Chapter 14 #3
The quiet, quivering please almost undoes me completely.
“I’m on my way.” I’m already out the door, the keys digging into my palm.
“I’m n-not at the restaurant,” he squeezes out between sobs.
I come to a halt and take a deep breath. This is not the time to be interrogating him. I need to stay calm, for his sake.
“That’s okay, Jamie. Tell me where you are.”
“A c-club. The Red Zone? I’m hiding in the bathroom. It was—” He chokes. “It was the s-safest place I could think of.”
White hot anger runs through me, but I shove it down. It won’t do him any good if I lose it. “That’s good. You did good, Jamie. Stay put until I get there, okay? Don’t hang up.”
“Okay.”
“Are you hurt?”
My knees go weak from relief when he replies with a shaky, “No,” even though I’m not sure how honest he’s being.
The drive is a blur. I’m trying to stick to the speed limit, but I’m pretty sure I run a red light at one point. I couldn’t care less. My hands are shaking on the steering wheel, my jaw clenched so hard it hurts. I only unclench it when I need to check on Jamie, making sure he’s still on the line.
“Just got here. I’m almost there, Jamie,” I tell him when I’ve parked the car. I don’t even know if I can park in this spot and I don’t care.
“Okay.”
Jamie’s voice seems to get smaller every time he speaks.
I break into a run, pushing through the crowd of sweaty, dancing bodies and squinting against the assault of flashing lights.
I don’t know why he’s at the seediest club in a twenty-mile radius instead of the restaurant, but I’ll keep all the questions for later, when we’re both home. When Jamie is safe.
I collide with a guy walking out of the men’s bathroom, earning a few choice words.
I just push him aside, which is not hard to do in his drunken state, and force my way inside.
The whole bathroom looks and smells like shit.
There’s a guy at the urinals, and two stalls out of three are occupied.
I walk towards the one by the wall, sensing that’s where Jamie is, since it’s less exposed.
I knock. “Jamie? Are you in there? It’s Tyler.”
My insides twist when there’s no answer right away. It’s probably just seconds, but they feel like a small eternity. Then, finally, the door unlocks, opening inwards.
The sight nearly shatters me.
Jamie’s sitting on the filthy floor, knees up and squeezed towards his chest, basically half-fused with the wall.
His hair is a mess, the pretty silk shirt untucked and missing buttons.
There’s a large scratch on his cheek, a bruise already blooming around it.
His bottom lip is split, shiny with fresh blood.
The skin around his eyes is dark from the eyeliner being washed away by tears that never stopped coming. And when those eyes meet mine…
“Jesus Christ,” I breathe, already descending to the floor and reaching for him. I stop short of touching him, unsure if he’ll even want me to. He might be too skittish after…whatever happened.
Before I can ask, he’s throwing himself at me.
The force of the impact sends me on my ass, and my back hits the partition separating the stalls.
Jamie climbs into my lap, clinging on like he’s afraid I’ll get up and leave him here.
He sobs right into my ear, and that desperate, scared sound is what finally prompts me to move.
I wrap my arms around him, holding him tight but not so tight that it’d hurt him. I slide one hand into his hair, gently stroking it as I whisper words of comfort.
“I’m here. I’m here, sweetheart. You’re safe. You’re safe, Jamie.”
It only makes him cry harder, but I think they’re good tears.
Relieved tears, as fear slowly drains from his body.
He trembles badly, but even that seems to subside as I continue to hold and stroke him.
His sobs gradually turn to hiccups, his head drooping to my shoulder.
The crying and shaking must have cost him lots of energy, and I can feel the weight of his body sinking more and more into me as he drifts off.
I never stop holding him, even after he goes quiet. I always knew Jamie was on the smaller side, but it never hit me until now how light he is. Even unconscious, he barely weighs anything. I can envelop his whole body with one arm. In this moment, he feels so fragile, so vulnerable.
And someone did this to him. Someone hurt him.
If I get my hands on that fucker…
I shake my head. No time for that. I need to get Jamie home. That’s the priority.
I rearrange him so his legs are on one side instead of astride me, then hook one arm under his knees and stand up with him.
He’s even lighter than I thought, it doesn’t take any effort.
His head lolls against my chest, his upper body instinctively twisting towards me as well.
He makes a wounded sound, so I gently shush him.
“It’s okay, I got you. We’re going home.”
He hums, nuzzling my chest. Acting on a compulsion that I have no time to dissect, I press a kiss to his temple.
And carry him out of this hellhole.