Page 3 of Fought and Freed

“Do you have any questions?” When Maddy shook her head, Amy stood. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Relieved for a reprieve, Maddy laid her head on the pillow and almost immediately fell asleep.

* * *

Someone came in and checked on Maddy every two to three hours, and by evening, the withdrawals had set in. Sweat poured the toxins out of Maddy, and all she wanted to do was sleep.

When someone arrived with a tray of food, the last thing Maddy wanted to do was eat, but she tried, only for everything to come back up.

That first night, Maddy woke up screaming.

She was just getting her breathing under control when her door flew open, and a guy in boxers ran in. He was a tall, skinny kid with messy brown hair, and he looked just as bad as her with sweat running down his face.

His brown eyes searched the room for any threat before his body relaxed. “There’s no one here.”

Maddy scrambled back against the headboard. “W-w-who are you?”

He held up his hand. “My name is Grant Turner, and I’m in the room next to yours. When I heard you scream, I thought someone was hurting you.”

“Sorry, it was just a nightmare.” Maddy hung her head in shame. “Thanks for checking on me.”

He stepped farther into the room. “You just moved in. Did they show you how to reach the nurse on duty? There’s a button on your side table.”

“No, they didn’t tell me about that.” Maddy glanced at the nightstand and saw a little red button near the wall. “I’m so sorry I woke you up.”

“Don’t worry. You didn’t wake me. I was already up, going through the shakes.” He wiped his T-shirt over his face. “Have you started them yet? You came in a day later than me.”

Maddy grimaced. “No, I haven’t had the pleasure of the shakes.”

“Oh, just you wait, they are so much fun,” Grant said sarcastically. “If you find uncontrollable muscle spasms and jitters fun, that is. Word of advice, use a spoon instead of a fork while eating during that time. It’s less painful.”

He backed out of her room. “Since you’re not being attacked, I’m going to head back to my room before I fall over.”

“Thanks for checking on me.” Maddy scraped her sweaty hair back from her face. “Sorry I woke you up. I’m Maddy, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Maddy.” He reached for the door handle. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yep.” As he closed the door, Maddy fell back into her bed.

This was the hardest thing she had ever gone through. She missed the guys so much, and she had only been here for one day.

Maddy curled up in a ball and sobbed. How did she get here? This was supposed to be her chance to have a normal life.

She had known Mike wasn’t a good guy, but she never thought he’d slip her drugs, then try to kill her. Maddy still struggled to believe he was Mikhail Pavlenko, the man responsible for taking the life of her childhood friend, Ryan.

And now he’d killed Viper, her brother’s right-hand man, too.

Poor Viper. She should have listened to him when he told her not to return to her apartment. She had thought Mike wouldn’t hurt her, but she was wrong.

It was her fault Viper was dead, and all those people lost everything in the apartment fire Mike set.

She cried so hard that her hiccups turned violent, and she barely reached the bathroom before what little she kept down earlier came back up.

When it was over, she crawled back to her bed.

How did people do this repeatedly?

At Wings of Refuge, the foster house she grew up in, some of the kids had talked about the euphoria that came with taking certain drugs. Constant good moods without pain, a sense of peace.

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