Chapter 14 — Two Stabs
The sirens arrived like a second heartbeat.
Louder.
Stronger.
They flooded the street with red-blue light and made everything look unreal.
I stayed crouched behind the car until an officer found me.
Hands up.
Voice steady, practiced.
“Are you the caller?” he asked.
I nodded.
My mouth opened, but no sound came.
He guided me toward the alley.
The scene was already cordoned off.
Tape stretched across the mouth like a boundary the night hadn’t offered earlier.
Inside, the ground was wet.
Not from rain.
Julian lay on his side near the wall.
One hand pressed to his ribs.
Blood slicked his fingers, dark under streetlight.
His eyes were half-open.
Breathing shallow.
Still breathing.
Relief hit me so hard my knees almost buckled.
“Don’t,” an officer said gently, stopping me with a hand across my shoulder. “Let medical handle him.”
Paramedics moved in fast.
Gloves. Gauze. Oxygen mask.
Someone said, “Two punctures.”
Someone else said, “He’s conscious.”
I stared at Julian’s face.
He tried to turn toward me.
The oxygen mask fogged as he exhaled.
His eyes found mine.
He lifted his hand slightly, like he was trying to reassure me even now.
My throat tightened.
I nodded once.
It was all I could give without breaking apart.
They loaded him onto a stretcher.
The wheels rattled over uneven pavement.
As they rolled him past, Julian’s gaze stayed on me for a beat longer.
Then the ambulance doors shut.
The sound was final.
An officer led me to a patrol car.
Inside, the seat smelled like plastic and old coffee.
“Do you have family we can call?” he asked.
My phone was still in my hand.
Screen lit.
My recent calls were empty.
I scrolled to Noah’s name without thinking.
Then stopped.
The officer waited.
I swallowed.
“I… have someone,” I said.
My thumb hovered over Noah’s contact.
Pressed.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then a girl’s voice answered first, close to the mic.
“Hello?”
My blood went cold.
Behind her, I heard Noah’s laugh—faint, distracted.
The girl said, too casually, “Noah’s with me. Who is this?”
My grip tightened on the phone until my knuckles hurt.
Then Noah’s voice cut in, sharper.
“Who is it?”
I forced air into my lungs.
“Noah,” I said. “I’m at the police station. I—”
A pause.
Then the girl’s voice again, playful, near his mouth.
“Tell her you’re busy.”
Noah exhaled.
His voice shifted.
Controlled.
“Evie,” he said, low. “Why are you calling me?”
The question wasn’t cruel.
It was worse.
It was distance pretending to be normal.
“I need—” My voice cracked. I swallowed hard. “I need someone to pick me up.”
Silence.
Then Noah said, “I’m not home.”
I almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was exactly what I’d expected and still couldn’t bear.
The girl’s voice murmured something I couldn’t make out.
Noah sighed.
“I’ll come,” he said finally, like an obligation. “Wait there.”
The line clicked off.
The officer watched me.
“You okay?”
I nodded, too fast.
My jaw hurt from holding my teeth together.