Chapter 41
BEEN ALL ALONG
The haze was thick, her eyelids were heavy, and her tongue felt twice the size it should be.
There was something cold in her nose. Something blowing in. Why?
She tried to open her mouth, but all she did was cough.
“Hey there. Open your eyes, Arden. That’s it. Just open them. You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
It was Blaze’s voice. He was talking to her, but it felt so far away. So distant. Almost tiny.
“Gracie,” she rasped out. It was the first thought. If Blaze got to Gracie, she’d be fine. She knew it.
“She’s fine. She’s safe. She’s with your parents.”
Her eyes blinked open, then closed, then flew open again, trying to focus on the man in front of her.
He was almost bouncing around the room, blurry, but his voice was soft. Coaxing her. Letting her know he was right there with her.
Like he’d been all along.
“What happened? Where am I?”
“You’re safe. You’re in the hospital. Stop talking and let me look you over. Can you do that?” This was the voice he used in the ER when there was a child in front of him. A hysterical parent.
A soft authority.
She’d been trying to lift her head but let it fall back on the pillow in a silent surrender. If Blaze was asking, then he had her.
She did everything he requested. Opened her eyes one at a time, letting him flash the lights in them. As much as it hurt her head, she muscled her way through it.
Her hands were lifted, she squeezed her fingers on command, she stated her name, her address, her age. Everything. She just didn’t know why she had to.
“I’m thirsty,” she croaked.
He moved a straw to her lips for her to sip. “Take it slow. A little at a time.”
She did as was instructed because she trusted him. Trusted Blaze like no one else ever in her life.
When she got enough to wet her mouth and throat, she pushed it back and tried to sit up.
He grabbed the remote, hit a button and sat her up easily. “What is going on?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“A coughing fit,” she said. “Pepper flakes. Leftovers from the night before. That’s it. You were with me though. Right? I brought you a sandwich.”
“Yes. You did. You were drugged. Given water laced with PCP. A high dose meant to kill you. If we hadn’t been together, it might have happened.”
“I don’t remember any of it.”
He dropped his head to hers. “I’m glad because I’ll never forget it. You don’t need to live with it.”
“But you saved me. Who was it? Is it over? Did they get the person?”
“Slow down,” he said, his fingers caressing her hand. “It was Erika.”
“What? Why?”
“Let me explain,” he said. “First, you were coughing, Maddy was going to get you water, then Erika offered, and Shelly snatched it to give to me. Erika had been just waiting for any opportunity and it fell into her lap. Your car, it was easy. She knew what you drove and would go out on her break to leave the note if she could when no one was around.”
It was hard for Arden to piece things together in her muddled brain, but she was catching up. “The bike and note to my house?”
“All of it. She confessed. It was supposed to be me until she saw us getting close. Then she realized that it’d hurt me more if I had to watch you die.
She’d driven by your house that first night we were together.
The night you heard the noise. The gray car?
It was hers. She must have seen me on your porch looking around.
I should have pressed Clay to look into it more with people, but I just didn’t think.
” He shook his head. “She thought I caused her boyfriend’s death.
That’s what this is all about. Revenge.”
“Toby died?”
“Not Toby,” he said. “Remember, I told you my second day on the job, the stabbing victim?”
She listened to Blaze retell what had been discovered. “It’s crazy. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. If Clay and Ford hadn’t been on top of it this morning, I don’t even want to think if she could have snuck in here again.”
“You said there was security outside the door.”
“There was. But she’d slipped by so easily already. Even Maddy is blaming herself. She was here that day when Tyler died. She remembered thinking he had a girlfriend with him, someone who was covered in blood and they pushed her out, but that was it.”
“It’s not on you or her to remember every patient.”
“No. It’s not. And you need to rest.”
“What day is it?” she asked. She didn’t even know how long she’d been out.
“Wednesday. It’s four. So over twenty-four hours. We’ll keep you here another night.”
“Gracie. I need to see my daughter. What does she know?”
“We didn’t tell her what happened,” he said. “Just that you got sick. It was for the best. Your parents know. They are here. They just went to get something to eat.”
“Oh Lord. My mother is going to kill me for not telling her.”
He laughed and squeezed her hand, then leaned down to give her a kiss. “We had a nice talk. She probably will lecture you, but I think she likes me.”
“I hope so, since I love you.”
