Page 20 of Four Times Taken

I hated that I'm still going as he looked at me like I'd lost it.

"I imagine he lost my number when he moved away, and he was 'suddenly' reminded of my existence when he heard about Durham? You know what?" A sharp pain slashed across the side of my head, and my eyes ached, affecting my vision for a few seconds. Shutting my lids against it, I gritted my teeth. "I don't owe Eric anything, and I for damn sure, owe you even less."

Chapter 14

Ryan

She wobbled. As much as I'd have liked to stop talking to her and walk away in a dramatic display of support for my best friend, I couldn't leave her. She was exhausted, clearly. The bags under her eyes let me know that she hadn't gotten any sleep. If she was anything like my mother, she had forgotten to eat when she left the house.

Hissing beneath my breath, I got closer, needing to be nearby in case she fainted or something.

"Is there someone I could call?" I asked, hoping to pawn this responsibility off on someone else.

"For what?" She turned her nose up at me.

"To come pick you up," I said. "Take over from here." I gestured to the woman in the wheelchair.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "I'll take her back to my car when I'm done."

Groaning, I took the wheelchair from her and pulled the woman off the walking trail and over into the grassy area toward the shade of a tree. "It's clear you're not fine."

"What are you doing?" She held her head, coming after me.

"Helping you." I parked it. I used to help my mother take care of my sick grandma for years. I understood the struggle. "Couldn't you have called in sick today? You obviously need some rest," I said, testing to make sure the wheelchair was locked in place by trying to roll it against the browned leaves that had fallen from the tree.

"Called in sick?" She looked from me to the chair as if deciding whether to continue accepting my assistance.

"To your job." I looked pointedly at her uniform. "You're a practical nurse, right?"

"Certified, yes. But no one's paying me to look after my mom." She tilted her head at me, and it was somehow condescending. "I can't just take a day off. Not all of us have that luxury." She sighed, taking the cap from her head and running her hand through her glossy hair.

Deciding to accept my presence and although she wouldn't admit it, grateful for the break, she leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes. She looked so peaceful when she wasn't being grumpy. Peaceful, but in need of some sleep. The woman in the wheelchair stared ahead without emotion. It was as if no one was there. At least my grandmother had life. She was a piece of work when she wanted to be but cracked the house up with laughter other times. I couldn't imagine tending to someone this broken.

The pettiness would have to wait another day. Lily needed someone, and I guessed today, that was me.

"What happened to her?" I asked.

She opened her eyes a tiny bit, peeking at me from the corners. "She got caught in the claws of a man."

"A man did this to her?" I asked, zooming in on the scars across the side of her head, her arms, neck, and cheek.

Lily huffed and straightened herself. She looked at me studying her mother and scowled. "How is that any of your business?"

Letting out a breath, I made an offhand comment. "Geez, are you always this aggressive when someone's being kind to you?"

This went over like a brick to the head. "And are you always this entitled after helping someone?"

"Entitled?" I brought my brows together.

"How am I entitled?"

"You think that just because you gave0 me some water and kept me from passing out that you're entitled to a smile and my mother's life story? Do you always do things expecting something in return?" she attacked.

Sucking air between my teeth produced a whistle like a tea kettle as my eyebrows climbed into my short hairline. Patience was a hell of a thing, and mine was wearing thin. I didn't have to stand there and take this kind of abuse for making conversation.

"This is fucking ridiculous." I turned to walk away just as her mother rolled down the small mound of grass, the chair jerking her and her body tilting forward.

"Mom!" Lily screamed, jumping forward for her, but I got there first. Running in front of the chair, I stopped it with my hands on both armrests, sweat gathering at my forehead from the adrenaline pounding beneath my skin.

---