Page 26 of Adored By Them
Her movements are wooden, mechanical, as she struggles with the buttons on the back of her dress.“I need to get out of this thing.”
Troy beats me to it.
While he works at the buttons, she removes her necklace and sets it on the dresser.The diamonds sparkle in the light spilling in from the large window overlooking the Salding District.
“I’m not leaving.”She points to the bed behind her.“I’m taking a shower and going to sleep.”
My breath leaves in a whoosh.Thank fuck.“When’s the last time you ate?”
She frowns.“I don’t know, but I’m not hungry.”
“You probably haven’t eaten in days.”The EMTs gave her a bottle of water, but nobody thought to feed her.“I’ll be right back.”
“Edmund, I’m not hungry?—”
“I don’t care—you need to eat something.”
She flips me off before I turn to leave the room.I smile.If she’s flipping me off, it means she’s okay.
I fix her some oatmeal—her go-to breakfast.Something warm and homey.While I wait for it to cook, I hear the shower running.Troy is there to help if she needs it, so I’m not worried.Once the oatmeal is done, I dump in extra brown sugar, then carry it to her room.
She’s in bed already, leaning against Troy.Her hair is wet and he combs it while she rests.She has on a pale blue tank top and soft-looking pajama pants.Cackle sits at her feet, already curling up for a nap.
“I made you some oatmeal.”I get into bed on the other side of her.
She wrinkles her nose.
“Just try to eat a little.”I hold out the spoon.“I put extra brown sugar in it for you.”
“Well, if there’s sugar…” She takes the spoon and swallows a bite, but her eyes tear up.“Stop being nice to me, it makes me want to cry.”
“You want us to be mean to you?”Troy asks.
“Maybe?”She takes another bite, swallows.“I’m just tired of crying and you guys taking care of me makes it worse for some reason.”
“Maybe you need to cry.”I wrap an arm around her.“You’ve been through quite a lot, angel.”
Her eyes shut, tight.Tears trail from the corners.“Kellen thought I was an angel when he first saw me.”
“So did I.That night, at your cousin’s party—you were in a white dress.I thought you looked like an avenging angel as you yelled at your family.You’re so strong, Danica.I bet Kellen saw that about you, too.Do you want to talk about him?”
“He saved me, but I couldn’t save him.”She breaks down, and Troy and I let her cry.It seems to be what she needs.
Two bites of oatmeal aren’t nearly enough for her, but when her eyes droop closed and she sleeps, I don’t want to wake her.She can eat when she wakes up.A cry and sleep seem to be more pressing.
Troy and I are squeezed in her bed on either side of her.I don’t care how uncomfortable it is—neither of us is budging.
Once her eyes are closed and her breathing is even, Troy looks over at me.“You regret killing Morraine?”
“Yes and no.”I want to sayno, unequivocally.Because him dying was probably the only way things could go.Even if I hadn’t done it, someone else probably would have.Killing him saved Danica’s grandfather.She already lost her cousin this year, and she’s been through so much.Besides, I like the old man.
But Caleb was my friend for a long time.It doesn’t feel right that he’s gone all of a sudden, and I was the one who had to do it.
“Does that make me a shitty member of the Layton family?”I ask.“That a part of me regrets killing him?”
“Not in the slightest.If you’d been a second slower, I’d have done it instead.But I wouldn’t have liked it.”
That’s some comfort, at least.
