Page 85 of Memories with Fire

“I’m so sorry, Hailey. I’m so, so sorry.” Tears are falling quickly down her cheeks, but she grants me the peace of not having to repeat myself a fourth time, turning towards the door. She stops with her hand on the handle before opening it to look back at me once more. “I love you too. Always.”

Then she leaves, and every ounce of air whooshes out of my lungs, but when I breathe in again, only pain and heartache rush in, no air. At least that’s how it feels. Like I’ll never be able to take another breath again. The heartache, while different this time around, is almost as intense as when I lost Luke ten years ago.

Pressing the nurse call button, I let the tears flow freely down my face as I wait for someone to show up. A minute later Jordan is poking her head through the door with a smile. It only takes one glance at me for her to realize I’m not okay, and she rushes in, somehow knowing it isn’t a doctor I need, but a friend.

“Oh, Hails,” she whispers as she reaches my bed and pulls me into a hug.

I slide my arms around her and press my face against her shoulder, the first of many sobs wracking my whole body. Somehow, I manage, “No more, okay?”

“Okay, sweetie, of course,” she nods, rubbing my back in soothing circles. “No more. But you need to tell me no more what?”

It almost makes me laugh. The fact that she’s willing to agree without even knowing what it is. Almost, but not quite. “Visitors. No more. I can’t. I can’t take one more thing, Jor.”

CHAPTER 29

LUKE

“Where is she?”I ask Nate when I walk out of the security room I’ve been held in for the last two dang hours. He’s standing outside of it, presumably waiting for me since he pushes off the wall when I come out.

A detective follows me, patting me on the shoulder. “We’ll be in touch.”

Question after question was hurled at me, and I clench my jaw to keep from scowling at the man who kept me away from Hailey for so long. First I had to wait for him to get there, then we had to go over everything. Threefuckingtimes.

Originally they held me because of the aggression I showed towards Priscylla. One of the security guys saw it on a monitor and called it in, which was why the initial security guard showed up in the first place, and why he took me down. I told them it was bullshit, but after the detective showed me the video, I can’t say I blame them. It did look like I wanted to kill Priscylla.

I suppose it didn’t only look like it. If it weren’t for Nate, I don’t know what I would have done.

Not a thought I care to examine right now.

“She’s still in emerg,” Nate says, the two of us heading in that direction.

“Is she okay?”

He nods when I glance over at him, but then cocks his head at a strange angle. “Has a pretty bad concussion, and given her history that’s a bit concerning. But that’s not the part you’re not going to like.”

Grabbing Nate’s arm, I stop him in the hallway we’re currently walking down, frowning. “What do you mean? What’s wrong? What happened? Did Priscylla?—”

Nate quickly shakes his head, putting a hand on my shoulder. “No, Priscylla has been under the watchful eye of two officers and has been kept far away from Hailey. It’s not that.”

“Then what?” I demand, nostrils flaring as my heart rate picks up.

He clears his throat, glancing down the hall before bringing his attention back to me. “Jordan wouldn’t tell me anything other than Hailey doesn’t want visitors.”

It’s my turn to tilt my head, my frown deepening. “What? Why? No, that—” My voice cracks on the word, and I clear my own throat to try again. “She can’t—that can’t mean me.”

This was the last thing I expected when I was finally told I was free to leave. With a severe concussion, I can understand not wanting a barrage of people in the room with her, but there’s no way she meant me. I saw the way she looked at me before they forced me to leave her there. Hailey wanted nothing more than for me to comfort her.

I saw it.

I… I swear I saw it.

Didn’t I?

“Nate, where exactly is she?” I ask him, stepping closer.

His jaw grinds back and forth, eyes boring into mine, looking like he’s debating with himself. A debate I wonder if he’s been battling since he found out about her request.

Finally, he sighs, looks up and down the corridor, and relents. “I’m not going to tell you she’s in one of the private ER bays. Just like I’m not going to tell you it’s the one on the left side of the shoe.”

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