Page 83 of Monster Among the Roses (Fairy Tale Quartet 1)

“Tell me how to make this better.”

Whirling to face me completely, she hissed, “You can’t. You can’t make anything better. And I was a fool to ever think a freak like me could mix with the outside world.”

“No,” I started, not wanting her to feel that way. She’d come so far to lose all the progress she’d made. I could picture her closing herself up for another eight years, and the thought panicked me. “Isobel—”

“Just leave me alone,” she cried, throwing open the truck door and hurling herself out into the night.

I jerked open the driver’s side door and jumped out, hurrying after her. But I’d no sooner rounded the front of the hood than she threw up a hand, warding me off. The silhouette she made in the solar lights lining the front walk looked like a tragic princess.

“Don’t follow me,” she commanded. “Just give me some space.”

I jarred to a halt, understanding the word space. Space and time I could give. Everyone needed a moment to recoup sometimes. Besides, they were both things that passed. It didn’t mean she wanted me to stay away forever.

“I’ll see you Monday,” I called as she opened the front door, letting her know I would give her space, but only for a few days.

She pretended not to hear me, but I knew she had. Cursing under my breath as the front door clamped closed behind her, I shook my head, dejected, and slumped back to the truck.

I wanted to return to Urbane, find the two women who’d caused this, and strangle them both. How could they be so cruel and heartless? Isobel hadn’t done anything to bother them, and besides, she’d looked completely stunning to me. So what if she had some nasty scars? They didn’t make her who she was. I couldn’t believe some people could be so superficial.

Letting my anger smother the worry that she still might be upset with me, I stewed the whole way home. Even the walk from the lot where I parked back to my apartment building didn’t help cool my mood. I wanted to plant my fist through a brick wall. I wanted to return to Porter Hall, force my way into Isobel’s room and make her let me fix everything.

But she’d requested space, so I would give her space.

God, I hated that word. Space. It was so vague, and lonely, and miserable.

I shoved open the front door of my building, wondering if she’d even be willing to continue her flower shop dream after this, when a heap of floral clothing at the bottom of the stairwell had me stumbling to a halt before I tripped over it.

At first, I thought someone had dropped their laundry right at the base of the steps, blocking the path. But then a gray head of hair, fleshy arms, and shoes took form from the mound. Realizing that looked like Mom’s muumuu she’d been wearing earlier in the evening, I gasped out my fear before rushing forward and falling to my knees beside the limp form.

“Mom?” I croaked, rolling the fallen person toward me until her face fell my way.

My lungs caught on a choked cry when I took in the bloody gash on her forehead.

“Oh God, Oh God. Mom?” I pressed my shaking fingers to the pulse point on her neck and nearly wept when I felt a heartbeat. She was unconscious, but at least she was still alive.

Beyond grateful, I pressed my face to hers and just held her against me for the longest second, praying for her heart to keep beating and her lungs to keep pumping air.

Then I went to get help.

chapter

TWENTY-FIVE

It was nearly one in the morning by the time they let me into Mom’s hospital room to see her. Visiting hours be damned, I think they realized I wasn’t going to leave until I could see her in person. And then, once I finally did get shown to her room, there was no way they could pry me away. I was there for good, a permanent fixture plastered to her side.

A large white bandage circled her head. She’d received a concussion but that wasn’t the worst of her injuries. I guess whenever she’d fallen, she’d rebroken the not-fully-healed hip from f

ive months before. What was worse, some bone marrow had escaped and gotten into her bloodstream. The doctors had been forced to perform immediate surgery to keep the marrow from reaching her heart.

If I hadn’t found her when I had and gotten her to a hospital when I did, she could’ve died right there on those stairs. If my night had gone well and Isobel hadn’t pushed me away, my mother would be dead.

I wasn’t sure what to think of that. The world worked in mysterious ways. It left me rattled to the core. I’d almost lost my mother tonight, and the only reason she was here was because of two nasty women who’d hurt Isobel. It was hard to wrap my brain around that.

Sitting in the chair next to Mom and holding her hand while she slept peacefully after her successful surgery, I thought up every what-if and could-have-been, and none of them ended with a pleasant result. I had no idea why she’d tried to leave the apartment, especially after I asked her to stay in, but that would’ve led to the best outcome, if she’d just stayed inside.

When I exhausted myself trying to come up with alternate outcomes, I called Justin and Alice. Neither sibling answered their phone, so I left a message for both, letting them know what had happened. I still had no idea how to get hold of the other three, and I didn’t even want to talk to Victoria, so I didn’t bother trying to find them. I did my duty trying to update them; the rest was on them.

Mom woke about nine the next morning. I’d been dozing, slouching in the most uncomfortable position when I heard my name being croaked. Jumping, I sprang upright and wiped my hands over my face before I realized her eyes were open and she was watching me.

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