Chapter Nineteen
T he woman’s name was Erica. Her room was quiet, except for the soft hum of the monitors and the occasional distant sound of a nurse passing by. The older woman was resting, her bed tilted up. Her grey hair was in a long braid that rested over her shoulder, the strands shimmering like silver in the soft light of the room. She looked like she had been a tall woman full of life, but whatever sickness she had chipped away at the brightness. She was still fighting, but it was clear she was approaching the end.
“She’s asleep,” Janice whispered, her voice trembling slightly as she hovered by the door. Her eyes darted nervously to Erica and then back to me, like she wasn’t sure if she should go further into the room or run away.
“She’ll be happy to see you when she wakes up,” I said gently, pushing her into the room and guiding her to a chair beside the bed.
Janice lowered herself into the chair, her hands twisting in her lap as she stared at the frail woman before her. I pulled up a chair beside her, ready to stay as long as she needed.
A short time later, Erica stirred, her eyelids fluttering open. She turned her head toward Janice and simply stared—silent, unreadable. The moment stretched so long that I began to wonder if she even realized Janice was there.
“So you are alive,” Erica finally croaked, her voice dry but carrying a spark of sharpness that said she would never accept bullshit as an answer. I liked her instantly.
“That I am,” Janice said.
Erica let out a soft hum, her sharp gaze never leaving Janice as she gestured to the side table, where a cup of water sat. Janice was quick to respond, retrieving the drink. Her movements were careful as she kept the cup steady while Erica drew a drink out through the straw.
After a long swallow, Erica pulled away and Janice put the cup back on the table. She looked at Janice again, tilting her head slightly.
“You disappeared,” she said matter-of-factly, though there was a faint edge of hurt in her tone.
“I didn’t mean to do that,” Janice replied, her voice thickening with emotion. She sat back down but leaned forward, her hands clasped tightly together. “Life got complicated. I—” She paused, swallowing hard. “I’m sorry, Erica. I should have found a way to contact you.”
Erica regarded her silently, her expression softening a fraction. “You were safe this entire time?” Her question was nearly a whisper.
“Yes.” Janice reached over and grabbed Erica’s hand. Her eyes shimmered with tears as she said, “I was safe. Safer than I had been for a long, long time. It wasn’t easy, but I was okay. I’m still okay.”
Erica leaned back slightly, her thin shoulders relaxing against the pillows. “You could’ve written,” she said, though her words lacked any heat.
“I was told not to.”
Erica didn’t reply right away. Finally she said, “As long as you were safe.”
“I was very safe. I did think about writing to you. I did write to you, but I wasn’t able to mail them to you.”
“You have terrible handwriting anyway,” Erica mumbled. “I wouldn’t have been able to read any of them.”
“That’s not true,” Janice said, sounding offended.
Erica laughed, the sound breaking through the tension in the room.
“I missed you,” Janice said quietly, her voice trembling. “I missed you so much, Erica. You were one of the few people who ever really believed in me. I don’t know where I’d be without you.”
“Well, it’s obvious I wasn’t the only person.” Erica finally looked at me. “Are you going to introduce us eventually?”
“Oh, right. This is Cadence. She helped me be safe.”
“Good. You need to surround yourself with people who actually look like they are decent human beings.”
I blinked in surprise, the bluntness catching me off guard, but her words felt oddly warm in their own way. It felt like the best kind of compliment she gave people, and I glanced away, hiding my embarrassment.
“And she’s a shy one.” Her lips quirked up slightly. “I like her. Come sit closer to us instead of hovering in the background.”
“I wasn’t—” I stopped trying to protest when Erica raised a brow, her expression leaving no room for an argument. Obediently, feeling like a little girl who was nearly in trouble, I scooted my chair closer until my elbow was practically bumping against Janice’s. Janice gave me a smirk, enjoying that it was me who was suffering and not her this time.
Erica turned back to Janice and they caught up. Now that things were settling, Janice was able to share the full story.
I stayed quiet, letting the two of them talk it out without interruption. The bond between them was palpable. They shared pain together, or maybe it was similar pain. They had history and unspoken trust. It was clear how much Erica meant to Janice and how much Janice’s absence had hurt Erica, even if Erica never outright talked about it.
“So do I get to meet this little boy before I die?” Erica asked.
“You aren’t dying anytime soon. You don’t know how.”
Erica waved off the words. “When do I get to meet him?”
Janice glanced at me briefly and I saw the pain flickering there. She was scared of losing Erica. I rested my hand on her forearm to let her know I was there.
“I’m working through some stuff and then I think I was going to have him and Ezi come here. I can’t be away from Rowan much longer.”
“Good. I need to make sure that fiancé of yours is a good person too. To really see that you’re safe.”
Janice chuckled. “I really am. I promise.”
