Chapter 31
Reese mumbled something, still in a deep sleep, when familiar voices echoed through her mind, invading some dream she was having that made absolutely no sense.
“Come on, Sleepyhead, we have orders to get you out of here,” Skyla announced, making enough noise to wake the dead.
Reese sighed. A week had gone by and nothing she’d done had been enough to wake the man she was curled up against for the seventh night in a row. She placed a kiss on Garrett’s stubbled cheek and sat up, running a hand through her hair as she took in the sight of Skyla and Orly standing at the foot of Garrett’s hospital bed. “What are you guys doing here so early?” A quick look at the clock on the wall told her it was at least an hour before breakfast.
“I told you,” Skyla said. “We have orders to bust you out of here.”
Reese shook her head. “No, I’m not leaving him. He could wake up at any moment and -”
“And when he does, you’ll be here,” Orly interrupted. “Or someone will be here and you will be the first person they call. Now, Martin is going to sit with him for a few hours while we take you home to get you a real shower, do some laundry, feed you something other than watery hospital eggs and other things I don’t recognize, and maybe even stop at a salon to get our nails done because mine have definitely seen better days.”
Reese looked at her like she was nuts. “You want me to get my nails done while my man is lying in a coma?”
“Yes,” Skyla said. “I mean, would you want to wake up from a coma only to find out that Garrett hasn’t been taking care of himself? Just think, when he wakes up, do you really want him to worry about you because you look and smell like shit?”
Reese scoffed, then let out a laugh that sounded strange even to her. Probably because it was the first one since everything happened. “I do appreciate your candor, but I can’t look that bad.”
“She also said smell,” Orly smiled sweetly.
“I do not smell,” Reese insisted, then quickly checked her pits. Okay, maybe she smelled a little, but she’d made sure to shower and clean up every morning in the ensuite bathroom while staying at Garrett’s side.
She was just so tired and stiff from sitting and lying around the hospital room furniture. She’d even called out from the school so she could be here for Garrett when he woke up, but he hadn’t even stirred in all the time she’d been with him.
“Fine,” Reese gave in. She wasn’t happy about this, but maybe a few hours of fresh, unfiltered air would do her some good. As she gathered her things, Skyla stood by Garrett’s bedside, holding his hand, watching him as if in anticipation that he was about to move or do something - anything. Reese knew that feeling and look all too well.
“I’m ready,” Reese said, tossing the strap of the bag filled with dirty clothes over her shoulder. Orly and Hallie had brought her some things the first day, and then Skyla came by two days later with more fresh clothes and some magazines. Reese had read through all of them already, twice, and even finished an entire novel, reading it aloud to Garrett, hoping it would elicit some sort of response, but he just lay there, perfectly still, looking as handsome as ever. “I’ll be back in a few hours,” she told him and pressed a long kiss to his cheek. Martin walked in then and Reese turned to him. “You’ll call me if he wakes up?”
“I’ve got you on speed dial,” he said. “Go on, he needs some guy time. All this estrogen can’t possibly be good for his testosterone.”
Reese rolled her eyes and followed Orly and Skyla out of the room. They drove to Garrett’s, and she did her best not to think about how she was back at his house while he was still stuck at the hospital in a coma. She methodically tossed her dirty clothes in the washing machine, then indulged in an extra hot, extra long shower, shampooing her hair twice for good measure. When she got out, she dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, then put her clean wet clothes in the dryer.
In the kitchen, she found that Orly and Skyla had prepared a breakfast fit for a queen, complete with a veggie omelet, toasted bagel with cream cheese, bacon, and a fresh pot of coffee that smelled heavenly.
The three women sat down at the kitchen table and ate hungrily, mostly in silence, until Skyla put her coffee mug down on the table a little too hard, causing both Reese and Orly to look up at her. When Skyla didn’t say anything, Reese couldn’t handle the suspense. “Whatever it is, just tell me.” She looked down at her phone to make sure Martin hadn’t called. He hadn’t. She’d been checking it every thirty seconds even though the ringer was up all the way. There was no way she could miss his call, but still, hope was all she had at the moment and she wasn’t going to give it up easily. “Well?” Reese insisted, when Orly and Skyla shared a meaningful glance. “Tell me. What’s wrong?”
“That’s what we were hoping you’d tell us. Ever since you spent all that time with Russell, you’ve refused to say a word about it,” Orly said.
