Page 61 of Another Postcard

Her sweet expression slipped and she glared at me. I’d never seen that look on her face before, especially not directed at me. “They don’t like me. They won’t let me do all the fun things that Penny and Cecily let me do. They said no, but I didn’t want to disappoint Levi.” She tapped her foot impatiently, her lips pursing and her brown eyes turning mutinous. “Penny said no too, so I locked her in my room and snuck out, like when Cecily and I used to play hide and seek.”

Okay, definitely need to have a conversation with the hospital about their security.I was trying to figure out how to calm her down and then what to do, but she kept on ranting.

“I’m mad at you, Brooklee. Levi loves me but he likes to listen to you sing. I’ve been learning to sing, so he won’t miss you if you’re gone. I told you to go away from him, but you didn’t listen. You’re being bad and I think you need to be punished.”

I didn’t like where this was going.

“If you aren’t punished, you’ll never learn the lesson. You should have listened to me when I told you to go away. I don’t like it when Levi borrows you, so now he doesn’t have to anymore. He has me. And, you let them take Cecily from me. She got in trouble for something that was all your fault, Brooklee. You’ve been extremely naughty.”

She met my eyes and her lips curled into an ugly smile. “You need a time out, then you’re going home, young lady.” Her hand came from around her back where I didn’t realize it had been hiding. I gasped and took a step back as the lights around the mirror glinted off the knife in her hand. It was slightly smaller than a steak knife, but it looked plenty fucking sharp. “Go sit in time out and then if you’re good, I’ll send you home. But, if you keep misbehaving, I’m going to punish you like Daddy punished Mommy. She learned her lesson. She went away and didn’t come back.”

I wanted to scream. Fucking parents. They couldn’t stop fucking with our lives even from the fucking grave. I was starting to panic. I didn’t know this Baylee, which meant I had no idea how to handle her.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Baylee?”

At the sound of Levi’s voice, Baylee turned her head toward the door and I took the opportunity to lunge for the knife. I wrapped my fingers around her wrist but she became enraged and started flailing. I lost my grip and the knife came down, slicing the skin on my arm, and causing me to stumble backward. I cried out in pain and as the banging on the door became more frantic, it was obviously that it was agitating Baylee. She screamed in frustration at the same time the door cracked and swung open. It pushed her forward and she went flying right at me.

A sudden pain in my chest stung like a bitch and I lost my balance, falling to the floor, with Baylee crumbling down on top of me. I tried to gasp but with every breath, the stinging pain in my chest got worse and my breathing became labored. I coughed and whimpered from the excruciating pain radiating to my shoulder and back. Baylee scrambled off me and into a sitting position. She maneuvered herself right behind me and dragged me up a little so my upper body was in her lap and she could curl her arm around my neck, cutting down what little air I’d been managing to draw in. Her free hand reached toward my body and my eyes followed it. They widened to saucers when I saw the knife sticking out of my chest, just below my right breast. From the position and the pain, it seemed likely that she’d punctured my lung when the knife stabbed me as she tumbled forward. She grabbed the handle and ripped it from my chest, causing me to scream in agony, my hands immediately covering the wound.

“She needs to be punished, Levi. Then we can go, okay? Just let me teach Brooklee her lesson.”

My eyes had become clouded with tears and through the fog of pain, everything was blurry. I could just make out Levi getting closer. I tried to say something, but the words just wouldn’t come.

“You can teach her a lesson without the knife, Baylee Bear,” Levi soothed. His voice was deceptively calm but his eyes were wild as he glanced down at me. “Why don’t you let me hold it for you?”

His hand slowly extended toward her, but she quickly moved her arm close to her chest. I couldn’t see at that angle very well but it seemed like she was almost hugging it to her. Levi drew my attention when he scooted a little closer. “Baylee Bear,” he said softly. “Why don’t you let her go and we’ll leave, okay? Don’t you want to go with me?”

“Yes. But—” Baylee’s muscles loosened just a tiny bit and her arm dropped a fraction. I was pretty sure it was enough. My hands moved as quickly as I dared until I was able to wrap my fingers around her bent elbow and yank it down. Levi sprang for the knife as she shrieked and ripped her arm from my hold. I didn’t have the strength to keep a grip on it and the force of jerking her arm out of my hold sent Baylee rocking backward. I heard a scream and Levi’s face contorted with horror. The arm around my neck went slack and I vaguely thought I heard the slump of a body. Someone else ran into the room as the edges of my vision started to turn gray.

Chaos had erupted around me but I could only focus on the pain. I felt myself being shifted and placed on something soft. Pressure was applied to my wound causing me to hiss from the pain. My hair brushed away from my face and Levi’s voice was in my ear. “Baby, stay with me. Brooklynn, let me see those beautiful eyes.” Were my eyes closed?

“Fuck! She’s turning blue, Noah!” I did my best to drag them open. I wanted to reassure Levi that I was okay, but there were spots dancing in front of them, making me nauseous. I wanted to take a deep breath but it hurt like a bitch and caused me to cough, which was so, so much worse.

“Calm down, Levi. The last thing she needs is for you to lose it. The ambulance is on its way.” There was a jumble of voices and all of it was giving me a fucking headache, but I couldn’t make myself speak.

“I think Baylee will be fine, Levi. It’s shallow.” It sounded like Noah again. I pried my eyes open and tried to turn my head to confirm. It lolled to the side because I didn’t have the strength to hold it up. It looked like he was leaning over something with someone standing behind him. He moved and I could just make out Baylee lying on the floor, the knife buried in her shoulder. She wasn’t moving. What had I done?

My eyes dropped. Damn, I was tired. My heart started to race, the nausea getting worse, and I felt clammy, cold and yet sweating, allthough I barely felt the pain anymore. “Brooklynn. Baby, open your eyes.” I sluggishly lifted my lids but was disappointed when I couldn’t see Levi. I wanted so badly to see his beautiful face. “Shit! Where’s the fucking ambulance. Her eyes are dilated and—fuck! I think she’s going into shock. Brooklynn!”

I was just too tired. I needed a nap, that’s all.

35

Brooklynn

Everything hurt. It hurt a whole fuck of a lot. I moaned and tried to swallow but I felt like I had a mouth full of cotton balls.

“Brooklynn?” Callused fingertips brush hair from my forehead. I recognized the feel of those fingers, the calluses that came from playing the guitar. “Baby, please wake up.”

“Levi?” I croaked. “Water.” Lips brushed over my brow softly.

“Open your eyes, sweetheart and I’ll get you some water.”

I frowned. Seriously? Was it really worth it? I tried to swallow again. Okay, fine. I concentrated and managed to drag my lids up just a sliver. Then they slammed back down. Good enough, right? “Water,” I requested again, my voice no more than a tiny whisper.

I felt the rasp of a straw on my dry lips and parted them to suck up a sip of cool water. I took another drink and sighed, damn that tasted good.

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