Wild Girl (Aston Creek High 3)

I focus on the chair for a short moment before turning my eyes back to Slade’s and nodding. He takes a hesitant step back, still not releasing my hand until he physically can no longer reach. “Just say the word and I’ll come back,” he promises before taking another step and then another.

My heart shatters as he walks through the door and I feel pathetic for how desperately I need him. The need to call him back to my side rushes through me but before I can break, Shay is by my bed and taking hold of my empty hand. “How are you feeling?” she questions, reaching with her other hand to grab the chair and drag it closer so she can drop her ass down onto it.

She leans forward, still trying to get as close as possible. “I’m sore,” I tell her truthfully, not wanting to sugarcoat it. After all, she’s the one who’s going to have to look after me for the foreseeable future. It’s probably best she knows just how bad it is. “My throat and lungs hurt, like really hurt. Talking is hard and every little noise outside of this room seems to pound inside my head.”

“What about your thigh?” she questions, looking down at my leg despite it being covered with a blanket.

“If I don’t move, then I can pretend it’s not there. It’s a dull ache now but that might have something to do with the morphine.”

“I’d say so,” she sighs, squeezing both of my hands. “I’m sorry you have to suffer through all of this, Sky. I can’t imagine how scary it must have been.”

I glance away, not ready to admit just how right she is about that. “It wasn’t easy.”

“I know your throat is sore but could you tell me what happened? The police were in earlier and wanting a statement and Slade wasn’t up for a chat while you were still out.”

My brows furrow and I look up at her. “Why were they here?”

“Standard policy,” she explains. “Anytime someone’s been shot, they must investigate.”

“Good,” I whisper, hoping something positive might actually come out of this but then, how far does Lucien need to go before the cops will actually take him down? They hardly blinked at mine and Daniella’s rape allegations, maybe now this might force them to get off their asses and put him away.

Shaylee squeezes my hand again, forcing my attention back to her. “What happened, Sky? I want to help you through this but I can’t if I don’t know what I’m trying to protect you from.”

My eyes drop to our joined hands. “Where’s Blake?”

Shay sighs softly and pulls her lips into a tight line. “I’m not sure. We’ve sent him a few messages and calls, but no one can get a hold of him. I’m sure he is just passed out again, he’ll be here when he wakes.”

My heart starts racing as panic takes over. I glance out the door to Slade to see his eyes already on mine. “Blake?” I question raising my voice so he can hear despite how my throat screams at me to shut up. But I can’t seem to make myself shut up, I’m too fucking terrified that Lucien had grabbed him before running us off the bridge. It’s possible. Everyone was drunk and having a good time, he could have stumbled home and been collected in seconds and no one would have known.

Slade nods and is on his feet in seconds. “I’ll find him,” he promises before disappearing, making my heart ease just a little, though he and I both know that it won’t completely relax until I know my baby brother is safe.

I look back at Shay after taking a slow deep breath and rejoicing in the way the oxygen thrives within my lungs. I’ll never take breathing for granted again. You never know what you’ve got until your past threatens to take it away.

Shay leans in just a little further, keeping her eyes locked on mine. “Slade and I had just left the party and we were maybe halfway home when the SUV pulled in behind us. He was driving recklessly, like speeding up and nudging the back of Slade’s truck and then he’d get in front and slam on the brakes. He tried to run us off the road at one point and that’s when I called the police.”

“Oh, honey,” Shay says with tears in her eyes. “I can’t imagine what you must have been feeling.”

I glance away, her emotions being a little too much for me to handle. “Slade finally got in front of him and he tried to lose him but the guy just kept coming, every turn; he was there. It was as though he was taunting us, trying to scare us as much as possible, and then we got on the bridge…”