Page 60 of Sinners Keepers
She checked my vitals and I briefly wondered how much overtime she'd worked over the last few months just to make sure she was here to take care of me. Mama needed a vacation, that was for sure.
I think we all needed one.Deservedone.
My head felt heavy from the last remnants of the drugs, or maybe my body was just spent. My eyelids were getting harder to keep open. I chatted with her for a bit, but I was soon done for the evening and it wasn't long before sleep claimed me.
* * *
I was releasedthe following evening, and I’d never been more ecstatic to be in my own bed. I’d slept so fucking hard through my first night back home.
Alec and Ijah were stretched out on either side of me and Law was draped over Alec’s waist with his hand splayed across my stomach.
I placed a gentle hand on Ijah’s shoulder, causing him to stir. He smiled blearily. “You okay, baby?”
“I think so,” I smiled weakly.
His eyes scanned my face. “Is there something I can do to make you more comfortable?”
I readjusted myself against my pillow, covering Law’s hand with mine and gently rubbing small circles over his skin. “Lay with me for a little longer?” I knew they likely had things to do today, but I wasn’t ready to see any one of them leave my bed just yet.
“That I can do,” he said, settling back in.
We lay next to one another, a comfortable silence surrounding us. I kept my eyes on Alec and Law snuggled together, their chests gently rising and falling with each deep breath they took. The sun had started to rise outside, casting its morning light in the room, and eventually, they woke too.
Law tickled my hip bone. “You hungry?”
“Fucking starving,” Alec replied.
Law gave him a grumpy look. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Like you’re only going to cook for Hunny and not the rest of us,” Alec retorted.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do now,” he sat up and Alec ruffled his hair.
My throat tightened, tears stinging my eyes. Happy ones, for once.
Sure, the beginning of our relationship had been atripand they each had their own difficulties with navigating how to approach my memory loss, but something like that is simply uncharted territory for the large majority of people.
It had to be difficult to find a balance between maintaining a sense of normalcy and making the push to trigger any kind of memories. I know Ijah in particular felt some level of desperation because he’d eventually acted on it againsteveryone’sbetter judgment, but I wouldn’t have changed anything about that day. It brought me back to him.
I don’t think I would have changedanyof it, given the circumstances. There had never been anything trulynormalabout the lives we’d lived up until this point, and I knew they’d always had my best interest at heart despite the fact that some of the situations we’d landed ourselves in during my recovery were a little less than ideal.
For the first time maybe ever, I took a steadying breath and realized that today really was a new day.
“What did you end up doing with the body?” I asked. I wasn’t sure why I cared, honestly.
“Body?” Ijah looked at me confusedly.
“Ellis’s?” I prompted, fucking glad I no longer had a reason to call the piece of shit my father.
A feral grin split his face. “There is nobody, cupcake. Do you really think we’d deny you the gift of that kind of satisfaction? AtChristmastime?”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
Law
With her hand on the door that led to the basement, Hunter hesitated. The three of us knew that it wasn’t a good idea to have her sitting in on any kind of torture at this point, but we at least wanted to give her the option to see him one last time for closure if she felt like she needed it. He may have not actually been her father, but she’d spent her entire life thinking he was.
“You don’t have to go down, cupcake,” Ijah said, reiterating what we’d all already assured her of. “Please do not feel pressured to do this. We just wanted you to have a say in whether you did or not. We can take care of this just the same without you there.”
