Page 16 of Stalked

My body screamed at me, telling me I needed to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. I climbed into the bed, and the nurse eased my legs up, even though I didn’t need help.

“Mercy, if you need anything, ring the monitor on your bed. Try to sleep. Okay?”

“Alright, thank you.” I rolled back over while listening to the door click shut.

Once I heard her footsteps continue down the hall, my pulse picked up again. No one else was in the room, but a sense of foreboding washed over me.

CHAPTER 6

THE SKY WAShazy, with only a tiny light trickling down onto the cove. The hospital felt suffocating, that coming here to meet Riley was all I needed to help me breathe.

Pulling into the marina at Goddard Park, I spotted Riley sitting on our bench. He looked out, facing the rippling waves from the water in the cove.

The park was one of my favorite places near East Greenwich, stretching across four hundred acres along the Greenwich Cove. There were beautiful trails, canoeing, and spots to picnic. In high school, my friends and I would come to look out over the water; drink, party … have sex.

The patrol had to crack down on us as word had gotten out about how much shit we got away with out here, and they weren’t having it anymore.

All of that didn’t matter, though, not anymore. There were moments like this—today—where we could escape a bit from the chaos in our lives and be us. Just Riley and me. Like we used to.

“It’s been a while since we’ve come here together like this,” I said as I approached him.

“Don’t you miss it?” Riley asked solemnly, turning around, and handing me the bag of food. “Two plain bean burritos for you. Extra packets of mild sauce.”

My eyes captured his. “This was exactly what I needed.”

Riley matched my smile, slapping his hand on the bench next to him. “Sit.”

Leaning back on the bench, I stretched out my legs while we ate silently, watching the water become as still as a sheet of ice.

When I slowly turned to face Riley, I noticed the change on his face—a thoughtful frown as his brows pulled together.

“Riley,” I started, “what’s wrong?”

He glanced at me and then back to the water. His eyes were filled with sadness and pain.

“Everything,” he said. “I mean, not everything but, fuck. Life has been really hard for me lately, Mercy. How do we go every day without breaking down?”

I shrugged. “To be honest, I haven’t a clue.” My dark brows drew together in thought. “I’m working on that myself. You know?”

He nodded and ran his hand through his blond hair. “Hey, remember how my dad and I used to come out here when my mom was still alive and fish on our little paddle boat?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I remember. Your dad was so excited when you caught your first fish that he cooked it up that night. He didn’t realize my mom, and I didn’t eat fish, but he tried to serve us what you guys caught that day, anyway.” We both snickered at the memory.

His laughter dwindled as he looked back out at the cove. “Yeah. Everything changed after my mom died. We no longer have those kinds of moments that a father should have with his son. God, he really is a shit of a father. Now, if I go home and visit, he stays in his room and doesn’t come out until dinner. Constantly talks about my mom and reminds me every fucking day how unhappy she was and what we could have done to help her, but didn’t these last twelve years.”

I watched as his shoulders sagged, no longer tense. How long had he been waiting to share that with someone? He looked like a child who had lost everything and never had the chance to grieve properly. I saw the small child who stared at his father’s back, waiting for that parent to turn around and give him a hug.

Riley shuddered. “I was on my way to Goddard Park yesterday morning before I got the call about your accident.” He sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “I was going to take my boat out myself and hopefully catch something.”

He pointed to a group of trees on our left that was farther into the cove than the rest. I saw a few wooden paddle boats tied to a tree that reached over the water.

“There isn’t an official dock on this side, so people just keep their boats tied to the trees. I’m pretty sure strangers have taken ours out before.” He chuckled, but I couldn’t join his laughter. I knew he was hurting?—and that hurt me.

Riley had been alone for so many years. The sadness in his eyes was somewhat always present, and I didn’t see it until now. I had been his girlfriend and never noticed the pain he felt from the absence of his father’s love. He must have felt me pulling away these last years, way before what happened with my mom. I saw that now. He hadn’t had a father to give him affection, he’d had me, and now I had taken that from him.

We relaxed on the bench for over an hour, staring at the waves and talking about the times when life wasn’t so complicated. Time moved so quickly that I hadn’t realized the sun was already setting. I glanced at my phone to note the time.

“Riley, I need to get back,” I said. “Lily and I were supposed to head to dinner tonight on Main, but most likely, she’ll force me to stay in until she feels I’m fully healed.”

---