Page 102 of Cruel Possession
I force a smile and turn her hand over, kissing her palm. “You’re going to wake up soon and then you and I are going to have a long talk about how trying to set me up to die was the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever seen.”
She says nothing, but I don’t expect her to. She hasn’t said anything in two days.
I don’t know if she’s ever going to say anything again.
Gia steps into the room with dark circles under her eyes. She holds two cups of coffee, offering me one before pulling the other chair close to the bed. “Any change?”
“No. Didn’t think there would be much of one, though.” I sip the coffee, but it only makes my stomach turn more. “Doctors don’t know how long she’s going to be out.”
“She’s going to survive this.” Gia pulls her feet up onto the edge of the chair, holding her knees close to her chest. “She’s got to survive this. She was just starting to be herself again.”
I press my lips together, not knowing what to say to comfort her. I don’t think there is anything Icouldsay. Fuck knows that nothing anyone has said to me so far has been comforting.
Gia is the only one who understands.
She glances between me and Zoe. “You care about her, don’t you?”
“She wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t.” My hands curl into fists, knuckles tight. “You should know that by now, though. You’re still here too, aren’t you?”
The corner of her mouth twitches. “You really think you could kill me now? Royce would lay you out before you ever got close.”
“If I didn’t get to him first. But lucky for you, I like having you around.” I swipe my thumb over the ring on Zoe’s finger. “Don’t tell the others that, though. They’d never let me live it down.”
“Don’t tell us what?” Jade asks as she strides into the room with the rest of my siblings trailing behind her. She goes over to the head of the bed and puts down her purse on the table, digging out a brush and starting to work through Zoe’s hair.
The rest of the family gathers around, and for a moment, nobody says anything. Then, they all start talking, one conversation overlapping the other.
Summer is talking about what she’s going to be doing with her summer, and the others are talking about children. Gia looks like she wants to shrink in on herself, and I could scream.
Though I am grateful that they’re here. Sitting down and watching Zoe on my own always feels like too much.
Jade shuffles over to me while the others are talking to Zoe.
I don’t know if they think she can hear them or not, but that doesn’t stop any of them.
Jade drops down into the seat Gia vacated, moving it a little closer to me.
“You know, if you keep staring at the bed like that, people are going to start thinking that you think she’s not going to make it out of this.”
“How am I supposed to know if she’s going to live?” I glance at Jade, a lump in my throat. “I did everything I could, but sitting here and looking at her is making me feel like it wasn’t enough. Like nothing I did was good enough.”
“Aid, you have to stop beating yourself up about this. There was nothing else you could’ve done, and Noah is nothing but a psycho who doesn’t care who he hurts.” Jade leans over and puts her head on my shoulder like she used to when she was young. “Zoe is tough as hell. She’s going to pull through this.”
“And none of you mind if I plan on keeping her around for a while?”
Jade shrugs. “I like her well enough. Skyla seems to respect her to some degree.”
“And the others?”
Jade picks at her chipping white nail polish. “I don’t know. I don’t think Ellie really cares one way or another as long as you’re happy, and Summer has just been acting off. I don’t know why.”
I glance up as the rest of my family says their goodbyes, filtering out of the room. They close the door behind them, leaving me and Jade alone to sit with Zoe.
Jade glances at her. “Is she who you really want to be with? I never thought you were going to settle down and if I did, well,she just seems so different from who I pictured you with. She’s not willing to put up with any of your shit.”
“I know she isn’t. It’s one of the things I like about her.” I sigh and scrub a hand down my face, exhaustion taking over.
My stomach wound was an easy fix, but the stitches still hurt. And sleeping on the cot in the corner isn’t doing me many favors, but it’s better than the pull-out couch beneath the big window or my own hospital bed beside her where I wouldn’t reach her.
