CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Cara
A bright light was hurting my eyes. I felt… strange. I was woozy and tired. And everything hurt. So damn bad. Like nothing I’d ever felt before.
I was in some kind of bed. And there was beeping. Lots of beeping. Where was it coming from?
I looked down. My hand had a needle in it with tubes attached. What the hell?
“She’s awake. Oh, thank goodness,” a familiar male voice said.
I looked at some figures in front of me that were rapidly going in and out of focus. Who was it? What was happening? I tried to lift my head up, but I was instantly dizzy.
Someone moved beside me. “Shh. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be fine.”
I didn’t feel fine. What was wrong with me?
“Edward…” I tried to say, but my throat was so dry. My voice didn’t seem to work. I gave up and quit trying to lift myself out of the bed. I couldn’t. I was weak and in pain.
“Give her some more medicine,” I heard a booming, gruff voice say. Garrison Hart, I thought.
“I think she’s had enough, sir…”
There was another exchange, and then I felt something cool running through my veins. I sucked in a breath and tried to cry out but couldn’t even make a sound. I tried to fight the almost instant wave of sleep that hit me, but my eyes closed no matter how much I didn’t want them to.
Before I went under, I heard someone say, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I don’t know how the fuck we’re going to get out of this mess.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy…”
It was Nora’s voice. And she didn’t sound sorry at all.
“Don’t you, ‘Daddy’ me. We’re in deep shit because of you. You promised it would end after that horrible thing with the lights, Nora. What has gotten into you?”
***
I stirred and woke up. I frowned. Where was I? How much time had gone by?
I moved to prop myself up, being careful not to jostle the needles in my arm and the back of my hand. It hurt to move them, so I dropped back down on the bed. I looked to my left. Medical machines whooshed and beeped beside me.
I looked around the room I was in, but I didn’t recognize anything. The room was tastefully decorated and full of expensive looking furniture. Not a hospital. But what about the medical equipment? And I was almost positive I was in a hospital bed. What was going on?
I shook my head, trying to clear the fog away and make sense of things.
The door creaked, and I closed my eyes. I wanted whoever was coming in to think I was still asleep.
“I thought for a minute she was awake, but I guess not.”
I recognized Nora’s voice. I started to say something to her, but then some memories flooded my mind.
Nora giving me a mean smile as she said she wanted to hook up with Edward.
Nora acting like it was no big deal she’d helped her brother track my location.
Nora saying I was going to get what I deserved.
Nora standing with Eric Hightower after the stage lights almost hit me.
I stayed still and quiet. No help would be coming from the woman I’d mistakenly thought was my friend.
“I didn’t mean to shatter her kneecap.” A male voice.
“I don’t care. She’ll get over it.” Nora.
“I heard your brother say she’d never dance again,” the male voice said. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Who cares?” Nora hissed. “Are we even going to let her live, anyway? I keep trying to convince my dad that some of these people have to die. Too many loose ends, you know? I think it’d be a lot easier to just kill Cara and get it over with…”
“No! I never signed up for something like this. I don’t care what your dad has on my family, it’s not worth all of this. Can’t you just be happy with her marrying Monty and leaving town?”
“Shh. Someone’s coming. Let’s get out of here. If it’s my stupid brother, I don’t want him seeing us in here. Come out this door. It leads to one of the back hallways.”
I stayed ‘asleep’. It wasn’t hard. I’d just heard a click and whirring sound and almost immediately felt woozy.
I didn’t know exactly what was going on. But I could figure out enough from my clouded brain to know that I had to do anything I could to get out of here.
But how?