Chapter 21
Twenty-One
“Do you want me to stay so you have a ride home?” Sylvie asks when she parks her car outside St. Mark’s Hospital.
I unbuckle my seatbelt. “No, it’s fine. I’ll go back home with him.”
Sylvie smiles mischievously. “On his motorcycle?”
“Goodbye, Sylvie,” I say, exiting the car. “Thank you for the lift.”
“Oh, wait,” Sylvie calls, and I lean back into the car. “Can you do me a favor?”
“You got me away from my mother, so, of course.”
“Can you talk to Mr. Riley for me?”
“Your English teacher?”
She nods eagerly. “I’m totally not getting the dumb poetry he has us reading. Can you do something to get him to lay off?”
I flick at my bracelet. “What do you want me to do?”
“I dunno; the usual thing you do to make teachers back off. Please, Ness. I’ve been struggling with this class for weeks.”
I nod, stepping back from the car. “I’ll see what I can do.”
She claps. “Eep. Thank you.”
I close the door and wave her off. As I turn into St. Mark’s, my stomach churns. I clamp my hands together, hoping with all my might Dax is seeking treatment. At least it’ll explain why I haven’t heard from him. I called three times on the drive over with no answer.
I swallow hard. He’d have no clue why I was late. I just hope he knows I was getting here as fast as I could. My stomach twists again. Oh gosh, why didn’t he answer the phone? Oh, please, be inside with Dr. Harris.
I make my way to the nurses’ station and find Trisha walking my way.
She waves. “I didn’t know we’d be seeing you today.”
“Really?” The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “I had an appointment with Dr. Harris. Cindy scheduled it.”
Trisha runs a hand over her brow. “Oh, perhaps she did. I’ve been running around so much, I haven’t kept track of Dr. Harris’s schedule.”
I view the hallway. “Umm. Is he around? I’m really late and couldn’t call ahead.”
“I think he was getting a patient’s test results back.”
My head gets woozy. “Erhm. By any chance, umm, did Dax Malone come in today?”
Trisha’s posture jolts straight. “What? Why?”
I clear my throat, hoping to rid the shakiness in my voice. “Is that a no?”
“I haven’t seen him,” Trisha says, scanning the surrounding area. “He’s not coming back here, is he? I thought we were done with him.”
“So there’s no chance Dr. Harris saw him?”
Trisha’s jaw clenches, and she shakes her head. “I wouldn’t miss that guy walking back in here. Any of those Scorpions send my blood ice cold.”
My heart thuds to a melancholy beat, and I back away. “I have to go. Can you please apologize to Dr. Harris for me?”
With a mixture of confusion and fear in her expression, Trisha nods.
I’m nauseated as I hit the cracked pavement outside St. Mark’s Hospital.
Dax never went in.
Did he ever arrive? Did he black out somewhere? Is that’s why I haven’t heard from him?
Oh my gosh, he was meeting up with his brother. What if he got an even worse beating and couldn’t make it here?
If only I weren’t stuck in that stupid meeting with my mother. If I’d been here, I could’ve known he was in trouble earlier. I could’ve found him and gotten help.
I pull out my phone and call him again. Every time it rings out, I hit redial. With the phone fixed to my ear, I pace from the hospital and in the direction of the clubhouse.
My fingers vibrate around the phone.
Sweat builds in my palm.
I hug my free arm around my middle.
I could hurl right here on the sidewalk, but I suppress it. I need to get to Dax. I won’t forgive myself if something’s happened to him.
Finally, he answers. “Yeah?”
“Dax, thank goodness. Where are you?”
“Why?”
“I’m at the hospital, and they said you never went in.” Panic courses through my veins. “I’ve started walking toward the clubhouse to find you.”
“What? Stop.”
“But I…”
He huffs into the phone. “Where are you now?”
“I’m not very far away from the hospital.”
“Just stay there. Don’t go any closer to the clubhouse.”
I reply with, “Okay,” as the phone line goes dead.
It feels like an eternity as I shiver on the footpath, waiting for Dax to appear. He stops a few feet ahead, and I’m breathless as I race toward him. “Oh my gosh, what happened to you?”
Dax pulls off his helmet, and his face is stony.
I skid to a stop, my heart pulsing in my throat. “Dax? Are you okay?”
He shrugs. “I’m fine.”
I point behind me, and my chest heaves from an oversupply of adrenaline. “You didn’t go inside? You didn’t see Dr. Harris?”
He rests his helmet on his thigh, tapping his fingers on the hard plastic. “I was waiting for you.”
Sweat dampens my hairline. “But you left?”
“You didn’t show up.”
“I tried. I mean, I got here as soon as I could.”
“You told me you’d be here with me. I knew you’d come to your senses.”
My back knots. “What are you saying?”
“That I’m another pet project, but I’m not actually good enough for you.”
