fogging the air around him.

“What am I going to do? I thought giving you some freedom would help you do better up here.”

I watch as he spins around, stomping the ground and rubbing at his face. “I don’t know what to do, Blake. This . . . this is so fucked. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. I mean . . . I don’t think it was. Whether or not it was what I wanted before, it isn’t now.”

I try to sit up and groan, my limbs useless around me. He looks back at me, rushing my way, panic evident in his blue eyes. They remind me of a roaring ocean being angered by a storm.

“I’m sorry,” he says. I didn’t expect that from him. “I’m so fucking sorry, piglet. I have to call someone. I can’t handle this on my own. Someone who can help you better than I can.”

I shake my head, releasing a small whimper.

“I have to. I know nothing about resetting a broken leg, and I don’t know if it’s even broken.” He lifts his phone from his pocket and he’s nothing like the cruel, sure of himself man I met the first day I was here. He’s lost like me. Lost, scared, and detaching from the person I thought he was. This is the most human I’ve seen him.

“Hello?” He says into the phone. “Look, there’s something I need to tell you but I can’t do it on the phone. Are you free?” He looks to the barn doors, his feet stopping half spin.

“Yeah,” he says. “I’m at home. No . . . no. It’s better if you come here. It’ll be easier if you do.” He pauses. “Oh, and please don’t tell anyone you’re coming over. Not even Jimmy.”

“Yeah, uh-huh, sure.”

Wait. This is his real voice. The noises in my head are too loud for me to focus on it, though. It could be anyone’s right now. Anyone walking through a very echoing tunnel. I wish I could hear it better. It could be another part of him I embed in my brain, like his smile and warm skin.

“Great, thanks. See you soon. Oh, and I’m over by the barn.” He looks at his blank screen and slides his phone into his back pocket.

The voice changer is turned back on when he shifts his eyes back to me. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. I’m going to run into the house and get some pain meds, and I should be back before my friend arrives.”

I stay quiet, trying to nod, and failing. My head is pounding. I blocked it the best I could, but not well enough. There’s only so much control you have over your own body when gravity has a stronger hold on it.

“Try not to move. You’ll only make things worse if you do.”

My gaze follows him out the door and everything fades away after my ears are hit with a loud staticky noise.

Thirty-One

Logan

I was supposed to let him go next week. Rehearsed the plan in my head several times after keeping a close eye on everywhere Hayden went the last few days. I drugged Blake because I was worried he wouldn’t come willingly, and based on today’s events, I would have been right. But this . . . this is worse than anything I could have imagined.

He hurt himself again. Worse than the last time. I did what I had to do, calling the only nurse I know will be less likely to rat me out. I’ll probably get a lesson and lots of yelling from him but he’ll stay true to our friendship. I know he will. We’ve all been through too much together for him not to.

I run inside the house, grabbing Vicodin and ice packs. There are several instances where I forget what I’m supposed to be doing before I finally make it back to the barn. He’s bleeding from several lacerations, and after I have him chase a pill down with a cup of water, I get him cleaned up the best I can with a warm wet washcloth. I cover him with a blanket when I’m done.

I pace the barn, rambling to myself with my heart threatening to escape my chest while I wait for Reese to show. I’m so stuck in my own head, that I don’t hear his car pull up. The barn doors rattle and a slew of curse words follow behind it.

“Exactly what the fuck kind of bullshit did you drag me into?”

I look at Blake and his eyes are closed. He’s sleeping again. Darting toward him, I check his pulse before gesturing for Reese to come closer with my fingers.

“What the hell is this, Lo?”

“No names. And you should put a mask on in case he wakes up.”

His brows jump to his hairline and his eyes are wild. “Uh . . . am I not going to get a damn explanation?”