“The feeling is mutual. When they get back, I’ll let you visit and go get Gracie.”
“I’d like that.”
He sat down next to her. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m starving. Are you sure it’s okay? It’s really over?”
“It’s really over,” he said. “Erika is behind bars. She confessed. No one else is involved.”
“Arden!” her mother yelled and came running into the room to hug her, her father right behind. “You’re awake. Are you okay? Do you feel okay?”
“I’m tired. I feel as if my body went through a war but don’t remember a bit of it. Probably a good thing. Blaze said everything looks good, but they are keeping me another night.”
Her mother turned to her boyfriend. “No other issues? You’re sure?”
“I am,” he said. “But we’ll monitor her overnight just the same. If you don’t mind, I’m going to get Gracie, if Arden wants to authorize it, and you guys can visit.”
He handed her her phone, she made the call, then he left to go home and shower and change, then get her daughter.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what was going on,” she said. “I know you’re mad.”
“Furious, but relieved at the same time,” her father said. “Blaze didn’t even tell us right away what was wrong with you, not until after Gracie was sleeping and his sister stayed with her.”
“He wouldn’t have wanted you worried and Gracie guessing.”
“That’s what he said. We were already worried, but that’s not the same as thinking someone was trying to kill you.”
“You sure know how to pick them,” her father said.
“Dad. Don’t. Blaze isn’t Billy. Not even close.”
“Your father isn’t going to start in. Neither am I. He saved you. If he didn’t know what was going on in your life, he might not have known to eliminate things.”
“Exactly,” she said. “He’s been by my side for months. He’s been watching over me like a hawk. If he could have had my office moved to the middle of the ER he would have.”
“Sounds like that might have made you a bigger target since this person was there with him,” her mother said.
“I never saw it. I don’t think he did either.
And he has to live with that guilt. I don’t want that.
Mom, I’ve lived with enough guilt over my decisions and actions the past several years.
I don’t need you or anyone else to say my decisions or Blaze’s were wrong. No one needs that on their shoulders.”
“We won’t,” her mother said. “Right, Josh?”
“No,” her father said. “Does Billy know what happened?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Did you tell him?”
“No,” her mother said.
“Blaze wouldn’t have. I’ll let Billy know tonight,” she said, her voice quieter than she meant it to be. The thought of that conversation twisted in her stomach knowing it wouldn’t be pleasant. It might even cause more problems between them. But avoiding it would only make things worse.
“Why not just let it go?” her mother asked softly. “Let things settle down.”
She shook her head, a muscle ticking in her jaw. “I can’t. Not this time. Billy deserves to know what’s really going on. He’s been accused in everyone’s minds, mine included. He has a right to know it’s over. Not just for me, but for Gracie too.”
Her mother sighed, rubbing her arms as if she could smooth away the tension, but nothing was going to until she set it free herself. “He might fight you for custody after that.”
She swallowed hard. That thought had crossed her mind too.
.. more than once. “Maybe. I hope he doesn’t.
But lying or pretending nothing has happened isn’t going to help my case either.
Billy and I… we’ve both made mistakes. He’s trying now, and the least I can do is meet him halfway.
That means letting go of holding on too long.
Letting go of the hate, the hurt, and everything that’s poisoned us. ”
Her mother’s eyes softened. “After what he did to you…”
She looked away and blinked hard. “I know. But it’s in the past, Mom.
I have to leave it there. So does Billy.
Because when I realized how close I came to losing everything that matters”—her voice cracked, and she took a shaky breath—“I knew I couldn’t live like this anymore.
Always afraid. Always angry. I have to move forward. Even if it scares me.”
“Because you’re stubborn,” her father stated, though his eyes were teary, his voice not as harsh as it’d been in the past. “But we’ll be there right by you for it.”
“Thanks, Dad. I know you will be. And I’ve got Blaze too.”
“Rest now,” her mother said. “We aren’t going anywhere.”
She nodded her head and shut her eyes.
“Mommy,” Gracie shouted when she came running in forty minutes later. “Are you better? I missed you.”
“I missed you too, sweetie. Mommy is feeling so much better.”
“Blaze said he’d make you better. Is he?”
“He is. And he did.” She reached her hand out for Blaze’s, then pulled him onto the bed next to her and Gracie, where her daughter had climbed up.
“Your mother is tough,” he said.
“But much tougher when you’re by my side.”