Reese shrugged. “What do you want me to say? It wasn’t exactly a picnic. He almost killed Garrett, and then he shot himself right next to me.” Just saying the words made her shudder. She’d done her best to push that memory out of her mind, but the nightmares were relentless.
“We know,” Orly said, gently. “And I for one am glad he’s gone, but Reese, he was your brother.”
“Step brother,” she corrected. “And after everything he did to me, and Garrett, I’m relieved he can’t hurt us, or you, ever again.”
Orly and Skyla nodded, but didn’t say anything. It was like they were waiting, as if they knew she was holding back. She’d never meant to keep it from them. She’d just been trying to come to terms with it herself, and failing miserably. “He did say something though. I have no way to prove or disprove it, but he had no reason to lie. I think he was gloating, thinking he’d gotten away with it.”
“What?” Skyla asked.
Reese sighed. “He’s killed before. I mean before Molly Edgar. He killed a good friend of mine when I was in college, and he killed…” Her voice faded, and she wasn’t sure if she’d even be able to say it. Skyla and Orly were both looking at her with a mixture of horror and concern.
“Who?” Orly asked, taking her hand. “Who else did he kill?”
Reese felt like her chest was about to cave in on itself. She’d purposely been focusing on Garrett so that she wouldn’t have time to think about it. She had no doubt Russell was capable of murder, but a part of her still didn’t want to believe that he’d killed her mom.
“Reese?” Skyla said. “It’s okay. You can talk to us.”
She nodded, knowing they wouldn’t let it go. Friends didn’t let their friends suffer in silence, and these women were the best friends Reese could ever ask for. “My mom. He said he killed my mom.” The words came out in a horrified whisper, almost like she couldn’t even fathom what she was actually saying. “All this time, I thought she died in a car accident. But he - he caused it.”
“Oh my God,” Orly breathed.
“Monster,” Skyla seethed. “Good riddance to the bastard.”
Reese shook her head. “No, it’s not. Death was too kind for him. It won’t undo what he did to you,” she said to Orly. “And it won’t bring my mom or my friend back. They’re gone forever.”
“I’m getting better every day,” Orly said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “And while I can’t imagine having a loving mom, let alone the pain and loneliness of losing her,you’re not alone, Reese. You’ll always have us. Me. Skyla. Hallie. And it goes without saying that Garrett and the guys are here for you, too.”
Reese drew in a ragged breath. As incredible as her friends were, they didn’t make up for her mom being gone. But never in her wildest dreams did Reese think she’d find others who had gifts like hers. It wasn’t the same as having her mom, but somehow when she was with them, she really did feel less alone in the world. “Thanks, and I will always be here for you, too.”
Reese didn’t have a chance to say more because her cell phone rang. With shaking hands, Reese answered the phone and placed it on speakerphone. “Martin? What’s wrong? Is Garrettokay? What happened?”
“You guys need to get back to the hospital as soon as you can.”
“On our way,” Reese answered, already on her feet “But -“ The line went dead before she had a chance to say anything else. “Let’s go.”
Everyone followed Reese out as she practically ran to Orly’s SUV. They made the twenty-minute drive in less than fifteen minutes. As soon as they stepped off the elevator on Garrett’s floor, they saw Martin standing in the hallway.
“What happened?” Reese asked, rushing up to him. “Is Garrett okay?” She dreaded whatever Martin was about to say, already blaming herself for whatever was wrong. “I knew I shouldn’t have left him.”
“It’s okay,” Martin said, giving Skyla an unreadable look. He held something out to her, and she sheepishly took whatever it was. “Lose something, did you?”
“What’s that?” Orly asked.
“A pushpin,” Martin answered. “It seems someone lost it in Garrett’s bed. There’s some blood on it. Must’ve poked him pretty good.” His gaze was squarely planted on Skyla.
She worried her bottom lip and quickly slipped the pin into her pocket. “I’m fine.”
Martin scoffed. “Don’t tell me, tell him.”
Reese looked over her shoulder to see Blake walking up to them, Luke and Caden behind him. “What’s going on?” Reese asked again. “Martin, why did you call and tell us to come back so fast?”
“Did it work?” Skyla asked softly. “I didn’t do that much.”
Martin gave the men a chin lift, then turned his attention to Reese. “The doctor is with Garrett right now. He woke up.”