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12

JASON

I looked back at the house as I walked away with Carli. I knew she was disappointed that we were leaving, but the way Isabelle freaked out, there was no way we were staying. I couldn’t figure out what the hell was wrong. She was like another person when she walked downstairs. Every step, she seemed frazzled and wrecked. I didn’t get what was happening.

And what was with the way she kept looking upstairs? I could have sworn someone else was up there with her, but when I ran up there, not a soul was in sight. She was terrified of something. That look in her eyes, the panic and fear were clear. I’d seen it too many times to brush it off. But Vira wanted us out of there.

But I couldn’t walk away. Not when I knew there was something wrong. I could feel it in my gut.

I stopped suddenly, getting down on my haunches to look at my daughter. “Baby, how would you like to visit Aunt Tahlia for a little bit?”

Her eyes lit up with excitement. “Really?”

“Yeah. I have a few things I need to take care of. You don’t mind?”

She shook her head. “I love Aunt Tahlia!”

“Good. That’s good.” I thanked my lucky stars that Carli was so excited to go to her house, and I really hoped Tahlia had nothing else going on because the longer I was away from Isabelle, the worse the feeling grew. I needed to get back there, and fast.

We arrived just minutes later, and the moment Johnny opened the door, he knew something was wrong. “Is Tahlia home?”

He stepped aside and called out for her. “Babe!”

She came out of the kitchen, her smile disappearing the moment she saw my face. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Aunt Tahlia!” Carli screamed, running for her with her arms spread wide.

Tahlia got down on her knees and caught her, smiling wide, but her eyes were on me. I nodded in thanks, and then I was out the door with Johnny hot on my heels.

“What’s going on?”

“Bad feeling.”

“About what?”

“Isabelle. I was just there and she was acting off.”

“Shit. In what way?”

“She was freaking out. She kept looking upstairs like someone was there. I checked it out and no one was there, but… I don’t know how to explain it. She was terrified. There’s something going on.”

I was practically running now, my feet eating up the distance between Johnny’s house and Isabelle’s. I could hear him behind me on the phone with Jack. We made a promise to Knight, and we weren’t about to break it. My boots hit the steps and I burst through the door, scaring the shit out of Vira.

“Where is she?”

“Upstairs. What’s going on?” she asked as I raced up the stairs.

I flung the door open to her room and stopped in my tracks for just a moment, my heart lodged in my throat at what I saw.

“What the fuck is going on?” Johnny snapped.

I stormed over to Isabelle, snatching the ruler out of her hand just as she was about to slam it down on her bloodied hand again. I threw it across the room as I grabbed Isabelle by the arms, turning her to face me. Tears streamed down her face, but it was like she wasn’t even seeing me.

“Isabelle, what’s going on?”

“I belong to Ebarardo,” she murmured. “No one else is allowed in here.”

My brows pulled together as I tried to decipher what she was saying.

“This is our bedroom and no one else is allowed in here.”

Understanding dawned on me and I hauled her up in my arms, storming out of the room with her. Johnny stood there, shellshocked as he watched me carry her down the stairs. I vaguely saw Vira stand from the couch, her jaw slack as she caught sight of Isabelle.

“Get me some bandages and alcohol!”

She rushed off while I took Isabelle to the kitchen. I gently set her on the counter, then cupped my hands around her face, forcing her to look at me. “Isabelle, look at me.”

Her eyes flicked to mine and something finally clicked with her. “Jason, what are you doing?”

“What the hell were you doing in there?”

She flinched as she pulled her hand into her body. I let her twist her head to see the damage she’d done to her hand, but there was no embarrassment there.

“I shouldn’t have let you inside.”

“Isabelle, Zavala is gone,” I snapped. “He’s dead.”

She flinched at my harsh words, but she needed to hear them.

“Do you understand me? He’s not here anymore. He can’t tell you what to do.”

“He wouldn’t like you being here,” she said, her eyes flicking to mine. “You shouldn’t be touching me. You need to leave.”

Her voice rose with panic and her hands grasped mine, pulling at me as she fought to push me away. “You have to leave. You can’t be here!”

