Page 70 of The Way Back Home
“Or let herself get close to anyone,” Daniel finished. “That’s a hell of a way to live.”
“Why didn’t she go to the authorities?” Adam asked.
“Because the system had failed her time and time again,” Alex said, his expression somber. “No one believed her, and telling anyone got her beaten. She did what she had to do to survive.”
Noah was only half listening. He held Teagan’ssmall hand in his, running his thumb over her skin, willing her to be okay. Just touching her, feeling the warmth of her skin, gave him hope.
“Okay, everybody out,” Teagan’s doctor said, coming in to check on Teagan during his regular rounds. “You too, Noah.”
“Why now? You had no problem with me staying before.”
“Because this time,” the doctor said with a twinkle in his eye, “my patient is awake.”
Noah looked into Teagan’s face and saw one stunningly blue eye looking back at him as he felt a tiny squeeze on his fingers.
“Go get some coffee and a sandwich or something,” the doc said. “Don’t come back for at least half an hour.”
Noah growled softly in the back of his throat, his protective urges surging.
“Come on, bro. I’m buying.” Alex grasped the back of Noah’s arm and assisted him to a standing position. “Don’t worry, Doc. I got this one covered.”
Noah reluctantly allowed Alex to lead him out of the room, feeling Teagan’s gaze on him until he was out of sight. What she felt about his presence, however, remained a mystery.
Down in the cafeteria, he drank a cup of coffee and downed a prepackaged sandwich that might have been pressed sawdust for all he tasted of it. The doc was still in with Teagan when they returned a short while later, so he went to the sunroom at the end of the corridor to pace and wait.
“What the hell is taking so long?” Noah muttered.
“Evaluations take time. You of all people should know that,” Alex answered.
Noah grunted a response.
Their mother entered just as Noah was ready to storm out and demand answers. She stopped him by putting her much smaller body in his way and holding up her hand. “I just spoke with the doctor, and he thinks we should all go home and get some sleep.”
“I don’t think so,” Noah said.
“You are to come with us as well,” his mother said softly but firmly. There was no mistaking the command in her voice, though it was tinted with compassion.
Realization filled the hole where his heart used to be. “She doesn’t want me around.”
Molly Ziegler put her hand on his arm. “Give her some time. She’s been through so much.”
Noah stared down into his mother’s eyes for long moments before he turned right and disappeared into the stairwell. Once outside, he stood on the sidewalk and looked up at the windows where Teagan lay, broken, beaten, and alone. Snow had started falling again, but he didn’t feel the cold. The anger and rage burning within him kept him more than warm enough.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
TEAGAN
I’m not dead.
Teagan had been sure that when she went down that last time, she wouldn’t be getting back up again. The fact that she was still breathing … well, she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She was so tired of fighting. Of clawing her way back, only to get knocked down again.
Then there was the pain. There’d been a brief respite in the oblivion, but ever since she’d started her climb back to the world of the living, she hurt everywhere. Each breath was like an axe cleaving her chest. Her throat burned, as if she’d swallowed fire. Her head pounded, and her nose was packed or broken or both.
She blinked slowly, her vision blurry, the ache in her head making it hard to focus. One eye was bandaged; the other opened to the soft glow of afternoon light filtering through the blinds. Nearby,someone coughed. Machines hummed and beeped in steady rhythms. Muffled voices drifted in from the hallway.
The setting was familiar. She’d been here before.
Back then, she’d woken up alone, already rehearsing the lies.I fell. I wasn’t paying attention. It was my fault.The words had come easy, like second nature.