“I believe you. But I still won’t be able to rest easy until I see it for myself.”
Janice fought to keep from losing her smile. I squeezed her forearm again to remind her she wasn’t alone. She swallowed hard and while she worked through the emotions, Erica turned to me.
“Don’t think you’re getting away without talking to me. What about you?”
“What about me?” I asked.
“If you’re a friend of Janice’s, someone smart enough to help make her safe, then your situation wasn’t all roses either.”
My eyes widened in shock and I glanced at Janice. She was fighting a smile and looked away.
I didn’t know how to respond. Or if I even wanted to. I liked Erica, but I didn’t really know her either. My skin prickled at the idea of talking to her about it. I glanced at the door, ready to make a run for it.
“You don’t need to tell me anything. You can just tell this old lady to shut her trap,” she said, easily picking up on my skittishness.
I swallowed and looked down at my lap, having trouble meeting her gaze. “It isn’t that.”
“It is. I get it.”
“She’s safe too,” Janice blurted out. “I’m staying at her house.”
No one said anything for a long time and I finally looked up at Erica. She was staring at Janice with narrowed eyes.
“I know she’s your best friend, but she has a mouth. Next time, let her talk. If she wants.”
Janice’s cheeks grew red and she looked down, blinking hard.
“It’s fine. She’s right,” I said. “I’m emancipated, with my own house. I’m really close with one of my neighbors and have a good circle of friends. More than I’d ever had.”
Erica drew in a breath and nodded. “That’s good. Keep taking care of each other. Blood of the covenant is stronger than water of the womb.”
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
Erica grinned. “Blood is thicker than water, but it’s the true saying, at least if you aren’t a God-fearing person. Refers to the bonds formed between soldiers on the battlefield after shedding blood together and surviving. Some Scottish idiot messed up the meaning and turned it to mean what we’re used to today. Shared experiences are what bring people together and keep them there. Just because someone is family doesn’t mean you owe them anything. Remember that.”
I felt those words harder than anything else anyone had ever told me. How true they felt. Looking at my own family, the guys, Micah and his parents. The twins. I truly did feel it.
“I like it,” I said.
“I thought you would.”
Suddenly the lights flickered once, twice, and then settled down.
The three of us froze, our gazes snapping upward.
Erica spoke first. “What’s happening?”
The lights flickered again, longer this time, before plunging the room into darkness. The hum of the monitors faded for a moment, leaving an eerie silence in their wake. My heart skipped a beat as I looked toward the faint light spilling in from the hallway.
“Power outage,” Erica muttered in a calm voice. “I swear this hospital is too old.”
“Isn’t this bad?” Janice asked, her tone rising slightly. I could see the shadow of her movements, but not the details in the dark room.
I made sure my voice was steady before saying, “Hospitals have backup generators. The emergency power should kick in soon.”
As if on cue, a low hum vibrated through the walls, and faint emergency lights blinked on, casting the room in a dim yellowish glow. Shadows passed by the window as hospital staff moved swiftly, their voices muffled but purposeful.
“If the nurses aren’t freaking out, then we have no reason to either,” Erica said in a reassuring voice. “They know what they’re doing.”
“We’re safe here,” I said, grabbing Janice’s hand. She was gripping the edge of the bed.
“Of course we are,” Erica added, her gaze sharp as she stared at Janice. “This is a hospital, not some old shack. The staff have it handled.”
My phone buzzed and I checked it, already knowing it was Toby.
Toby: Are you okay?
Me: Yeah. You?
Toby: Kids freaking out but the staff are great. One of them is turning it into a game already.
I smiled, able to imagine that. From what I remembered when I stayed here, the staff who worked pediatrics truly loved being on that floor and they were always looking for ways to make it fun for the kids.
“Cadence, do you mind peeking in on the old lady next door? She tends to overreact in these kinds of situations,” Erica said with an edge of concern in her voice.
“Of course.” I jumped to my feet. I was eager to help, if only to distract myself from the unease I was beginning to feel. Something didn’t feel right. It should be, but I didn’t know. It just didn’t. I was beginning to feel like I did when Lindie was going to hurt me. Or when someone broke into my house back in September.
As I reached the door, I gripped the doorknob, expecting to find a dimly lit hallway filled with busy nurses. Instead, I came face to chest with a person.
I blinked in surprise, taking a step back to put distance between us. He was tall, dressed in dark clothes. As soon as I looked at his face, my blood ran cold. He wore a black ski mask to hide his features.
“What the—”
Before I could react further, he shoved me hard. I stumbled back, the force sending me crashing roughly to the ground. Pain shot through my shoulder as it connected with the floor and I gasped, jostling to get back to my feet.
“What’s happening?” I could hear Janice scrambling, her chair screeching against the floor.
