Page 25

“I heard,” I reply. “That’s what I get for having so many people give a shit about me, huh?”

“We’ll clear out soon,” Emil promises, his eyes sparkling with mischief and amusement.

“My filter is broken,” I confess.

“You’re completely fine. The doctor is going to want to come in to check on you, though,” the nurse says before she leaves, shooing the other nurses out.

“Please continue,” Jared prompts.

I finish out my story, making sure to mention I used the taser to the best of my ability before I lost it.

“Can I bring my knife to school?” I ask once I’m done.

“I…shit,” Rachelle says. Her eyes are wet and she swallows hard.

“While this is one of the worst beatings I’ve ever had, it’s not the worst thing that’s ever happened to me,” I tell her, knowing that probably won’t help.

“I can appreciate that,” she rasps out. “I’m having a hard time getting space from this. You’re not one of my clients, you’re someone I’m supposed to protect, and the school I founded seriously fucked up.”

“Rachelle was also bullied in high school, and I’m sure that plays a part in this,” Emil says.

“You?” I ask, blinking. “You’re so nice. How were you bullied when you have all of these people who adore you?”

“Because we were the ones who made her life a living hell,” Elijah says. “There was no one and nothing that could save her from us.”

“Asshole,” I grunt, yawning. “I can’t even ask you why you did that because I know no one deserves to be dehumanized.”

“That’s the thing,” Ignacio says, coming over to sit on the edge of the hospital bed. “It doesn’t always make sense. Since I know what it’s like to be on the other side of things, I can say that the people behind this don’t care about the consequences. They also probably know they’re going to get away with it. Rachelle couldn’t fight back.”

“Why?” I ask, a tear sliding down my cheek.

Ignacio’s gray eyes burn with passion and sadness, and it’s hard to believe that the people who are in this room would hurt anyone.

“I was too broken,” Rachelle whispers. “Liliana is the only reason I survived as long as I did in school. Instead of a girl gang, the people in this room were my tormentors.”

“Not me,” Emil says. “I punched my own son in the face for being an asshole. There were a lot more things going on than the bullying. And each of the men in this room suffered for their mistakes. We’re going to make this a big deal, Noor, because we’re all getting very attached.”

“How?” I wail, sniffling. “It’s barely been a couple of days since you met me.”

“Eh. I don’t think that’s a factor here,” Liliana says. “You remind us a lot of Rachelle, and as you can see, she’s the center of our universe. I want to string these boys up by their toes⁠—”

“Liliana,” Emil interrupts. “That’s enough.”

I have no idea how she was going to end that sentence, but I’m sure it would have been interesting. This family is kind of insane.

“I’m sleepy,” I murmur.

“I’m sure you are,” Rachelle says, standing as she wipes away her tears. “We’re going to make this as simple as possible. I’m going to go call the doctor to talk to you, and then we’re spending the weekend at the hospital. Every blood test will be run and specialists you wanted to see are going to be seen so we can help you feel better.”

“So we’re making lemonade?” I ask weakly.

“You betcha,” she says, striding across the room and throwing open the door to find the doctor in question.

“Well, she’s not crying anymore,” Elijah murmurs.

“Rachelle is going to have the entire hospital dancing to her tune,” Theo declares with a snort. “There are silver linings everywhere. Let me know when you get hungry, we’ll smuggle you in food.”

“Okay,” I murmur.