Page 98 of Unspoken Lies
Jared glances worriedly at me as he puts the vehicle in park. There’s nothing I can do about this cough. I doubt it’s sickness,it’s just soreness from my throat and a disuse of speaking. I expect it’ll go away, but it’s uncomfortable right now.
The back door is thrown open, and Liliana and Ignacio are at my side quickly, opening my door. My body begins to relax slightly as I unbuckle myself and turn toward them. The sight of familiar faces, of people that I know love me, is something I need.
“Hi,” I say, my voice cracking.
“Hey yourself, Baby Girl,” Lili whispers, hugging me. “God, I have to say I’m glad you killed that cunt of a nurse.”
“Does everyone know about that?” I ask, surprised.
“Would you believe me if I told you we’ve been having daily video calls to make sure everyone knows what’s been going on with you?” Nacio asks, scooping me into his arms as soon as Liliana steps back. “You’ve lost weight, Rachelle.”
“Not my fault this time,” I say, wrinkling my nose as I hug his neck. “It feels odd that you’ve been having the equivalent of family chats.”
Liliana closes the door behind me, and I see that Jared has already gone inside as we begin walking across the courtyard.
“It’s the only way we could keep from losing our shit,” Lili explains. “How is your husband treating you?”
“That’s really weird, Lili,” I groan. “Are you guys upset about that?”
“I could be, but it got you out,” Nacio says. “Sometimes, you have to be the bigger person, even if it does make you Mrs. Rachel Denton.”
“Just another name change,” I grumble.
“Before we go in, how are you feeling?” Liliana asks.
“Like… It’s hard to explain,” I sigh. “I feel really disconnected to my body. My mind feels really clear, though, despite the missing pieces from my memory.”
“Did they have you taking any medication the last few days?” Nacio asks.
“I accidentally went off cold turkey in the isolation chamber. They kept me knocked out and sedated afterward from what I’ve put together from pieces of conversation,” I explain as we step into the house.
I can hear pieces of conversation, and I perk up as I hear my stepfather’s voice. I can’t tell you the last time I’ve seen him. Most of our communication is through the phone.
“It’s probably going to get kind of loud when we get inside the living room,” Liliana warns. “They’re all really excited about seeing you.”
I’m just getting glimpses of the house as we walk, but what I do see is really well appointed for college kids. I bet Calvin helped with that, but nothing about the Kings reminds me of the word ‘typical’. They’re completely different from normal people.
Nodding, I take a careful breath as Ignacio strides into the living room with Liliana in front of us. Emil rises to his feet, gazing at me as if trying to catalog every shadow and bruise. My eyes feel hot as I stare back at him, and I blink furiously as the tears begin to threaten to fall.
I’m so happy to see him.
Theo and Jared gaze at each other as if they’re talking without words, while I dismiss them. I’ll ignore them until they choose to speak. It’s weird the way they do that.
“I’m fine,” I whisper, as if to try to remember that.
“You are now,” Emil says, his eyes not at all dry. “Can you stand?”
Ignacio realizes his father’s worry and begins to put my feet on the ground.
“I got a little excited and whisked her up,” he says, cheeks heating slightly.
“My muscles are a little weak from laying in bed,” I say with a shrug as I stand, feeling better when my body doesn’t rebel and make me a liar.
Fuck yes. I don’t want to be babied.
“It’s more than that, young lady,” Emil says disapprovingly before enveloping me in a tight hug. “You and Ignacio are giving me new grey hairs.”
“He’s going to hold that over our heads for a long time, Rachelle,” Ignacio says with a chuckle.
