Page 89 of It Was Always You

"Lexi, wait—" He stood.

I put my hand out to stop him. "I think you've said enough tonight."

32

NOAH

I listenedto the voicemails from Brielle on my way home, driving as fast as I dared on the slushy roads.

"Noah, I'm scared. Daddy's really mad right now. Please come home."

My heart banged against my rib cage as I pressed play on the next one.Paul was mad.Why did we have to live at the opposite end of our school zone?

"Noah, why aren't you answering? Daddy's really mad. He's yelling. Please come home."

My hands shook as I pressed the button to listen to her next and final message.

When her voice came through the recording, it wasn't shaking like it had been in the first two. She was full on crying now, and I could barely understand her through the sobs.

"Noah, I think Mommy's hurt really bad. Please hurry. Daddy went away and I'm scared."

I dropped my phone onto my seat, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I tried to prepare myself for the worst.

What had he done to her?

I parkedmy car haphazardly on the road, then jumped out and rushed into the house. When I got inside, the scene was one that I had been dreading. My mom lay crumpled on the ground, blood dripping from her mouth, looking so broken and bruised. Her eyes were swollen and purple.

"Are you okay, Mom?" I asked, rushing to her side and lifting her head onto my lap. Her eyes flickered open and she groaned.

I looked around for my sister, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

I yelled out. "Brielle? Are you up there?"

She appeared at the top of the stairs a moment later. She'd probably been hiding in my room like she always did when Paul was mad.

"Come downstairs right now and get in my car. We need to take Mom to the hospital." Brielle nodded and randown the stairs in her kitten pajamas, her face as white as the snow outside.

I rushed back to my mom and went to scooped her up into my arms. But then she stopped me, saying, "I don't want to go to the hospital."

I went still, not sure I'd heard her right. "You need to see a doctor, Mom."

"But the police will start asking questions." Her voice was so quiet and raspy.

I sighed, pressing my hands into my knees as I knelt by her side, trying to figure out what I could say to make her finally see reason.

"Do you want this to keep happening, Mom? Because that drive home after listening to Brielle's messages was about the longest drive of my life. A huge part of me thought I was going to walk in on a murder scene. I can't do this anymore. I had to sleep in my freaking car for the last week because of that man. You need to leave him. And you need to get checked right now."

And we needed to hurry. I had no idea what kind of damage had been done to her insides. I could only see the outside which was bad enough.

My mom breathed in a few raspy breaths, and after a long moment, she finally met my gaze again. "Okay."

My heart swelled in my chest with the first piece of hope I'd had for her in along time. "Okay?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes. You can take me to the hospital."

"Thank you." It was all I could manage with the wave of emotions choking me. I scooped her back into my arms and gently stood.

"Can you please open the door, Brielle?"

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