The man didn’t say anything, closing the door behind him with a soft deliberate click.
“What’s going on?” Erica demanded sharply, her voice like sharp glass. Her frail body may have been confined to the bed, but her presence was anything but weak.
I scrambled further back, nearly falling again with clumsiness. I didn’t stop until I felt the bed at my back, unable to look away from the man.
The man didn’t say anything. Instead, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a knife. At the same time, alarms rang through the hospital and it all clicked as screams broke out through the halls, a new kind of panic taking hold of everyone here.
Whatever this man’s goal was, the chaos in the hospital was part of it. The distraction. No one would notice what was happening to us as they dealt with the other emergency or emergencies. By the time they realized, it was going to be too late.
“W-what do you want?” I stammered, my voice trembling despite my attempt to sound steady.
His gaze shifted to Janice and even through the mask, his intent was clear. “Her,” he said simply, his voice cold and emotionless.
“Me?” Janice’s voice was barely a whisper.
His lip curled into a sneer as he took a slow step forward. He had no intention of talking anything out. He came here with one task and he was determined to complete it. Everything about him was cold and calculating. Maybe even bored, like this was just another day for him.
“No,” I shouted and took all the courage I barely had to move forward. “You don’t have to do this.”
The man snorted and stopped way too close to me. Just within reach of his knife.
“I only want her. You weren’t supposed to be here, so if you want to keep breathing, step to the side,” he said.
I swallowed hard, my heart thundering in my chest. The man’s icy voice was devoid of humanity. He shifted his knife and as it glinted from the movement, a chill ran down my spine. My knees felt weak, but I couldn’t let them buckle.
“No,” I croaked out.
“Cadence.” The fear in Janice’s voice steeled my resolve.
I just couldn’t. I was used to facing death. In fighting against my fear. I could never move from this spot, not by choice. “No,” I said again more firmly, more confident. My voice still shook, but I was going to hold my ground here. He had a knife, not a gun.
That meant there was a chance, right?
That meant he had to get close to hurt anyone, right? And he risked this whole thing becoming a mess if he wasn’t smart enough about it.
The man tilted his head slightly, as if amused by my silly stand against him. “You’re brave. Stupid too.”
Erica took in a sharp breath, her bed creaking as she moved. I refused to look away from the man to see what was happening. I couldn’t afford to. I felt like if I did, he was going to strike.
“You’re not doing this,” Erica said.
“Stay out of this, old woman,” the man responded.
“You’re in my room, disrupting my peace,” Erica shot back, her voice hard. “You’ll regret ever thinking this was going to be easy.”
He shifted, turning more of his focus to the old woman. Erica really was a badass and being sick in bed wasn’t going to stop her.
Sensing he wasn’t going to delay any longer and with his distraction by Erica, I scanned the room. There had to be something.
Anything.
We needed to be able to defend against him. He was too big. I barely had a handful of lessons in self-defense. This man looked like murder was his usual daily mission.
My eyes landed on the metal coatrack near me. The only thing that I could use. Without hesitating, I reached for it.
The man noticed the movement and lunged, his knife flashing toward me. I closed my eyes, swung, and prayed. The clang of metal against metal scraping together echoed in the room. The force of his strike rattled through my arms, but I didn’t let go.
“Run,” I shouted to Janice, praying she’d take the chance.
“But—”
“Help, get help!”
The man growled in frustration, swinging his knife again. I practically jumped away, too scared to risk being so close to him. I pretended I was in gym class playing softball and swung the stand as hard as I could.
He stepped back to avoid it. The momentum almost made me fall, but I managed to keep my balance.
Suddenly, the door burst open and two nurses appeared, one with a fire extinguisher, the other already calling for security.
“Drop it!” the nurse barked out, raising her extinguisher like a weapon.
The man’s eyes darted to the door as he calculated his odds. He took one last look at Janice. “You’re going to be dead very soon.”
He turned and ran toward the nurses. They screamed as he swung his blade and jumped back. He shoved through the opening they created. A few seconds later, security guards were sprinting by, chasing after him.
I had a sneaking suspicion they weren’t going to get him.
For a moment, the room was silent except for the sound of my ragged breathing. Then Janice raced to my side.
“Cadence.” She reached for the coatrack, trying to pull it from me.
My fingers refused to loosen as I still clung onto it like the lifeline it had been for us.
“He’s gone. Backup is here. You can let go,” she said gently.
I finally forced myself to look at her and then at the coat rack. Despite being made of metal, it was warm in my grip. I blew out a breath and slowly forced myself to let go.
As soon as I did, she put it on the ground and then I was in her arms and we were both crying. I clung to her as my knees buckled and we both went to the ground.
Janice was whispering something over and over as she practically choked me. It took me a long time to hear her words.
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
I squeezed her harder, never wanting to let her go. Never.