Can I trust them that they won’t hurt me, or are they hiding a dark part of themselves from me, giving me a false sense of security?
Trusting anyone is going to be hard. I wish that I could be with my brother Xavier right now, but I know that I can’t. I’m not safe and I sure don’t want to put anyone else in harm’s way. It is better that Brent thinks that I didn’t make it when I took the bullet.
One thing that I know for sure is that they are still looking for Brent because he wasn’t there that night. He didn’t spend much time there after leaving me in my hell. He would come and go, and I mostly saw him when they dropped off another woman.
There’s a knock at the door and I’m thankful because of the way that my thoughts are straying.
“Come in,” I call out softly.
Derek appears with a friendly smile.
“Hey there, darling. Do you have everything you need? You know, you aren’t stuck in here; you are free to walk around the club house. I just don’t want you leaving the property,” he says softly.
I nod my head. “I know. I’m fine, but I’m just not ready to be in front of so many people that I don’t know yet,” I tell him honestly.
I don’t think that I could lie to this man. He has been nothing but sweet to me since I saved his life, and I can tell that he is truly thankful. When I first woke up and saw him, he told me that he was forever in my debt and, if I needed anything at all, I could ask him.
I never had someone say that to me. He seems like he would try and do just about anything to take care of me.
“Okay, just let me know if you need anything, or any other brother. We have your back, Camilla,” he says as he leaves the room.
There are so many emotions going through me right now.
I let the tears fall for the second time that day.
I can’t seem to stop them from falling.
I don’t know how much time passes, but Krista comes into the room with takeout containers.
“Hey sweetie. I thought you might want to have some supper together,” she says holding up the bag.
“Sure, that sounds great.”
She sits beside me on the bed not saying a word and hands me my food. I reach over to grab some sodas from the mini fridge sitting beside the bed where a nightstand would be.
Derek put this in so that if I didn’t want to wander out of this room, I wouldn’t have to. I’m very grateful for that because it is just so overwhelming to be in front of people you don’t know when you are going through this kind of a recovery.
Krista holds out a couple pills in her hand. “Here are your pain killers and antibiotics. Doc said that you should only need them for a few more days.”
I nod my head gratefully at her. “Thank you. I hate taking medication, but I’m in so much pain right now that I’m not going to argue.”
She smiles slightly at me. “I know. If you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask. I’m a nurse, you know? I used to work with Olivia when she first moved here.”
I look at her shocked and shake my head. “No, I didn’t know that. I haven’t spent much time getting to know anyone.”
She shrugs her shoulders like it’s no big deal.
“It’s okay, you’ve only just got here. You spent most of the time in the hospital. No one is going to quiz you.”
“I guess so,” I say with a sigh. “I just used to be very talkative and loved making new friends. Then…” I trail off as a tear slips out.
I feel Krista’s arm around me. “It’s okay. It’s going to take time. If you ever need to talk to someone, that’s okay too. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.”
“Thanks. I’ll think about it. Right now, I’m just trying to convince myself that this isn’t all just some dream and that I could wake up any moment and be back in that room.” More tears come, but I don’t bother to wipe them away.
“This isn’t a dream, sweetie. You aren’t ever going back there,” she says with such finality that I have no choice but to believe her.
Torch “Tyson”
I wake up how I usually do nowadays; hungover as fuck.
The only time that I’ve been sober is when we were looking for Krista and Ella, or for those few days in the hospital.
Normally, I’m in some shitty motel room because I’ve been on the road for a few months, but this time I wake up on the couch, staring right at that fucking box.
I don’t know what the fuck is in it. It was a gift from Stacey. She put it there the day she, along with a brother was taken from me. Only he made it out of the fire, and she didn’t.
I haven’t gotten the courage to open it. It’s the last fucking thing that she gave me and I have this feeling in my gut that whatever it is, it’s going to break my already shattered heart.
I let out a groan and wipe a hand over my face.
“Nice to see you awake, son.” My dad’s voice scares the shit out of me. I jump up and see him sitting in the recliner, coffee in hand.
“When did you get in?” I ask.
“About an hour ago. You sure as shit didn’t hear me. You are lucky
