Page 19 of Sacrificing Zoriah

“Rome, I was just run through like a train station by fifty people in three days. They don’t have to leave,” I say bluntly.

“Okay,” he laughs. “Love to see that your smartass mouth is still intact, Riah.”

“I aim to please, Rome,” I say as he helps me stand. He pulls the plug on the drain before turning on the faucet to get clean, warm water.

“What can we do?” Dad asks.

“Have you really not had a drink?” I ask.

“No,” he says. “I won’t lie. I want to down a whole bottle right now, but… I can’t protect my little girl if I’m just a worthless drunk.”

“Daddy… You are not worthless,” I say.

“I am. Your mom died, and I died with her. I let myself get wrapped up in that depression, and I neglected to protect you. It’s my job as your father to protect you,” he says. “I don’t carewhat I have to do; I’m not drinking anymore. The thought of being too drunk to save you is… I promise, I’m done.”

I start to tear up again, and he gets closer to hug me as Roman continues to clean my body. I cry in Dad’s arms as Roman cleans my more intimate areas as gently as possible. When he is done, Dad picks me up and sets me on the floor so Roman can wrap me in a towel.

“We are going to let Roman help you get dressed. You need to eat something before you go to sleep, okay?” Dad asks.

“Okay,” I sigh. “I’m so tired… Fuck. I missed that meeting this morning.”

“It was cancelled,” Roman says. “I’d like to force you to not work, but, I’ll let you do it virtually from home. I have your laptop.”

“Okay. I’ll just… avoid the camera for a while. I feel like I look as terrible as I feel,” I say.

“You look tired,” he says. “Ben is helping me, so don’t push yourself to come back. Okay?”

“Okay. I just… I want to find Huxley,” I say.

“We will,” Corbin says. “I promise.”

“I’m going to drown Haley,” I tell him. “In toilet water, to be specific. I would like to say that I’m being dramatic, but I’m dead fucking serious. That stupid cunt has been terrible to mefor fucking years. I’ve always supported her, and she fucking sacrificed me to a psycho. I was raped for days because of her. She did this to me, and I will be the fucking end of her.”

“We will have Dad’s detox diarrhea shit in the toilet before you drown her,” Corbin laughs.

“That’s… oddly perfect,” I smile.

“We will be downstairs, okay?” He says as he hugs me. “You smell a lot better now.”

“Yeah. I bet,” I laugh. “My hair is undoubtedly knotted up.”

“I’ll brush it out,” Roman says.

“We love you,” Dad says as he kisses the top of my head.

When they leave, Roman dries my hair and body before grabbing a shirt off the counter. He puts the T-shirt on me, and I recognize it immediately. “This is yours,” I say.

“Yeah,” he laughs. “Who else would it belong to?”

“I don’t know… Just odd to be wearing your clothes,” I say.

“Would you rather take it off?” he asks, and I laugh. “That came out wrong.”

“I think I’m gonna keep my shirt on for now, Rome,” I smile.

“Zoriah, I…”

“I need for you to be as normal as possible right now. Don’t pity me. You are the one I can always count on to give it to me straight. Be blunt, but be you. Okay? You can have empathy but still not be weird.”

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