Page 83 of Shattered

I nod hello and wave him in so he’s not standing in the doorway. I motion to some chairs, and they both sit down while I formulate my message to Lila.

Hey Sunshine,

I wish I never left, but I think I needed to. A man’s gotta hit rock bottom before he can better himself, and I dug myself a deep hole. I’ll never be able to make up for everything that’s happened, but I hope you’ll let me try. I’m not going anywhere.

-Ash

When I return the phone to Neela, she doesn’t read the message, but I’m sure she will later.

“What will you need when you get out of here?” she asks.

The question catches me off guard because I hadn’t thought about it. With Bane gone, I’m on my own. I hope to win Lila back, but there’s no guarantee she’ll let me in. Even if she does, she’s the one who needs to be taken care of right now. So, where do I go from here?

“I don’t know, why?”

“We can help,” she says as though it’s obvious.

“You’d do that?”

“We take care of each other around here. And if Lila’s chosen you, that makes you one of us.”

Tears burn in my eyes, and Neela smiles slightly as I break, supporting me. Lila’s lucky, she has a village. There’s one thing I know I’ll need, and I hate to ask for it.

“I can’t do stairs right now. Can you move my bed into Lila’s den?”

“Yeah, we can do that,” Neela says.

“It’s heavy. You’re gonna need some muscle,” I say. I don’t want to piss Neela off by implying she won’t be strong enough to carry it, but she won’t.

“We have muscle,” Neela says.

“Why don’t we just move Lila’s bed? It’ll be easier,” Ty suggests.

“No, I want her to have that personal space if she needs it.” I still don’t know if she’ll ever forgive me, but if she allows me to be there for her, that’s where I’ll be. If she kicks me out, I’ll go home and sleep in Bane’s bed. Hopefully, someone will be around to help me move it downstairs if that’s the case.

Neela smiles. “We’ll make it happen. No problem.”

I point to the table beside me where my keys sit. “Lila’s house key is on there, too. There’s an alarm on both houses. Edgar and Nash will know the code. You know them, right?”

Neela chuckles. “I should. Nash is my brother.”

Fuck man, I can’t keep up with these people.

Chapter 32

Lila

Inever truly appreciated how tired a person can be. Even when I’m only lying in bed with my eyes closed, unable to function, I still feel like my body might implode from complete exhaustion.

When the nurse comes in to take my vitals, I have to wake up and move. Though I’m exhausted, I feel a lot better. My injuries still hurt, but I don’t feel like I’m riding the edge of death anymore.

After my nurse leaves, Macy stirs from her chair. She rubs her eyes and yawns before checking her phone screen.

“What time is it?” I ask. My voice is still hoarse and horrid, but it doesn’t hurt too much now.

“Almost seven AM,” Macy says. “I talked to the nurse while you slept; she said you’ll be discharged today, but you’ll need to see awound care specialist at home for a while.”She stops when she reads something on her phone, confused.

“What is it?” I ask.

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