“Isabelle, you need to calm down,” I said, trying to get through to her. “He’s not here. No one is going to hurt you.”

But the more I touched her, the more she freaked out. “You can’t be here! You need to leave! You need to go!” she screamed, squirming away from me. “Go! Just go!”

I finally released her, taking a giant step back. She jumped off the counter, staring at me with wild eyes. I couldn’t leave her. She needed help. I couldn’t walk away, knowing what she might do to herself if I did. And that’s when I saw something else. My breath stalled in my chest at the bloodstain on her pants. Blood oozed from her thigh.

“Shit,” I hissed, running my hand over my jaw. “Johnny, get FNG over here now.”

“Jason—”

“Get him over here now. Tell him to bring his med kit and a sedative.”

Vira’s eyes flashed to mine. “Are you sure that’s necessary?”

“Look at her leg.”

“What—”

When her hand flew to her mouth, I knew she saw it. Her hand was bad enough, but this was worse than I thought. If I was right—if she was cutting, this was something that had been going on for a while.

Isabelle leaned against the counter, crying and staring at us with wide eyes. She was ready to run, but where? I couldn’t let her leave, and I would restrain her if necessary—even if it meant she would scream. She would hurt herself if I let her go.

“Johnny…”

“He’s on the way.”

“Don’t let her past you,” I said, shifting to the back door.

“Please,” Isabelle pleaded.

“Vira, go outside and make sure FNG knows what’s going on.”

She nodded and ran past Johnny, but the moment she left, Isabelle freaked out. Jumping away from the counter, she bolted. With the strength of one of us, she ran at me, slamming her fist into my face. I took the hit, wrapping my arms around her as gently as I could. She struggled hard, fighting me with everything she had.

“Let me go! You can’t do this!”

“Isabelle, just calm down. I’m not going to hurt you,” I whispered.

“Don’t! Don’t! You don’t understand!”

Her screams tore through me as she broke my hold, swinging her elbow back into my stomach. I grabbed her again, this time applying more pressure. I hated to hold her this tight, but if she got loose…

“Why are you doing this?” she screamed. “Let me go!”

“Isabelle,” I whispered, trying my best to stay calm. “Shh. It’s okay.”

She screamed and cried, kicking at my shins and twisting as much as she could, but her fight was draining a little. FNG came rushing into the room. He quickly pulled out a syringe and got to work.

“Johnny, get over here and hold her down on the floor.”

“You want him on top of her?” I asked.

“I need her steady,” FNG said. “I’m sorry.”

Fuck, I really didn’t want to do this. I slid down against the cabinets, taking her with me, then laid down, allowing Johnny to get on top of us to hold her down. She was panicking, freaking the fuck out, but it only lasted a minute as FNG got in there and gave her the sedative.

Johnny was off her the second he was done, but I stayed down, whispering in her ear that it was okay. Her whimpers slowly died down and I loosened my hold on her until her eyes drifted shut and she finally fell asleep.

“Goddamnit,” Johnny hissed, taking off his cowboy hat and shoving his hand through his hair. “What the fuck? What the actual fuck?” he shouted.

I sat up, repositioning Isabelle in my arms. Her breathing was even, but fuck, she looked so broken. I hauled her up into my arms and carried her into the living room, laying her on the couch.

“What the fuck are we gonna do?” Johnny asked. “This is way more fucked up than Knight led us to believe.”

“I doubt he realized it was this bad,” FNG said, taking his place beside her to clean up her hand. “We need to get Eva over here. She needs to go with you to the hospital.”

“Me?” I asked. “Why the hell would you need me to go?”

FNG turned, his eyebrow crooked curiously. “Because you witnessed all this. You knew. They’ll want to talk to you and find out what you saw.”

I took a step back, looking at Isabelle laying on the couch. Fuck, I didn’t want to get involved. I had my own shit to deal with. I was about to bury Leah. My daughter had only started living with me a few days ago. How the hell was I supposed to leave her right now?

“It’s not like you’re gonna be gone for long,” he said, as if reading my thoughts. “But she needs this.”

