Page 120 of Just Between Us

“How long was I asleep?” I ask.

“Just overnight,” he says. “They pumped your stomach.”

Ugh, that explains the sandpaper throat.

Everything that happened with Adam comes back to me at once, and I wince, seeing his face. “It was Adam. He drugged me,” I say. “He was so angry but when I fell, he left me there. I tried to call for help, but I was so exhausted.”

“I know,” Cole says quietly. “But he’s gone, and you don’t have to worry about him again.”

I look up at him, frowning. Adam’s gone. Did he run away? Before I can ask, Kai shifts on his chair, moaning quietly before opening his eyes. A smile breaks out on his face when he sees me, and maybe it’s the meds but I swear my heart soars, and a thousand angels start harmonising Allegri’s Miserere Mei in my head.

“You’re awake,” he says, eyes bright.

I can’t help my own smile. I love him so much. “I am,” I whisper.

“I’ll get the nurse,” Cole says, letting me go and leaving us.

“Are you okay?” I ask Kai.

He frowns. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“Something was wrong last night.”

“Oh,” Kai says, blinking once. “We can talk about it later but I’m okay. Really.”

Just then, the doctor and a nurse walk in behind Cole and it’s a flurry of examinations and questions but at least they let me chug down a litre of water as they do so. Cole and Kai give my parents and I some space as they fuss over me making me promise I never land in the hospital again as tears dance in my mother’s eyes. It’s not easy for them to see me like this again.

“Promise,” I tell her, determined to keep it.

Sergeant Hollis appears in the doorway a few hours later with another officer in tow. He looks solemn, his pale face slightly flushed and thin hair messy on his head like he’s been running his hands through it.

“Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Bellamy,” he begins. “This is Officer Langly. We wanted to get your statement as soon as possible so we can get out of your hair and let you rest. I can’t imagine how you must feel after everything.”

I swallow, my eyes darting to Cole who is holding Kai close. He looks back at me and I can tell there is something he isn’t telling me. I wonder if it has anything to do with this visit. I focus my attention back on Sergeant Hollis.

“Okay,” I say. “What would you like to know?”

A part of me would rather bury everything that happened last night somewhere deep in my mind, but the sooner Adam is arrested, the sooner I can forget about him.

“Can you take us through the events of last night?”

I swallow, my throat feeling dry again suddenly. Kai leans into Cole a little, the guilt clear in his eyes. I want to tell him it’s not his fault, but Sergeant Hollis is looking at me expectantly, so I go over all the details I gave the doctor and the nurses earlier.

I hate reliving it, smelling Adam’s scent, feeling his breath on my face and hearing his voice when he said all of those things. I know what he wanted to do to me and I’m almost grateful he gave me too much and freaked out before he could.

Sergeant Hollis nods, the officer taking down notes in his notepad. He interjects a few times to ask me questions.

Did he say why he drugged you?

Were you and Mr. Roth ever involved intimately?

I answer his questions, fighting my way through the memories of his hands and his scent all over me.

When I’m done, the sergeant nods resolutely and takes in a quiet breath. “I’m sorry to hear what you went through, Mr. Bellamy and I’m glad things didn't turn out as terribly as they may have,” he says. “But this morning we received some news about Mr. Roth.”

I sit up, my heart hammering in my chest. “What’s wrong?”

Sergeant Hollis looks at the officer and then back at me. “Mr Roth died by suicide in the early hours of this morning. He was found in his home by two officers who had gone to pick him up for a statement.”

---