“That’s not true! I was stuck at the club, but I’m here now.”
He snorts. “The club? That snob-hub was more important than being here?”
“Of course not! My mother wouldn’t let me leave.”
He rolls his eyes. “Good lord. Just hang up on her when she calls.”
“I can’t hang up when she’s standing right in front of me.”
Dax loses grip on his helmet, and it falls onto the ground. “She’s here?”
I swallow hard and nod.
He blinks hard, wincing. “Wait. Your mom came home? Today?”
I tug at my bracelet. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t get away from her.”
His eyes dart from left to right as he comprehends the new information. “You had no idea she was coming home, right?”
“None. If I’d known, I would’ve left the manor with you.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Every time I tried to leave, she had another reason for me to stay. It’s sickening how easily she had me under her control.”
Dax sighs. “Whoa. This is big.”
I look into his stormy gray eyes, and my vision blurs. “If I could’ve contacted you, I would’ve. You have to believe me.”
Dax lifts his hands onto my shoulders and smooths them down my arms. “She was already living rent-free in your head. I get that her return had you spooked.”
“Shell-shocked, more like it,” I reply bluntly.
Dax gets off the motorcycle and pulls me into his arms.
I bury my face against his shoulder and mumble, “All I want to do is spend another night under the stars with you.”
“If you think I’ll go back to sleeping outside after the pool house mattress, you’re crazy,” Dax jokes.
“So you’ll come home with me?”
“Will your mom be on your case? I don’t want to make things more complicated.”
“All I want is you.”
He nods, holding me tighter. “I just want to be with you too.”
I motion in the direction of the hospital. “We could still meet up with Dr. Harris before we leave.”
Dax’s Adam’s apple bobs, and a frown stretches his lips. “No, I’m done.”
My heart squeezes. “What?”
“No hospital. I don’t need a doctor.”
“But, Dax…”
His eyes flare with determination. “I’ve made up my mind, Vanessa. Don’t push me on this.”
My heart shatters. “Okay.”
I left him alone with his thoughts, and he decided not to prioritize his health.
He’s not magically better. I know he still needs treatment.
And it’s my fault he’s not getting it.
“We can’t leave,” I murmur.
He runs his hand through my hair. “What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t here, but that’s no reason not to see a doctor.”
Dax’s shoulders slump. “Ness, I just said…”
“But you already agreed.”
“And you promised to be here.”
“I know, but I couldn’t help it.”
Dax shrugs. “And that’s how things go.”
“This isn’t the time to be stubborn.”
His stare cuts through me. “I told you, quit trying to control me.”
I clutch my elbows, dejected.
He grabs my shoulders and exhales hard. “Let’s just go. Okay?”
I nod at his muddy boots.
He tilts my chin until I give him eye contact. “I’m not mad at you. Just let this go.”
“I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t be.”
“This is it? We just go?”
He nods. “Grab your helmet.”
“But I need to fix this.”
“No, you don’t.”
I don’t push because I want to be with him. Especially with the return of my menacing mother. Zipping my lips, I get my helmet from the locker trunk.
With the engine running, Dax turns to me and pulls his jacket off his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“You don’t have a jacket. You’ll be cold.”
“I’ll be fine. You keep it.”
He pulls the jacket down further. “Just take it.”
“No, I don’t want it,” I argue. “You keep it on.”
His helmet visor masks his expression, but I sense irritability as he pulls his jacket over his shoulders.
I don’t care if I’ve annoyed him. He’s not well, and I don’t want him riding unprotected.
During the ride across Mountains Road, I hate every second I hold on to him. Why couldn’t I convince him to enter the hospital? Why did I let him walk away from their help?
Ugh. I’m so stupid!
Dax takes us onto the Ashworth Estate via the service entrance and parks in the maintenance shed. I watch every step he makes toward the pool house.
“Go inside,” I tell him as we near the pool. “I need to change and get my laptop.”
My mood has plummeted as I enter the manor. I’m so grateful to have Dax here, but what does this mean for his health?
I remind myself; I don’t own him.
After I snagged clothes from Christie’s closet, I asked Claudia to dig out casual outfits from storage.
It’s where my out-of-season items go before donation drives.
Neatly folded in my drawer is a super comfy black and pink tracksuit.
I change into it, quickly brush my hair, and carry my laptop out of my bedroom.
Unwilling to waste another moment away from Dax, I jog down the stairs, which lead to the rear of the manor.
“Vanessa,” my mother’s voice calls before I can escape down the hall. Her stilettos clip-clop on her approach. “Where are you going?”
With my feet in sandals, she towers over me. “Out.”
She looks me up and down. “I hardly think so.”
“Did you want something, Mother?”
“What was that crack at the country club?”
I trip over my feet to get some space between us. “Huh?”
“The entanglement.”