Chapter 36 #2
One of his hands reached out toward me, his entire arm shaking with the effort. I took it, holding his hand in mine. “I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.”
“Don’t let go.”
“Never. I’m never letting you go.” I kissed his knuckles, letting a stray tear fall down my cheek.
The door behind me creaked open, footsteps approaching the bed. “Oh, good, you’re awake.” A nurse stepped up to Elio’s other side, her smile bright and cheery. How could she look so happy when our worlds had just been ripped apart? “I’m just going to get some vitals. Is that okay, Elio?”
He looked at me, then looked back at her before nodding.
“Awesome. I’ll make it quick. But I do have a couple of policemen who were wanting to talk to you if you were awake.”
I let go of his hand. “He just woke up. Is there not another time they can do this?”
“It’s okay, honey.” God, I hated hearing him sound so tired. “I’d like to get it over with as soon as possible, honestly.”
The nurse nodded, noting down his vitals. “Sounds good. I’ll let them in.”
Sighing, I looked up at Elio’s face. There wasn’t as much blood there anymore, but he had bandages everywhere. It reminded me too much of the night he’d come home to me. I remembered cleaning and wrapping all of his wounds as they healed, terrified they’d get infected.
“I love you, Cres.”
“I love you, El. I’m so sorry.”
“There isn’t a single thing you should be sorry about, honey. Not a single thing.” He shook his head, looking around.
I stood from the chair beside his bed, grabbing the cup of water with a straw nearby. Placing it against his lips, I helped him drink it slowly. He must’ve been so thirsty.
There was a knock at the door, but they didn’t wait to come in. Two men in uniforms walked inside, letting the door close behind them.
One of them had a notepad. “I’m Officer Hans, and this is Officer Blake. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions about tonight.”
Elio nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine.”
“Tell us everything from the beginning, if you could.”
And he did. I thought seeing the aftermath was bad. No, Elio and Moon had been through fucking hell and back.
When he got to the part with Sarah’s involvement, down to her death, I had to stand up. “What do you mean? What do you mean she was helping him?”
Officer Hans stepped near me, one of his hands out. “Hold on, I know this is a lot of information, but—”
“No, okay—tonight has been hell. I am not going to sit down, or calm down, or any of that shit. If you were in my situation, you’d be doing the same thing.”
“Honey, just sit down. Hold my hand.” Elio held his hand back out to me, beckoning me toward him. “Please.”
I huffed, but I did as he’d asked. I couldn’t say no. I couldn’t ignore him. So, I sat my ass back down and grabbed his hand, trying to focus on not crushing it from the pure fucking confusion and anger swirling in my mind.
After clearing his throat, Officer Blake spoke. “So, when Moon came in, Jude was hitting you?”
“Yeah, and Sarah was watching. Helping him. She tried to pry Moon off him, and that’s when he shoved her.”
“And Jude called her ‘baby’?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what that means, but I think she was in on it. I mean, it really seemed like it. Moon was just trying to protect me.”
I was gnashing my molars together, trying to soothe the fire rising in my gut.
That fucking bitch. Both of them. But Sarah?
I thought she was our friend. I thought she was someone special.
I thought we’d have a long, lasting friendship for years and years to come.
She’d been there for us—through all of it.
At the diner, the night Elio had gotten her to call me, when Elio needed a ride to therapy, when he needed— “Holy fuck. Sarah was there from the beginning.”
“What do you mean?” Officer Hans looked up from his notepad.
“She’s always fucking been there for us. We thought she was our friend, so she came around all the time. She knew what we were up to. She visited all the time. She was there from the fucking beginning.”
“Holy fuck.” Elio choked on a sob, clearing his throat to try to hide it. “You’re right.”
Both officers looked at each other before Officer Hans spoke up. “Is it a possibility she’s been in contact with Jude for a while, then?”
“I think so.” My Sunshine sounded so dejected and defeated. I wanted to crawl into the hospital bed with him and cuddle him for the rest of the night.
The notebook Officer Hans had been using snapped shut.
“From what Moon is saying, and what both of you have said, it seems like a case of justifiable homicide. I can’t say anything for sure, of course, but I can’t see this going too far.
Is there any other evidence you two have that we can use in the investigation? ”
I dug my phone out of my pocket, scrolling through my photo gallery. “I have photos from when Elio escaped Jude. They’re of his bruises and stuff. Sarah had a guy named Devon come over. Some doctor guy who helped us out—gave us some antibiotics and stuff.”
Elio whipped his head toward me. “You have photos?”
I shuffled my feet. “Yeah. Devon actually mentioned the idea to me for if something like this ever happened.”
“When did you take them?”
“While you were still pretty out of it. I had to change your dressings anyway, so…” I shrugged. He didn’t seem too mad about it, more confused and shocked than anything.
Officer Blake took my phone, scrolling through the photos. “These will be really helpful. Did we ever get a last name for Devon?”
“No, but I can tell you the hospital they said he worked at.”
“Good. Mind if we hang onto these photos to print for evidence?”
“If Elio is okay with that?” I looked at him, waiting until he nodded. “Yeah, go ahead. But I was curious why they said there were gunshots when I got there. Jude didn’t have a gun, did he?”
Elio shook his head.
“No,” Officer Blake started. “We think the impact of Moon and Jude falling might’ve scared one of the neighbors. Made them think it was gunshots. We had multiple reports, and they were all a little different.”
“God, that scared me so bad when I got there.” I pressed my hands against my forehead, rubbing at the pressure building there. “Okay, thank you.”
They took my phone and left. Just left, as if this was just another fucking Tuesday to them. Which, I guess it was, but for Elio and me, it was a hellish memory we’d never be able to forget. It would never be just another day.
“Come back to me, Cres.” Elio’s voice pulled me out of my head, forcing my attention back to him.
When I looked at him, he had a small smile on his face and tears welling in his eyes. “What’s wrong? Are you hurting?”
He shook his head as his Adam’s apple bobbed, swallowing down the lump of emotions I knew was there. “He’s gone. He’s really fucking gone.”
“Yeah, baby. He’s gone. He’s really gone.”
He reached his arms up, begging me for a hug without any words. I leaned down, wrapping him up as gently as possible, listening to him sniffle in my ear. “I’m so fucking relieved. Is that fucked up?”
“No, baby. I don’t think that’s fucked up.”
“Thank you. Thank you for finding me. Thank you for loving me.”
I pressed a kiss to the side of his head, careful not to jostle him. Having him in my arms was all that mattered. Being here, with him right in front of me, was the one thing keeping me sane.
“I told you I never gave up.” Nine years ago, Elio had left my life, leaving my heart shattered. Today, I had him, and with him, I had my sanity back. My everything. My forever and more.