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“WHAT THE FUCKIS GOING ON HERE?! Why are you in my daughter’s hospital bed?” Mother screams, waking me up.
Being entangled in Luca’s arms, I struggle to sit up until he untangles himself from me, gently gets out of the hospital bed, and heads over with his brothers. I lock eyes with Luca, hoping he understands how grateful I am to him.
“Mrs. Matthews, calm down. Nothing is going on. We were the ones who found Paisley on the floor unconscious in the bathroom,” Kade tells Mother.
I wince, knowing that was the wrong thing to say to her.
“What were you doing going into the girls’ bathroom, and why was that boy over there lying in the bed with my daughter?! That’s highly inappropriate on both accounts,” she says in a condescending voice.
Her face matches her tone. It’s like she is looking down on them.
Atlas turns to look at me, asking with his eyes if it’s okay to tell her why Luca was in my bed, and I blink back tears and nod. I know that nothing we say will make her happy or change the outcome of tonight. So, for now, I refuse to let them be anything but what they are: my security, my safety net.
“Luca was in Paisley’s bed because she wanted him in there. I can’t speak to why, though. Now, for the other issue, apparently she had been gone for a long period of time and they were worried about her, so they went looking for her.”
“We aren’t going to be able to say anything to make her happy, are we?” Luca signs to me questioningly.
I shake my head slightly.
Turning to look at me, Mother says, “We willdiscusswhy you had a boy in your hospital bed at home, Paisley.” She looks back at Kade. “Why didn’t you alert the teacher and have them look for her?”
“Honestly, we were more worried about her safety than anything else. The only thing we were thinking about was making sure she was okay,” he says.
Atlas puts his hand on Kade’s shoulder. “Let’s just agree that no matter what happened, everything is fine because Paisley was found and brought to the hospital and taken care of. Right? Her health and safety is what’s most important, correct?”
“Oh. Um, yes, of course, Why wouldn’t that be what’s most important?” Mother backtracks. “Paisley, why don’t you go ahead and get dressed so we can get you back home and settled?”
I slowly move out of the bed toward the table that has my clothes from earlier today on it, grab them, and head to the restroom. Gently sliding down the door, I try to be as quiet as I can as I sit there on the floor crying. I know I only have two more days with Mother, but I know tonight is going to be hell, on top of all the pain.
Am I going to be able to survive until my birthday?
I take my time getting my clothes back on and splash some cold water on my face, hoping to hide the tears that fell earlier. I don’t need the guys to see that I was crying, especially since I know Luca will want to fix it, and he can’t. Not in front of Mother.
Finally leaving the bathroom, I head directly beside Mother, not glancing at any of the guys. Looking at them would just give her more reasons to abuse me, which I don’t need. Just being in the hospital is enough.
“Let’s go, Paisley,” she barks out, and she turns to walk out of the room.
She puts her hands on my arm. I flinch and stop in my tracks. Going pale and cold, I look at the guys, knowing it’s a mistake, but needing their faces to center me for what’s to come. Mother sees me look at them and grins.
Inching closer to my face, she whispers into my ear, “They can’t protect you, Paisley. No one can.”
I shiver.
I know they can’t.
I steel myself and turn back towards the exit, with Mother right behind me. I force myself not to look back. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to the guys and I hope they understand that I would have if I could.
* * *
ATLAS
Watching her walk out without being able to tell her goodbye was excruciating. It felt like there was a rope tied around my heart and every step she took away from me, the rope squeezed tighter.
I look over at all the guys. All their faces are contorted like they are in some version of pain, like I am. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they loved her just as much as I do.
Wait. Love?
Taking a deep breath in, I focus on that one word, trying to decipher if what I thought was true.
