My mouth opened, my lips breaking as they parted. I could taste the blood in my mouth as the water trickled down, slowly at first, and then faster, pouring down the sides of my cheeks. I licked my lips. Nolan’s lookalike was staring at me like he was afraid to move me.
“We’re going to help you get out of there, okay?”
I nodded, emotion clogging my throat. They were helping me. They were lifting me out of the darkness.
“Spoke to Nolan,” the other guy said. “They’re stitching Logan up and then heading over.”
“Oh, that’s right, they had a game.”
“Something you would think you’d know about your brother,” the third guy said.
Nolan’s lookalike glared over his shoulder before looking back at me. “How the fuck are we going to lift her without breaking any of her bones?”
“How long has she been missing?”
“Five days.”
The two guys looked at each other with a shocked expression on their faces. I closed my eyes. I was so tired. So tired. I coughed, then wheezed, then coughed. My chest sounded like a beat up old car.
“Get the nebulizer and Albuterol. Now.” Nolan lookalike pointed. He looked at the other guy. “Recruit, make yourself useful and help me lift her. Carefully. If you hurt her, you’re going to have to deal with her boyfriend.”
I only felt pain. Every touch, every movement, just pain. They lifted me carefully, slowly, and one of them carried me. The Nolan lookalike. I held onto him, grabbing his shirt so there was no way he could toss me into another hole, no way he could leave me out here in the woods. We walked forever. My eyes wanted to shut but I wouldn’t let them. I wasn’t losing sight of where we were going, even if I couldn’t see anything.
“Hey, fuckface, hold the flashlight right. If we fall into a ditch you’re not getting in,” the guy carrying me shouted.
I couldn’t tell where they were taking me, but I knew we were close because I could see more lights now. I squinted.
“Oh my God.” The voice was Nora’s. I knew it was. “Oh my God. Where was she?”
“One of our plots.”
“What?” Nora screamed. “She fell in?” He didn’t say anything. Nora didn’t seem to notice. She put her hand on my cheek, on my forehead. “Oh my God. We’ve been going crazy, Mae.”
“I think she’s in shock,” Nolan lookalike said.
“She’s been missing for five fucking days. Of course, she’s in shock. Did you call Logan? I’m calling Logan.”
“He’s on his way.”
I was still swaying in the guy’s arms. He set me down on something soft, a couch? A bed?
“I got the albuterol,” the other guy said.
“Did you bring Atrovent? Get some and mix it,” Nolan lookalike said.
“Adam, you better know what you’re doing. Logan will kill you for not calling an ambulance,” Nora said. “Fuck. We need to get her to a hospital.”
Adam, Nolan’s lookalike, put a mask on my face and turned on a machine. I froze. He must have sensed it, because he set a hand on my shoulder to keep me from panicking.
“Relax. This will help you.”
Hailey’s words replayed in my head. The water that was drugged and supposed to help me. My entire body started to shake.
Chapter 48
There was something about hospitals that gave away where you were even before you knew you were actually in one. Maybe it was the smell. Maybe it was the beds, thin and uncomfortable. Maybe it was the air of predetermined life and death. Whatever the case, I knew before I opened my eyes fully that I was in a hospital. Someone was holding my hand. I tried to tug it away. I didn’t want anyone touching me. When my eyes opened fully, I saw that it was Logan sitting by my side. He looked disheveled—his hair, his wrinkled t-shirt, his untended beard, and somehow seeing him still brought me some semblance of peace.
“Oh my God,” he said, his voice hoarse. He looked up at the ceiling. “Thank you. Thank you.”
Tears formed in my eyes, and then more formed when I realized I had tears left after all. Logan threw his arms around me and I started to sob against his shoulder. His own body shook with mine.
“Oh my God.” The voice was my mother’s, her shrill making Logan and I pull apart slightly. She ran up to me and threw her arms around me. I cringed.
“Mrs. Bastón,” Logan said, and I could hear the warning in his tone even though he tried to keep it neutral. “She’s in pain.”
“I’m sorry.” Mom wiped her face. “The doctors are coming. The nurses.” She looked around wildly. “Where’s your father? Where’s Lincoln?” She looked around again. “Where’s the police officer. There’s a police officer here who has questions.”
“Mrs. Bastón.” Logan’s voice was no longer neutral. Mom’s eyes widened. “Please. She just woke up.”
“I’m going to get her father.” She walked back out of the room with the same frenzy as she’d walked in.
Logan sat on the bed beside me, taking my hand in his again. “I was so worried.”
I tried to smile a little, but wasn’t sure if I was successful.
“Do you need anything? Do you want to sit up more? Lay down?”
I shook my head.
“Mae.” He sighed heavily. “What happened?”
My eyes widened. He didn’t know?
The doors opened again and my mother walked in with my father in tow. The minute I saw him, I started kicking. I was trying to tell him to get out, but the noise coming out of my mouth sounded more like a feral cat in heat, sharp cries, no words. Logan held my hand tighter as he turned around.
“Can you please leave the room?” he asked in a kind voice. “Leave the room. Get Lincoln.”
“What happened?” My mom asked, eyes wide.
Dad moved from behind her, trying to come up to me. I started kicking again, making that sound. Kicking harder, pinching Logan.
“You need to get the fuck out.” Logan stood.
“She’s my daughter. Last I checked you were here out of the kindness of my heart. That can change very quickly.” Dad raised an eyebrow. “You’re not family.”
“Keep talking like that, old man, and I’ll make sure when I put a ring on her finger and change her last name she never sees you again.” Logan paused. “She probably won’t want to anyway.”
“I’ll get security.” Dad’s eyebrows furrowed as he walked out.
I shook my head, shook my legs. The nurses walked inside, tending to me quickly.
“You need to calm down,” one of them said. “She can’t be like this.”
“What’s happening?” the other asked.
“She got like this when she saw her father,” Mom said quietly. “They must have had a fight.”
I shook my head. The door opened again. Lincoln walked into the room using a walker to lean on as he pushed forward. He paused by the door, his eyes meeting mine. He exhaled and kept walking over to me.
“Jesus, Mae.” He sat on the other side of my bed. “You scared the hell out of us.” I raised my eyebrows. He chuckled. “Yeah, I know. Payback is a bitch, huh?”