CHAPTER 30 FIZ
FIZ
Elodie excuses herself and leaves me and Caden. I’ve sent a text to Alfie, he’ll be back soon.
I can’t bear to look at him anymore with this guilt threatening to rip me in half, so I let the dogs back out and open the front door. Sarge stays inside with Caden.
I wander back in as Higgins shows up.
He doesn’t say much to me after I explain what happened and he’s checked Caden over. He does say it’s hard to determine if there’s any damage inside now that we’ve sewn him up without proper examination, but all his vitals are good, so he’s reassured we did the right thing.
Once he’s happy Caden’s alright, he says, “Sounds like that girl may have saved his life.”
I chew down on my lip. Look at the stitches, the cannula in his arm. “I couldn’t do it.”
Higgins gives me such a sympathetic look that it lodges a lump in my throat. I look away and shake my head.
His hand comes onto my shoulder. “I know.” When I don’t respond, he adds, “It’s lucky she was here.”
I scoff, blink several times to get rid of the burning there. “Yeah. She was a rockstar, really, like she’d been sewing bodies up all her life.”
Alfie storms in through the front doors so abruptly, Sarge barks a warning sound.
But Alfie takes no notice, rushing over to his cousin on the table, eyes wild and riddled with panic.
I quickly relay the story once more, feeling cold and exhausted.
Alfie slumps down, assesses Caden. “Jesus.”
I nod. “We got lucky. Very fucking lucky.”
“And Elodie did this?” He half-heartedly gestures to Caden’s stomach.
“Yes. I couldn’t – you know.”
“No.” Alfie holds a hand up to silence me. “I know. It’s all good, bro.”
My brain can’t even fathom the prospect of what could have happened if Elodie wasn’t here tonight. If I’d brought Caden back to an empty house.
A sickness rises in my chest that I swallow down, dismiss it entirely.
Higgins insists on checking me over, although I have no injuries. I feel a bit bashed up, but no skin’s broken, no bones fractured. I’m fine. And Higgins concurs once he’s checked me out.
Before he leaves, he tells us to let Caden rest, that ideally, he should be on bed rest for several days, but he knows Caden won’t listen to those instructions.
So, he tells us to keep an eye on him, try to convince him to take it easy, and he’ll come back and check on him.
Once the bag’s empty, we can discard it, and he should be fine.
I walk him to the door and whistle for the dogs to come back inside.
Once he’s driven away and the dogs are back inside, hovering around the dining table with Caden unconscious on top, I fall back into one of the chairs.
Alfie’s still staring at his cousin with a blank expression, making me itch to know what he’s thinking. Does he blame me, does he know it’s my fault?
“I tried my best,” I mumble.
“I know you did,” Alfie says, finally dragging his eyes away to look at me. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault. There wasn’t supposed to be that many guys there.”
“But there was, and I made us go in.”
“Because this shit doesn’t usually happen.” He flourishes a hand over Caden’s body. “You’ve been in worse situations than this, and Caden’s usually on point. He’s never been caught out this bad before.”
I chew on my thumbnail. Bob comes over to me and nuzzles my leg. I reach down and stroke him. “So, what are you saying?”
Alfie looks at his cousin. “I’m saying Caden’s not all there right now, and it could cost him his life if he doesn’t sort it out.”
I gulp down, looking back at Cade. “You think it’s Elodie.”
He nods. “I think it’s Elodie because the same thing’s happening to me. She’s got in my head. I feel like I’m losing the plot. I just want us all to get along. If we did, I don’t think Caden would be so distracted.”
I bite so hard on my thumb it pinches. I drop my hand into my lap. “Once The Hunt’s over, she’ll comply. She has to.”
Alfie sighs. “She won’t.”
“Then I’ll make her,” I say, voice hardening. I like this girl a lot, she’s probably been scrambling my own brain recently as well, but if she’s the reason Caden’s not on top form, if she’s the reason he’s so distracted, we need to fix this. By any means necessary.