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I nod. “I agree. We need to get her somewhere comfortable. She may freak out when she comes out of it. Everyone get dressed, and then Tristan, I need you to switch places with me so I can dress.”
“No.” He shakes his head as he starts to put his pants back on. Shit. He’s shutting down.
“Evans, you didn’t cause this,” I assure him.
“Yes, I did.” He throws on his shirt and shoes and storms out of the room.
I let out a sigh. “Kayce?”
“Yup. Go, let me have her.” He sits next to me on the bed, and I gently pick her up. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her into him. “I’ve got you, angel. I need you to come out of it. Please.”
As I finish throwing on my shoes, she lets out a scream and comes out of whatever catatonic state she was in. She looks at Kayce and instantly pushes away from him, scrambling off the bed and then falling off it.
Her eyes are wide, and tears have soaked her face. “Wh-where am I?”
“Raelyn, you are with us. We are at the club,” Drew says softly. Her head whips to him, and I can see her chest moving fast. If I don’t get her to calm down, she is going to hyperventilate.
“No, I was there.” She looks down at herself. She’s in a shirt we were able to get on her.
“Rae, baby, where were you?” I cautiously ask.
Her eyes snap to me, and I watch her blink a few times. I start to see her coming back to us as her breathing slows. Her head swivels between all of us, and then around the room. She brings a palm to her head, and she cries as she sits there.
“Sweetheart, why don’t we get you home?” Drew slowly approaches her.
“Yeah, angel. Let’s get you home where we can get you showered and you can sleep. I think tonight has been a bit much.” Kayce, who is now dressed, walks up beside her.
She looks up at him and lifts her hands toward him. Kayce helps her up, and she pulls the shirt down that she’s wearing.
“I’m crazy. Certifiable. The voices,” she mumbles as her eyes stare down at the floor.
“You are not crazy, Rae,” Drew reassures her.
She starts to bounce back and forth on her feet, whispering to herself. Lost in her own mind. I walk over to her and tuck a finger under her chin, lifting her head so her eyes meet mine.
“Whatever you just relived doesn’t make you crazy, it makes you a survivor,” I tell her. She softly nods, but I can still see the fear in her eyes. I can see her trying to process what she saw and her reality now.
“Um, I… I don’t know where my clothes are,” she says softly.
“Here.” Drew walks up with a pair of black sweatpants. “Club keeps these extras in each room in case clothing gets ruined.”
“You don’t have to talk about it now, but when you’re ready, we’re here to listen,” I offer to her.
She shakes her head, and I know it’s not a conversation that she wants to have at the moment. But I wanted to make sure she remembers that she can talk to us.
“Tristan, where is he?” she asks quietly, her eyes searching around us when she notices he’s not in the room.
“He went to get the car,” Kayce lies, but she nods as she accepts that answer.
She bites her lip, and I see her start to slip back into her head. “Hey, Rae.” I place a hand tenderly on her shoulder. “Come back to us. Let us get you home.”
She steps into me and curls herself up against my body. I instinctively wrap my arms around her.
Whatever that was scared the shit out of her. I can only hope that she tells us what she saw. The last thing we ever want to do is cause her pain or induce visions of her trauma. She was finally starting to feel comfortable, happier, and more at ease. And this absolutely may have set her back.
I look down at her and frown. She looks like another piece of her soul died.
And I’m not sure how many pieces of her soul she has left to survive through all this.