Page 103 of Light Up The Night
My heart is in a billion shards, seeing her like this. Fuck me, what did she go through over there?
I slide backward and start to rise to my feet, but she abruptly and violently lurches at me. She hits my chest and we tumble backward together to the floor. "NO!" She clings to me with shocking strength. "Don't leave me! Don't leave me!”
"I'm not leaving you, I'm not—" I cradle her against me, but she's shaking and sobbing. "I'llneverleave you, sweetheart. I've got you."
"Got me," she repeats. "Got me."
"Yeah, honey, I've got you. Just…just hold onto me."
"Hold onto you."
I work to my feet with Cadence clinging to me like a spider monkey baby with its mother. Her legs are around my waist and her arms around my neck, her face buried in my throat. She’s shaking, trembling violently, now.
"Riley?" It's a shredded whisper. "I’m thirsty."
I twist around, looking for Candace, catch her gaze; she's a few feet away, watching with concern all over her features. "Can you get her some water?"
She bustles off and returns with a sealed bottle. I crack it open; Cadence is clinging to me so tightly I have both hands free.
"Here," I whisper, perching on the edge of a seat. "Drink."
She turns sideways on my lap and takes the bottle from me in a quaking hand—water sloshes out. "C-can't."
I put it to her lips. "Just a sip at first."
She takes a mouthful and swishes it around; another, just as small. Sip after sip, until her hands stop shaking and she can drink it on her own. When she's finished most of the bottle, she sets it aside and turns back to me, legs around my waist, and rests her cheek on my shoulder. “Home,” she whispers. "Home to Three Rivers with you."
I carry her through the concourse like that, Candace trailing behind with the suitcase. I reach my truck, finding the security guard who met me at the stairs guarding it so I don't get ticketed or towed.
I set Cadence in the passenger seat and buckle her in. "I'm not leaving, just going around to the other side."
She reluctantly releases her grip on my wrist, but her eyes don't leave me as I circle the hood. As soon as I'm behind the wheel, she latches onto me again.
Once we're on the freeway heading north, I unbuckle her and slide the console up out of the way and pull her toward me. She curls up against my side.
She doesn't move the rest of the way.
Felix,Ember, Cole, Nyx, Bear, and Noelle are all at my house when we arrive. It's a noisy bustle in my tiny kitchen, and Cadence shrinks against me.
"She's gonna need some time before she's ready for visitors," I say. "An' I don't know any more than any of you."
Bear claps his huge hands once. "Out."
Cadence stirs at the clap, seems to momentarily tune back in. "I am very tired," she whispers. "I am sorry."
Ember, with Ella cradled in the crook of her arm, kisses Cadence on the cheek. "We're all here for you, Cadence. We're all glad you're back safely."
"Safe?” She repeats the word as if unsure of its meaning. "Safe."
Noelle looks at me quizzically, but I shrug—I don't have any answers. Everyone but Fee files out.
"You good, bro?" he asks, his eyes full of concern.
"Me? I'm fine. Just gotta get her settled."
"Want me to wait?" His voice is pitched low.
"Nah," I say. "Just cover me at work for now, yeah? Dunno how long."
