Page 4 of Bleed for Me

The porch light flickered on, and I snapped my head in that direction. My mom stood on the porch; her eyes wide with panic.

My chest was tight as I finished telling them what had transpired. Everyone in the room was silent, listening to me intently. I didn’t even realize I’d been crying until the heat of my tears dripped down my chin. Daisy might have been dead, but so was Gentry. That thought made me feel just a little bit better. But only a little.

“I know that was hard,” Declan offered with a tight smile. “Thank you.”

I swallowed thickly and nodded. Dr. Tanner was leaning against the cabinet at the furthest side of the room, her expression grim. I’d almost forgotten she was even in here. The way they were all looking at me had my throat tightening. Almost as if they didn’t buy my story in the slightest, but that’s what had happened.

“I want to go home,” I murmured, my lids growing heavy with exhaustion.

Declan hesitated, glancing over at his partner for some kind of assistance. Officer Fernando took a step forward, his expression sterner than his partner’s.

“Let’s just focus on getting you healed for now, and then we’ll do our best to get you out of here,” he explained carefully.

It didn’t get past me how carefully he’d worded that, but my energy was waning and all I could do was nod. The pain pill was doing its job, and slowly, my eyes fluttered closed.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d slept for. The next couple of days were a blur. Nurses came and went, checking my vitals and pumping me with more medicine than was necessary. It wasn’t until dinner rolled around later that week, that I finally saw my mom.

Bags circled her blue eyes, hesitation slowing her footsteps as she fought between the urge to go to me and the urge to stay as far away as humanly possible while still being in the general vicinity of my presence. Her greasy blonde hair was pulled into a bun on the top of her head, and she was dressed in one of Gentry’s black T-shirts that seemed to swallow her whole.

Alex, my boyfriend of two years, poked his head into the room behind her. My breath hitched, relief spilling out of me in waves. Unlike my mother, he rushed over to my bedside and intertwined his fingers with mine. His touch comforted me, putting my mind at ease.

“Hey,” he soothed. “How are you holding up?”

While I was still sore from being cut, the wound hadn’t been very deep, so I was doing better than expected. Sitting up now didn’t bother me as much. My only complaint was that it itched like crazy. I had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about the physical pain I endured, though.

Swallowing, I forced a small smile. “Could be better, but I’m glad that you came.” My hand tightened around his.

“Of course, Rosie.” He leaned down, his lips feathering against my temple in a sweet, comforting kiss.

Finally, my mom made her way to the other side of my bed, probably figuring that since I was wounded and cuffed, I wouldn’t be a threat to her. That thought bothered me more than I cared to admit.

“We came to see you off,” she said smoothly, her voice raspy from either crying or not sleeping well—maybe both.

My eyebrows dipped in confusion. “What do you mean?”

I was under the impression that once I’d healed enough and received the rest I needed, they’d permit me to go back home. Did they actually think that I was still to blame for everything that had happened? It was self-defense.

Mother’s smile tightened, the creases around her mouth becoming more prominent with the action. She reached forward, running her fingers through my long, blonde hair that was so similar to her own.

“You aren’t coming home, honey. At least, not right now.”

Fear blossomed in my chest, expanding through the rest of my body. My eyes snapped to Alex, who just stared down at me sympathetically. I recounted the events of the story I told the police in my head, trying to figure out where I’d gone wrong. Had I somehow incriminated myself? My mind drew a blank.

My lips parted, trying to form the words to ask where I’d be going instead, but the sound of the door opening again captured my attention.

Dr. Tanner walked in holding a stack of papers. She handed them to my mom and instructed her to sign on the dotted lines. The only thing keeping me from full-on panicking was Alex’s hand wrapped around mine. He whispered soothing words that I couldn’t even begin to comprehend in my current state.

All I could see was Daisy’s body toppling to the hard ground and her lifeless eyes staring back at me. All I could hear was herear-shattering scream punctuating the air. My breathing picked up, guilt slicing through my chest.

Two more officers walked into the room, not the same ones that had been here before. Both of them were young like Declan had been, but they didn’t offer the same kindness. Just looking at them put me on edge.

The cop with black hair spoke first. “We’ll give you time to say your goodbyes and to get dressed.” He made his way over to me and retrieved a key, placing it in my cuffs where he proceeded to undo them.

As soon as one of my arms was freed, I brought it to my chest, relief spilling through my wrist. He worked on the other one, the metal of the cuff slapping back against the bed, making a dinging sound that reverberated through the room.

“We’ll be right outside that door.” The other officer stated, jutting his thumb in that direction.

Mom nodded. “Thank you.”

---