It didn’t make sense.
How was I patched up?
“I didn’t patch anything up, Skeet. I was unconscious.”
He gave me a small smile, speaking as if he would to a scared child.
Not that you’d let a scared child anywhere near Skeeter fucking Maddox.
“You probably just don’t remember it, baby. You hit your head on the window pretty hard.”
I glanced up as Hunter barged his way into the room like the fucking hulk, ignoring the nurse by the door that was telling him he wasn’t allowed in.
Hunter didn’t listen to anybody on a good day.
The nurse turned worried eyes to me, but I waved her off with a wince as pain burned across my chest and into my shoulder.
Hunter sat on the edge of the bed and cupped my cheek with a shaky hand, his voice coming out strained.
“Hey, sweetheart. You alright?”
I gave him a small smile, taking his hand in mine and giving it a squeeze.
“I’m okay. I’m invincible, didn’t you know, Rivera?”
He snorted, not amused by my joke in the slightest as his eyes trailed over the small marks on my face, his other hand gently pulling the front of my hospital gown to the side to inspect the bruising on my collar bone.
He met my gaze again, his voice stern.
“You rest up, okay? Once you get out of here, we can talk about what happened.”
Anger rolled through me as I saw flashes in my mind of the car barrelling towards mine.
“We can talk about it now. Those fuckers…”
“Rest, we can talk about your accident later,” he murmured, discreetly motioning to the nurse that was lingering just outside the door.
I sighed.
He was right.
We couldn’t go talking about our murderous plans in a public hospital with ears everywhere.
“Alright. Can I go home now, then? Nothing’s broken and…”
Skeeter frowned, cutting me off.
“Rory, your car’s a mess. You didn’t just have a slip at school in the cafeteria, you totaled your fucking car. You need to stay here for a few days to rest.”
There was no way in hell that I’d sit in a hospital bed for any longer than I already had.
Not when I had to retaliate on those who’d hurt me.
“I’m fine, as you can see. So, help me up so we can get the fuck out of here. Can you drive me since my car’s wrecked?” I asked him as I tried to shuffle out of bed as carefully as possible, but the nurse walked in, her eyes going wide.
“Miss Donovan, you need to get back into bed.”
I rolled my eyes, forcing myself not to react to the sharp pain that shot up my side.
That hurt a little bit.
“Thanks for checking me over and all, but I’m going home.”
“I think…”
“No offense, but I don’t give a fuck what you think. I want to go home, so I am,” I bit out, earning a warning glance from Hunter.
“Donovan, be nice. She’s just doing her job,” he growled, his brown eyes boring into mine.
How high was I on pain meds?
He was so fuckable when he got growly with me.
“I am. This bed could be more useful to someone else. I don’t need surgery or anything, so I have no need to be here. You guys can stay with me so I’m not alone if you have to. Let’s go before I cause a scene, because you know I will,” I retorted, the nurse not hesitating to scurry out of the room as if to get out of my line of fire.
Hunter sighed, standing up and giving me a tired look.
“I’ll go and make sure they sort out your paperwork and aren’t calling the cops. Stay fucking put until then, and don’t burn the place down or anything equally as dramatic.”
I went to argue, but he left the room without another word, making me scowl.
I swung my legs out of bed, trying hard to hide my wince as I stood, but Skeeter was beside me in a second, putting an arm out so I could lean on him.
Worry covered his face as he carefully put an arm around me to take some of my weight.
“Baby girl, don’t act tough for me. I know you’re hurting, so let me help you, okay?”
I grunted but gave him a tiny nod, letting him help me out of my gown and into some clean clothes that he’d brought in with him.
I doubted he’d stopped off at mine, but it meant a lot that he’d called someone to grab something for me to wear.
By the time I’d gotten ready and sorted my things out, Hunter and the nurse were back with my discharge papers.
Thank fuck, because I was leaving regardless.
Hunter stayed quiet as I filled them out, but once we were in the parking lot, he turned to me with a dark look.
Fuck me, what did I do now?
“The hell were you driving like a maniac for? Marco said he saw you speeding through town earlier like a crazy bitch on a mission. Why weren’t you at school?”
Skeeter scowled at Marco’s name, but he stayed quiet as I sneered.
“New principal doesn’t like me much.”
“So?” Skeeter asked as if I were just being a difficult child.
“So, I got suspended for kicking Jensen in the balls and for punching Claire in the face. I got in a fight with the principal, and then I left.”
I winced as Skeeter’s hand grabbed my arm, turning me more sharply than I fucking liked.
Pain burned through me, but I gritted my teeth and tried not to show it.
“I know, I just wanted to hear you say it. Gilbert messaged me and asked if I could keep an eye out for you and explained what had gone down. The fuck did you do that shit at school for? I thought you’d know by now to play things smarter instead of acting on impulse?”
It wasn’t like I fucking killed them.
“He got in my business, Skeet.”
“Why did you let Claire get to you, anyway? Just fucking ignore her. She’s the piece of dirt on the bottom of your shoe, and she doesn’t deserve your reaction,” he stated flatly as he let go of me, leaning back on his heels and crossing his arms tightly.
Why did he look so hot like that?
“She blamed me for Mandy’s murder, then tipped a fucking soda over my head. That’s a pretty good way to get my fucking attention, but I stayed calm about it until Jensen got involved. I told him to leave it because it was my problem, and he cracked the shits with me and took off. I found him cornering Claire near the cafeteria, so my knee met his balls to help him get the point. Claire found it funny, so I punched her. Then kicked her a little. Have you guys spoken to Caden? He’s probably looking for me,” I shrugged and regretted it instantly as pain tore across my body.
Skeeter rubbed his temples as if I was giving him a headache, his voice strained.
“Holloway’s been dealing with Ty and Jensen.”
My heart thumped in my chest at the thought of something bad happening to them.
“Why? What happened?”
His gaze pierced into mine seriously, slight annoyance in his tone.
“You happened. It’s going around school that you gave Gilbert a nut shot today, so he and Ty got in a fight because Ty said the only reason you’d hurt him like that was if he did something to hurt you. They don’t know about the crash, or you know they’d be here fucking smothering you.”
Ah fuck.
That wasn’t going to go down well at all.