Page 86 of Save Me

Unknown: You were late! You could have saved him.

Unknown: You know, I could have your LICENSE for this.

I stop breathing.

Unknown: You always knew congestive heart failure was the way to get under my skin. Jared wasn’t enough? My dad wasn’t enough? You wanted this one, too? You fucking killed him!

Unknown: You think a fucking Venmo is enough for what you did? You ruined my life, Mad Mads. You called the cops on me, you fucking idiot. You left me with this house, knowing damn well I can’t afford it.

Unknown: And now you’re with some fucking twink? I always knew you liked Jared. You were probably cheating the whole time.

Unknown: Till death do us part, motherfucker. Does that mean nothing to you?

Unknown: You owe me more for the house at least.

My heart races, and I feel like I’m going to throw up. I suck in a deep breath and hold it, my mind racing. Arthur is coming after me. Because of course he is. I knew I could never be happy. I’ll never be safe, and I was an idiot to think I could be.

The room starts to spiral and get dark. Did Micah turn off all the lights?

I suck in a breath. No, I can’t lose it right now. I can’t. I don’t want to. Keep it together, Maddox. Keep it together.

But the harder I try, the more I just think about how Arthur has snuck into every area of my life, even when he’s not around. How I’ve been playing according to his game rules ever since I left him, almost making it feel like I never left him at all.

What if there are other games out there? With other rules? And what if Micah’s playing one of those? One where he isn’t trying to hurt me at all?

Micah.

Fuck. What will Arthur do to Micah?

And overwhelming terror rushes through my body, freezing my limbs. Then, Princess shifts on my lap. He gets up, stretching, and all the weight centers in his four paws on my thighs. After a little tremor, he circles and settles back down, his presence a warm weight on me. He tucks his head under his tail and lets out a deep breath.

What will Arthur do to Princess?

Micah holds his phone out to me, and there’s a funny skunk meme that says, “Act like a punk, you get the skunk.” He laughs, going back to his phone.

I suck in a deep breath, and there’s a melancholy tightness in my chest. I don’t want to put Micah at risk. Hell, he’s already at risk. Both of them are.

My first instinct is to run. To run like I did before. To where, I’m not sure. Anywhere that keeps Micah and Princess out of this.

Then, I realize that they’ll always be in this. Arthur will go after them just on principle.

So, I fight.

The thought must be fueled by alcohol because I feel sick. Fighting Arthur? Since when does that ever work? I tried to get him charged once. It nearly killed me.

I glance up and around the room, gaze catching on the gun Micah has over his dresser.

Will it get me killed? I have a gun now. I know how to shoot it. At least a little.

The thought makes me sit up straighter. Yeah, I don’t need to run. I did nothing wrong. I paid Arthur back. Plus, he can’t come after my job. I did nothing wrong. Patients die all the time. Mr. Parker was dead long before I got there, and the autopsy will show that.

I raise my phone up to type a reply. My hands shake as all kinds of emotions fill me just like they used to. Adrenaline, fear, pain. And I breathe with the pattern of Princess’ snoring. In and out. In and long out.

Then I reply.

Me: I don’t want to talk to you. Contact me again, and I’ll call the cops.

With shaking hands, I power my phone down. For a minute, it feels like my breath is going to rip out of my chest. Oh my god, what did I just do? I fucked everything up. I totally fucked up. My thighs tighten, and I squeeze the phone so hard it almost dents into my hands.