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Sitting next to her on the bed, I bite my lip. So much has happened, I deserve the ass kicking she’ll want to give me when she hears everything. I won’t even fight back. I deserve it all.
Taking a breath, I tell her everything that we know. “We found her in the Chapel, by the altar, with her wrists slashed. She tried to end her own life, Tempest. Chastity called her brother and said goodbye to him on the phone. In turn, her brother called Levi to tell him to get his ass in gear and to go find her,” I explain.
Tempest’s eyes widen, and she wildly shakes her head. “No,” she says. “No. What the fuck happened? She wouldn’t try to end her own life. She was planning to get her… How could you all let this happen?” I know what she stopped herself from saying, and she’s not wrong. We did so many messed up things to Chastity, but I know she wanted her baby back. So what made her decide to try and kill herself?
“There’s a lot of things that happened,” I agree. “Levi was in the confessional booth, and Chastity came to confess her sins. But… he didn’t tell her he was there. Chastity told him about her baby, and that she was taken advantage of by an older man.”
“Oh, my God. How could he not tell her? Chastity has so few things in her life, you took her truths from her too? That’s really fucking low,” Tempest growls.
I nod, because she’s right. We should have all been better for Chastity, but I still don’t think that’s what pushed her over the edge.
“You’re right. I need her to open her beautiful hazel eyes so I can tell her how sorry I am. The guys are with her now, so I can do my own form of penance: bringing her best friend back to her. We never should have outed you to Mother Superior.” I sigh. “Chastity ran when she realized Levi was in the confessional booth, and then she went into town with her parents, to spend some time with her daughter. All I know is something had to have happened while she was with them because she had bruises all over her body. We’re looking into things,” I promise.
I’m so damn tired from the drive, and the adrenaline rush from finding Chastity is starting to drain, and I can’t bother hiding it. My emotions are absolutely wrecked.
Hugging me tightly, Tempest gasps. “Wait! You know about Angel? There’s probably so much you still don’t know, Ash. I want to go with you. I kinda made a mess of things here. I really screwed up, and I need space from my own past. But I’m not allowed back at Holy Cross. Regardless, I need to see Chas.”
I hug Tempest in return and grab her bags. I’m a little worried when she wobbles a bit on her feet, but she’s insistent that she’s okay. There’s definitely a story there, but for now, I’ll let her keep her secrets.
Walking out of the motel room, we head to the car for the four hour drive back to Chastity and the guys. Tempest is exhausted, and I’m worried about her. I’m not used to feeling so much for people outside of my core group of friends, and I bite my lip as I stare out at the long stretch of road ahead of me. She passes out about an hour into the drive, and the sound of her soft snores are making my eyes heavy.
Needing to do something, I pick up the phone and call Levi to check on Chastity.
“Hey, Ash. You got her?”Levi grunts. He and I aren’t sunny people under the best of circumstances, but the stress is showing.
“Yeah, I do. This girl’s got a story. Tempest looks awful. Tell me something good.” I sigh. “How is Chastity?”
Swallowing thickly, Levi says, “There’s no change, Ash. Be careful coming home, we need you both in one piece. All I can suggest is to raise up your prayers that she’ll wake up.”
Hanging up, I think about the girl I should have protected, and instead I piled on more problems for her.
Please, Lord… protect your wayward daughter, and don’t let her pay for the mistakes of other people. Please give me a chance to earn her forgiveness.
Chapter2
Staring through the window at Chastity, I scowl. I can barely see her, she looks so tiny in the hospital bed. Chastity has wires coming out of everywhere, and her grandmother told me the machines are helping her breathe.
“What happened to you, Little Sinner?” I whisper.
I was surprised the old bat agreed to share any information with me, but we were the ones who found her. If we had been just a few moments later… I shudder as I think of what the consequences could have been. We may have been planning a funeral, instead of praying for her to survive.
Jonas claps my shoulder as he stands with me. None of us have wanted to leave the hospital, and while I’m not an actual priest, I have been leading prayer with the guys. I miss her brattiness, and she was finally coming out of her shell with me.
Until I fucked it all up in the confessional booth. I should have told her it was me before she spilled her guts. Confession is a holy sacrament, and the Confessionary at Holy Cross allows the sinner to be anonymous. The sins are forgiven without ever acknowledging that you know the person on the other side of the booth. I ruined that when Chastity realized I had learned her secrets.
God, she has to wake up. I need to be able to ask her for forgiveness. She should have been safe in the Chapel.
I have a feeling she hasn’t felt safe in a very long time. Not only while she’s been at Holy Cross, but the way she screamed in the dark tells me how much someone has hurt her.
And then there’s all the bruises that cover Chas’ body. Someone beat her to hell, and there was a clear boot mark found on her back when the nurses were changing her. The looks of horror I saw will haunt me for a very long time. She may be the guys’ Eve to protect, but she’s my girl too.
“Mother Superior is taking Bast and I back to Holy Cross with her,” Jonas murmurs softly, his voice breaking.
It seems wrong to speak loudly while we’re in the ICU. I have been waiting for Chastity’s grandmother to decide to take them back to the Academy, but I’ve been avoiding the conversation because a part of me doesn't want to be alone.
“She asked to speak to you alone before we left, Levi. That’s the other reason I came to find you. You haven’t left the window, except to go to the bathroom or get coffee. You need to take care of yourself too,” Jonas lectures.
Huffing out a breath, I struggle to hold onto my frustration. “Someone did that to her,” I hiss. “There are bruises all over her body. I had to convince the doctors we didn’t do this to Chastity, before they agreed to let me camp out in the ICU. I’m worried something will happen if I leave.”
