I told Matt what I remembered, which wasn’t much. Lance walking me to the door, how I broke it off with him and then curled up on the couch and watched a silly chick flick. I’d woken to the door rattling and thought it had been him struggling with his key.
“The lock was picked. He knew what he was doing,” Matt said. “Jesus, Kat if Neville hadn’t heard your screams … I can’t even think about it. Fuck.” Matt ran his hand over his head and then down his face.
“What is it?”
“The police think the guy knew you. Or of you, maybe followed you and Lance from the bar? This wasn’t random.” Matt’s hand slid from mine and he cleared his throat and then sighed. “Listen, Sis. There’s something else. I don’t like the guy and really I don’t give a shit, but I know if I don’t tell you someone else will and then you’ll be pissed I never told you.” He ran his hand through his hair and cleared his throat. “Ream was taken in for questioning last night. A person of interest they said.”
“But … No he was with you. How could they even …”
“Calm down. It’s fine. They just want to talk to him because he had that freak out at the bar.”
My heart skipped a beat and I stopped breathing. I heard the heart monitor start beeping like crazy, and within seconds the nurse barged through the door. She pressed a few buttons and the beeping stopped. The older woman wore her gray hair in a bun. She had soft, plump features and looked sweet, but when her eyes narrowed and mouth tightened, she was fierce.
“Out. Now,” she said to Matt. “I warned you … if you upset her, no visiting.”
Matt swore beneath his breath, and I was silently freaking out wondering what the hell happened to Ream.
My stomach twisted and the nurse put her hand on my forehead and urged me back onto the plush pillow. “I need you to calm down.” She fiddled with my intravenous and within minutes I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. The last thing I heard was the door clicking shut.
The police asked me question after question. I told them I didn’t get a look at the suspect, that he was wearing a balaclava. I gave them what I did know, that he was over six foot and had brown eyes.
“Brown? Are you sure?”
I nodded now remembering the haunting evil glare before he lowered the knife and sliced my cheek. I put my hand up and ran the tip of my finger over the stitches. There were five of them across my cheek and four on my forehead. The doctor explained that they were clean cuts therefore minimal scaring. But I knew the truth; every time I looked in the mirror I’d see the reminder.
“Anything else, miss?”
“The smell. I smelled something. It was his breath.” But I couldn’t place it. “Mint? Peppermint, maybe? I’m sorry, it happened so fast …”
They asked a few more questions about the evening, any suspicious people I’d met at the bar, about Lance, and then they mentioned Ream and a warm then cold sick feeling came over me. What a contradiction, just like us.
“I understand he has a temper.”
My eyes widened and I looked from one officer to the other. I started shaking my head back and forth. “No. God, no. Ream would never hurt me.” Well, not physically at least. “Jesus. I’d recognize him anywhere.
“Miss, you need to calm down. We’re not saying he’s a suspect.” The woman officer glanced at her partner, and I could hear the frantic beating of my monitor again. “We took him in for questioning. That’s all. A witness claimed he was violent at the bar …” She looked down at her notepad and flipped back a few pages. “Avalanche. Your brother’s establishment. He was upset with you? Correct?”
“No. Well, yes. It’s not what you think. Ream and I have—”
The door burst open.
“Get out!” Ream stood in the doorway, still wearing the same clothes as last night. His hair was a mess and there were smudges of blood on his shirt—my blood. I’d never seen him so haggard and completely well … fucked up. He was pale with black circles under his eyes and hard lines marring his face. He looked scary. Really scary and still, I thought he was the best sight I’d ever seen.
The officers looked stunned at the demand, and then the female officer snapped her pad closed and was about to say something when my doctor appeared beside Ream. The doctor didn’t have to say anything; the officers knew with his appearance that they were being asked to leave.
“Thank you, miss. We’ll be in touch.” They hesitated at the door, and I couldn’t see their faces, but I could see Ream’s and he got scarier looking. Then they pushed past and left.
Ream said something to the doctor, shook his hand, and then the doctor left too.
Ream’s walk to the bed was the longest four seconds of my life. Just the sight of him was like being bundled up in my favorite childhood blanket, every breath comforting as my lungs filled with warmth. He sat in the chair beside the bed, and while keeping his head bowed, he slid his hands into mine. Our fingers linked and curled around one another, then he leaned forward and rested his forehead on the bed beside my hip.
The muffled sound of his whispered voice swept over me like a sprinkle of rain. “Baby.”
I closed my eyes, placing my free hand on his head, fingers weaving into his hair. We stayed like that for a long time with the only sounds our breathing and the steady beeping of the monitor.
It was how I fell asleep, Ream’s hand in mine, leaned over, his face hidden in the nook of my side. When I woke he was gone and I thought I’d imagined him there until I saw the note in the palm of my hand. It read, I’ll never leave you.