Page 136 of Muted

“Let’s give them a minute,” I whisper when he stumbles backwards, not wanting to leave the room. Slowly, he swallows and then nods, turning to leave with me.

Chaz is slower, but eventually he steps out with us and I shut the door on my girl’s tears, hating every fucking second of leaving her, but knowing it’s the right thing to do.

“Just a minute,” I reassure both of them. Glancing around the hallway, I see Miriam leaning against the wall opposite the room with Cooper only a foot from her. He eyes her from the side as he holds his phone out.

Marching up to him, I demand the only thing I can think of at this moment.

“Where the fuck is Arthur?”

Chapter 39

Voiced

Susu

After two days in the hospital, they finally discharged me and allowed me to go home. I’ve been here for less than twenty-four hours and I’m finally starting to calm.

Home.

My real home with my family… and them. Because they’re still here. The anxiety from the morning with my grandfather has had me locked inside my head so deeply that I haven’t found the words to even tell Aunt Elaine she should encourage them to go home.

I know she knows what I want, but she’s acting like she’s ignorant of the fact, giving them free rein to come and go into my bedroom as they please.

Miriam left after my hospital stay and I don’t blame her. I appreciate her kindness in being here to check on me, but she can’t let her life halt because of my shit. That’s not fair to her.

Glancing out the window, I see the first stirrings of snow fluttering from the sky and sigh in relief, thankful she’s most likely already made it back. I want to text, but I still haven’t replaced my phone since I was taken from my yard the other morning.

Aunt Elaine filled me in on all the missing details from my memory and things I wasn’t aware of. My grandfather has been taken care of and the town, from what my aunt told me, is in an absolute uproar over the news.

There are some people who are sticking behind him, but for the most part, the community has turned their backs on the Walston family. I can tell just by the number of people who’ve stopped by since we returned home, having heard what happened to me, with meals and well wishes for my recovery… and condolences.

My mom.

He killed my mom.

I think a part of me has always known she was dead, so I feel disconnected from it right now. Maybe that makes me heartless, but the very few flickers of memory I have of her are vague. Just a flash of her sitting on the couch or getting something from a cabinet.

There’s that flash of memory when I was staring down at the gravehedug for me and I saw a bone which terrified me beyond every nightmare I’ve endured. I remember the absolute horrifying fear I felt when I realized I really was going to die, and my throat has been locked up ever since.

I shiver at the memory, wrapping my blanket around my shoulders and turning to my side. The snow is already falling heavier, and I wonder how long I’ve been laying here, ruminating on the fact that Arthur Walston has destroyed as much as he can of my life.

He’s debilitated me into a shell of a person who can’t even carry a normal conversation with a human. He’s turned me into nothing, someone worthless… just like he always claimed me to be.

Blinking away the tears, I clench my fist against my chest to ease the ache.

God, it hurts like hell.

It’s my fault. I almost killed them. I almost killed all of them.

My bed dips behind me and I feel a strong, warm arm slip over my waist just before a body settles along the length of my back. Pulling me against him, I breathe in and squeeze my eyes shut at the scent of Chester.

“Babygirl,” he whispers against my shoulder, his lips grazing my skin with the sweet name. The arm over my waist lifts and I flinch under his touch when his thumb brushes away one of my tears. “Do you hurt right now? I can grab you some painkillers if your head is bothering you.”

I do hurt, but it’s not just my body. It’s my soul. There’s nothing he can do to fix that, so I remain motionless without answering.

When he sighs, the air he expels fans over my skin, making me shiver. “I haven’t been able to get you alone long enough to talk with you, but I have you right now.” He stresses his point by tightening his hold on me.

I fix my eyes on the window and catch a flake at the top to follow it as it sways back and forth in the air before disappearing below the sill. Chester is going to say what he wants, but it’ll still mean nothing in the end.

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