Chapter 26
The Aftermath
ONE THING’S FOR SURE, I’M NOT NEARLY AS DEAD AS I thought I was.
Either that or heaven—or hell—looks a lot like the interior of a hospital room.
I blink a few times, getting used to the brightness as the world around me fades into view.
The room looks sterile and clean, with white walls and floor.
I think I’m alone, until I spot my sister sitting next to me.
She has her feet hoisted on a cushion as she scrolls on her phone.
I notice she’s no longer wearing her bloody dress. Instead, her body is clad in a pair of gray leggings and a Westbrook navy-blue hoodie. Her eyes peer at me for a second and she immediately locks the phone as she rises to her feet.
“Hey there,” Carmen says in a soft tone. Her fingers caress my arm where an IV line is stuck in. My throat feels dry, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth as I try to swallow. “Do you want a sip of water?”
Slowly, I nod. I don’t think I can speak until I hydrate my burning throat. I watch her walk around the bed to reach for the jug of water on the table. She fills a cup and comes back to my side, carefully lifting the cup to my lips.
“Small sips. Try not to spit it all over me like the last time,” she warns.
I frown, confused by her words. Have I woken up before this? The concern is washed away as the water slides down my throat, quenching the fire. I sigh with bliss. It’s refreshing. I ask for another sip and it’s even better than the first one.
“Last time?” I croak out, testing my voice. It sounds hoarse and scratchy, but it’s better than I expected.
Carmen hums an affirmative response.
“You’ve woken up like five times in the past couple of hours.
Those pain meds are strong,” she says. Well, that explains why I feel like I’m lying on a puffy cloud when I’m sure the lower half of my body is torn to shreds.
“You were freaking out the first two times and high as a kite the next three. Mumbling nonsense about Danny’s tight ass,” she tells me, wrinkling her nose.
Dios mío.
I want to crawl into a ball and hide under the bed, but even the thought of moving an inch is painful.
“Is Danny okay?”
“Relax, your man candy is more than fine. He got stitched up. Crazy Elodie missed all the important organs when she whacked him with the axe,” she says. “He actually just went to grab some coffee and to check on Cerys.”
“She’s okay too?”
Carmen nods. “She had to get some minor surgery.”
I feel my face blanching.
“The stab wound?”
Her lips quirk. “No, she was fine from that. Turns out getting stabbed helped the doctors know her appendix was about to give up on her.”
“Her appendix?” I mumble. “She got stabbed and had to get surgery, not because she had a knife in her gut, but because she had appendicitis?”
“Yup.”
“That is . . .”
“Ridiculous?” Carmen supplies when I fail to come up with the word. “I know, trust me. Imagine how it must feel for me when I haven’t slept in twenty-six hours, and they pumped me full of meds to stitch my shoulder.”
I snort.
“What happened after?”
“After you passed out?” I nod. “The TL;DR version: Danny lost his mind, found Elodie’s axe, used it to smash the front door, called for help.
He turned into a whole movie hero there.
I’m still a bit shocked. Never thought there would be a day he would seem attractive.
All bloody and manly, carrying you out of the house, even with his own injuries,” she says, fanning herself in a dramatic way. “He really loves you.”
My cheeks heat up.
“This is not the too long; didn’t read version,” I remind her.
Carmen sighs but gets back on topic.
“After what seemed like forever, the whole emergency department showed up. We got an ambulance for you and Cerys. The police found all the bodies in one of the rooms, Ollie was among them. Sophia had been hiding in the elevator, she was freaked out, but fine. Zelda is now known as Kappa’s Jesus for still being miraculously alive after everything. ”
“Kappa’s Jesus? I’m sure a few people would find that massively disrespectful, including Abuela.”
“Well, Abuela isn’t here, and I’m allowed some dark jokes after last night.”
“Fair,” I grant.
Being told what happened after I passed out is almost like hearing her comment on a movie she saw and not something we actually lived through. But it did happen. We survived two murderers and a night full of horrors that could never compare to anything I’ve ever written.
“Yeah, I know it’s a lot,” she mumbles, toning down her frantic storytelling when I stay silent for a minute. Her hands hold my fingers and, when she looks up at me, her eyes are full of tears. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper.
If I wasn’t so full of drugs, I would be crying as well, but the meds keep my emotions dull and faint. Like they’re behind a crystal wall where I can see them but not experience them to the fullest.
“No, I caused all of this. If I hadn’t . . .”
