Page 143 of Releasing 10
Wandering through the foyer, I checked out front before making my way back through the corridor, checking behind every unlocked door as I went.
It wasn’t until I pushed through the exit doors at the back of the building and locked eyes on the back of her blond head that I felt any ounce of relief, and even then, it was thwarted by the sight of her tearstained face.
“What happened?” I demanded, feeling my heart rate spike. “Liz.”
Sniffling, she turned around and looked at me, giving me a front-row view to the heartbreak in her eyes.
She didn’t even try to conceal it.
Not from me.
No, I was given a private audience to her devastation as it played out in her stormy, blue eyes.
“I don’t know,” she finally strangled out, walking right into my arms. “I think I might be going a bit mad again, Hugh.”
“Everyone’s a bit mad,” I replied, wrapping my arms around her. “Look at my dad, Liz. He’s a lot more than a bit mad.”
“Yeah, but at least your dad knows the difference between real life and his imagination,” she whispered, clinging onto me for dear life. “I don’t.”
“That doesn’t mean you’re mad, Liz,” I reassured her, pulling her close. “It’s okay. It’s just how you think sometimes.”
“But it’s all wrong, Hugh,” she cried harder now. “I don’t want to think this way.”
I knew that, and I wanted to have the answer to all her problems, but I was only eleven and trying to learn on the job. I had never encountered these problems with Claire. Her biggest concern was the safest method to capture butterflies and ladybirds.
Butthisgirl?
This girl felt sadness in herbones.
Liz felt things deeper than other people our age and she always had. Some days were better than others, and some days were worse. Today was one of her harder ones but telling her that wouldn’t help.
“Today is agoodday,” I told her instead, giving her the words she needed to hear. “You are having agoodday, Lizzie Young.” I pulled her closer to me, wanting to envelope her body with mine and protect her from the world. “You’re happy and safe because you’re with me, and you know I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
“I am?”
“Yes, you are,” I coaxed, being the reassurance she needed when her mind played tricks on her. “You are right here with me, happy and smiling, and having thebestday.”
“With you.”
“With me,” I promised. “And you’re healthy, and brave, and smart. Just like me.”
“Just like you?”
I nodded in confirmation. “And you know what else you are?”
“What?”
“You’re my best friend.”
Her breath hitched. “What about Patrick?”
“What about him?” I replied, keeping my eyes on hers. “You’re the only one who really knows me, Liz.”
“Same,” she replied, looking up at me with lonesome, blue eyes. “Nobody gets me like you do.”
“I’m going to keep you safe,” I promised, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Always.”
“No matter what?”
