Chapter Eight #2
My shoulders slump. “Why?”
She shrugs weakly. “I felt uncomfortable and wanted to escape.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Indi subtly shaking her head, and tension immediately locks my muscles tight. I know exactly what she’s thinking.
Indi hates alcohol and drugs because of what her parents put her through, and now she probably thinks I’m becoming exactly like them. Worse, she probably thinks Annie is headed down the same road.
“Indica—”
“Don’t call me that!” she snaps instantly. “I’ve told you so many times, Caleb—”
I throw my hands up in surrender. “Okay, sorry. Indi, I know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t a regular thing. Is it, Annie?”
Annie shakes her head, her brows furrowing as she glances awkwardly between us like she’s trying to work out what’s going on.
“Not regular, so it does happen, just not often?” Indi asks sharply.
“No,” Annie says quickly. “This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this, and considering how I feel right now, it’ll definitely be the last. Why the hell do people do this to themselves?”
“How old are you, Annie?” Indi asks carefully.
“Seventeen today.”
Indi slowly turns her glare onto me.
“What?” I ask defensively. “I told you it was her birthday party—”
“Not her seventeenth birthday, Caleb. Can’t you see how fucked up this is?”
I drag a hand through my hair and exhale heavily. “Indi, I swear it’s not like this all the time.”
She shakes her head. “I have other patients to tend to. She can leave in an hour or so, once the fluids finish running through. I’ll talk to you then.” She turns to leave, and panic instantly claws up my spine at the thought of losing her again.
Without thinking, I grab her elbow.
She spins around, glaring at me so coldly that it feels like standing in the middle of a fucking blizzard.
“Don’t, Caleb,” she warns.
I slowly release her arm and let my hand fall away, and she turns and walks toward the door.
“Indi,” I call after her, my heart hammering violently in my chest.
But she keeps walking and disappears from the room without another glance back.
My shoulders slump as I force myself not to chase after her. Seeing Annie like this would have dragged up every bad memory Indi has about her parents, and the last thing I want is to make things worse for her.
Even if every instinct inside me is screaming to go after her.
Instead, I take a seat and wait, my mind swirling with memories, unanswered questions, and the lingering taste of her lips that I know I’ll never be able to forget again.
Every second that passes feels like another twist of the knife, because now that I’ve seen her, I already know one thing with absolute certainty…
losing her a second time will destroy me.
What feels like a few minutes turns into quite a while, and Indi walks back into the room.
“How are you feeling, Annie?” Indi asks, instantly pulling my attention back to her.
The second she walked into the room, it’s like everything slows down, like I’m seeing her properly for the first time all over again. This woman is fucking breathtaking.
“A bit better, thanks, Pixie,” Annie replies, then slaps a hand over her mouth while Indi blinks at her in surprise.
“Pixie?” Indi asks with a soft laugh.
Annie shrugs awkwardly. “You look like one. A cute little pixie.”
I can’t help laughing, partly because it catches me off guard, but mostly because it’s actually true. “Is she still drunk?” I ask dryly.
Annie scowls at me.
“No, she shouldn’t be,” Indi says while disconnecting the drip. “Do you still feel the effects of alcohol, Annie?”
“No. I just… I didn’t mean to say that out loud. It kind of slipped out… sorry.”
Indi giggles softly, and the sound hits me hard. God, I’ve missed hearing her laugh. Right now, it feels like the only thing in the world that matters. I only want her happy again.
“No, it’s okay,” she says warmly. “I kind of like being a pixie.” She wraps the blood pressure cuff around Annie’s arm and starts pumping it up.
Annie winces dramatically as it tightens. “Geez… a torture-pixie then?”
Both Indi and I smirk at that.
“Sorry,” Indi says with a grin. “I know this sucks, but you seem much better now. You’ve been here for about three hours, and I think you’ve sobered up enough to go home.”
Annie visibly tenses and glances over at me.
I don’t want to leave.
Not yet.
Indi and I haven’t said what needs to be said. Six years of silence sit between us, and I can practically feel the weight of it pressing down on my chest.
I walk over to her and offer a small smile before taking her hand in mine. The second our skin touches, a jolt of electricity tears through me so violently it nearly knocks the breath from my lungs.
Jesus Christ.
One touch from her and I’m completely fucked.
“Indi, we need to talk,” I murmur so Annie can’t hear. “Not now, but… will you give me a chance? Maybe lunch tomorrow?”
“I’m working tomorrow,” she says softly, though her eyes won’t quite meet mine. “And anyway, it’s not a good idea. It won’t change anything, Caleb. So what’s the point?”
Her words stab straight through me like a hot knife to the stomach. She slips her hand from mine, taking that warmth and electricity with her, then turns back toward Annie with a gentle smile.
“No offense, Annie, but I hope I don’t see you back in here again. Take care of yourself, okay? And no more drinking.” She says it lightly, her smile reassuring Annie instantly, but it sure as hell doesn’t ease me.
I need to talk to her.
I need answers.
“No offense taken,” Annie replies. “Thanks for looking after me. I really appreciate… whatever it is you did for me.”
Indi laughs softly. “You’re welcome.”
Then her eyes flick back to mine, and my chest tightens painfully when I notice the tears shimmering there.
Fuck.
I want to take all that pain away from her. I want to pull her into my arms and tell her I’ve loved her every single day since she left. That I never stopped. Not once.
She turns toward the door, while frustration tears through me, and I am not above begging right now. “Indi, please—”
“Take her home, Caleb. She needs to recover,” she says firmly before walking out of the room and taking another piece of my already shattered heart with her.
“You okay, cuz?” Annie asks quietly.
“Yeah,” I lie, dragging a hand through my hair. “Just wasn’t expecting to see Indi today, that’s all.”
“Who is she?” Annie asks.
I stare at the doorway she disappeared through, my chest still aching from the look in her eyes. “No one,” I murmur. “She’s no one.”
But even as the lie leaves my mouth, I know the truth.
Indica Malone was never no one.
She is the girl who completely, utterly, and irrevocably destroyed me.