“Don’t blame yourself,” I interrupt her before she can admit to something that will get her in trouble. “The ones responsible for this are Aidan, Elodie and Brian. No one else.”
“But if I hadn’t . . . done that,” she emphasizes, sobbing. “I was so scared you were going to die, Mabby, and it was all my fault.”
I shake my head, opening my arms so she can lean against my chest. My little sister wastes no time, hugging me tightly. I bite the inside of my cheek when a sharp pain cuts through my abdomen as she presses her weight against me, but I swallow it down. My only priority is comforting my sister.
“I think we’ve all done things we’re not proud of,” I say, rubbing a hand on her back to ease her sobs.
After all, my hands are also stained with blood.
Maybe it wasn’t as premeditated as Carmen’s murder, but I still took a life in a brutal way.
I remember how many times I stabbed Elodie, even when her body was no longer fighting back or struggling to get away from me.
I’ve tasted rage and darkness, and I’m still waiting for the pang of guilt to consume me, but it never comes.
I don’t regret killing Elodie any less than Carmen regrets killing Brian.
In a way, I could say Carmen and I are two sides of the same coin.
Both clawing our way through the world, having to take violent routes to ensure our survival.
While I can’t excuse what she’s done, I also can’t blame her.
“I put you at risk,” she says.
As I rub her back, I look for the right words to ease her fears.
“Maybe,” I concede. It’s a fact. Her actions were a gateway for two fucked-up persons to come up with a twisted plan of their own. Carmen’s shoulders tense. “But you know what? I don’t care.”
She lifts her head to look at me. “You don’t?”
I gently push a curl behind her ear.
“No, because I would’ve done the exact same thing for you,” I confess.
I did the same thing when I killed Elodie.
Carmen sobs into my chest. “I love you,” she whispers. “I love you so much.”
I squeeze my arms around her, despite the pain that shoots up my spine.
“I love you too. More than you can imagine,” I tell her.
A soft knock at the door catches my attention, and Carmen pulls away from me, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her hoodie.
The door opens a sliver before Danny pops his head through, his warm eyes glinting when he catches a glimpse of me.
A smile spreads over his face, so wide I can almost see his molars.
“You’re awake,” he points out brightly, his voice full of relief and joy.
Carmen looks between us.
“I’m going to give Ma a call,” she tells me, excusing herself. Though I can guess she’s only doing it so Danny and I can have a moment to talk. “She went home to shower and grab some stuff.”
“Carmen.” Danny stops her before she can leave the room. “I spoke to Cerys.”
She frowns. “About?”
“About Aidan’s confession.” I tilt my head. What is he even talking about? “That he murdered Brian and lied to Elodie about Mabel being the killer to get her on his side.”
Carmen remains frozen in place, processing his words.
Since my brain is fuzzy from whatever they’ve put in my IV, it also takes me a moment to get what he’s saying. Once I do, my heart melts. He’s protecting her, giving me a chance to keep the most important person in my life while still clearing Cerys’ name.
Carmen gets to walk free, and Cerys gets to have a fresh start.
“Thank you,” Carmen mumbles, her voice soft with appreciation. But it only lasts a moment because she adds, “Just for that, I’m willing to forgive you for getting my sister naked in my bed.”
Danny chuckles. “Are we even?”
She nods. “Yeah, golden boy, we’re even.”
More than even, I’d say, but that’s for them to discuss.
Carmen turns on her heel and slips out of the room, closing the door behind her to leave me alone with Danny. My heart swells when he steps closer to the bed, sitting on the edge.
“Should you be walking around?” I ask him, looking at his torso, remembering the wound Elodie left behind.
He cocks his head.
“Plot armor, baby,” he responds.
I snort, laughing for a second before I have to catch my breath.
“Thank you,” I say, extending a hand to him. He holds it, lacing our fingers together. “For keeping Carmen’s secret.”
“She doesn’t deserve to go down for getting rid of scum. That’s not justice.”
“I wonder what your father would say about that,” I comment.
Danny shrugs. “I don’t know. He was too stunned to speak when I called him to say I was in the hospital after surviving a killer and I want to specialize in sports law.”
“Oh, buddy,” I whistle under my breath.
“I surely choose the best moments to drop news, right?” he jokes. “Dadi almost had a heart attack when she heard what happened. Said she needed to buy more chili and lemon for the Nazar Battu she’s making me. And that she’s going to bake more nankhatai for you.”
My stomach almost growls. I can’t remember the last time I ate, and I would kill for one of his grandmother’s cookies right now.