Page 124 of Retribution

I ignore her and tighten the embrace, closing my eyes.

I have no idea what’s came over me, I can’t tell if it’s the stuff that happened with Scott or the messages I’ve been receiving, or both.

She withdraws and stands back, picking up a gift bag and handing it to me. I take it apprehensively.

“I found this on your doorstep, I thought I’d bring it inside.” The blue gift bag is tied at the top with a red ribbon sealing it shut.

I check the tag and it’s addressed to me in – Cursive Handwriting.

The nausea climb in my throat and I drop the bag to the floor, my blood pressure dropping instantly.

“Indie, what the hell?” Lola touches my arm and I feel the room begin to spin, an array of stars cloud my vision and my legs give out as I fall to the floor.

“Indie!” I hear her distant shouts as I succumb to the darkness that surrounds me.

* * *

Reed

I pace the waiting room, the familiar feeling I know all too well.

The impatience, the anxiety, the helplessness.

I was playing golf with Devon and Blake, when Lola called me and told me something weird was going on with Indie and then she just collapsed in our hallway. She’d called 911 and the ambulance had just arrived as she’d called me and they were blue-lighted to the emergency room.

I got here as soon as I could and we heard the doctors were running a number of tests to try and figure out what had happened, why she had just fainted like that.

She’s still unconscious and we’re not allowed into her room until she’s woken up.

“What did she say to you before it happened?” I ask Lola, trying to fix the puzzle pieces together.

“She didn’t say much, she was just completely shaken up. She came into the hallway wielding a knife, Reed. I’ve never seen her so guarded before.” I absorb her words.

A knife?

Why the fuck would she be so terrified that she’d grab a knife?

It can’t be Scott.

Harrison rushes down the hallway, his hair ruffled and his face full of worry.

“What the hell happened?” He asks, he practically bounces from one foot to the other, unable to keep still.

“Literally, the second she read the tag on the gift bag she just fell, like a dead weight.” Lola says.

“What gift bag?” Me and Harry say in unison.

“It was on the doorstep when I arrived, I brought it inside for her, and then this–” She gestures to the hospital.

“What was inside of it?” I ask.

“What did it say?” Harrison asks at the same time.

I look at him, my brows furrowed as he looks at me disconcertingly.

“I don’t know. Everything happened so quickly, I don’t think she opened the bag, she just read the tag on it.” Lola sits back down and rests a hand on her blooming stomach.

“Is there something I should know about?” I turn to Harry.

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