Jack walked through the door, his eyes flicking to Isabelle. “I called Kate. I thought she would want to know what happened. She said she’d try to contact Knight, but he’s been laying low.”

“What did you tell her?”

“Just that Isabelle was having some issues and we’d call back with more details when we knew more. I didn’t want to say too much until we got her to the hospital.”

I wasn’t even aware that he had seen anything. Then again, my focus had been on Isabelle. He could have been standing in the room the whole time and I wouldn’t have noticed a thing.

“We should get going,” FNG said, his eyes focused on me. “We need to get her to the hospital. She needs treatment.”

My eyes drifted back to her, but as I thought of dropping her off, unease settled in my stomach. “What are they going to do?”

“Most likely put her on a psych hold.”

“For how long?”

“I think it’s like seventy-two hours. They need to assess her and make sure she’s not a threat to herself.”

“But she is,” I said quietly. “What happens after that?”

“I don’t know. That’s up to the doctors. Or Eva. Hell, I don’t know how this works. But she needs someone to intervene, and you know that or you wouldn’t have run back here.”

I knew that, but the thought of her in a hospital, detained and unable to leave, made my gut churn. She’d be trapped just like she was on that island. What would that do to her mental state? Had I just made things worse for her? Fuck, none of this felt right.

“We have to do it,” FNG said quietly. “I know you don’t want to, but she was hurting herself.”

I nodded and bent over, scooping her up in my arms. It took everything in me to walk out to the truck waiting outside, but I managed. The whole way to the hospital, I held her hand. And when they took her back, I vowed that I would be there for her when she got out. Not just because I made a promise to Knight, but because I had put her in this position, and would damn-well make sure she was okay.

* * *

I paced the waiting room, rubbing my hand over my jaw as the hours dragged on. I’d already talked to the psychiatrist and told him everything that happened. Since then, I’d gotten no information on Isabelle’s condition. FNG had gone back with the nurses initially, but even he had been kicked out. Now there was nothing for us to do but wait.

Glancing at the clock, I sighed heavily. It was after Carli’s bedtime. I knew Tahlia would take care of her, but that was beside the point. I was supposed to be taking care of my daughter. Things were so new to her, and I wasn’t there for her.

The doors opened and Eva walked out. The strain on her face said it all. I rushed over, eager for any information she could give me. “What happened?”

She ran her hand over her face. The hours had worn her out, and I led her over to a chair. “They put her on a seventy-two hour hold. After that, they said we’d discuss our options. Technically, I’m not her guardian, so I don’t have a lot of choice here. She’s an adult. The decision has to be hers.”

“You mean, she could walk out of here after her treatment,” I surmised.

“Exactly. And this could all happen again. They can’t force her to get help.”

“But you’re her family.”

“I’m not her legal guardian. She’s over eighteen. We just have to hope that after she speaks with the psychiatrist, she’ll see that she needs help, and she’ll go voluntarily.”

I stiffened at her words. “Go where?”

“Into a psychiatric hospital.”

“Do you really think that’s best for her?”

“Yeah, after what happened, I do.”

“Eva, I know this isn’t my place to say anything, but after what she went through, how could you send her to someplace where they’ll lock her up?”

“Because after what I saw, I’m more worried that she’ll kill herself the next time she’s alone,” she snapped.

“And you don’t think being locked up in yet another place will do a number on her psyche?” I argued. “She was trapped on an island for thirteen years. Her brain has already been fucked with. And now you want to trap her in another place? Hell, she’s probably strapped to a fucking table right now. How is that helping?”

“I don’t know!” she yelled. “I really don’t know.”

She took a deep breath, which only made me feel like shit. She had enough on her plate with Cash running off. Now she had to deal with his sister trying to maim herself.

“I’m sorry,” I sighed, pulling her in for a hug. “I didn’t mean to put more on your plate. I know you’re doing everything you think you can for her.”

Her hands wrapped around my back, tugging on my shirt. I could hear her sniffle against my chest, burying her face deeper to muffle the sound of her crying. I hated Cash right now for dumping all this shit on her.

“What can I do to help?” I asked.

She shook her head against my chest, then pulled away, wiping her eyes. Eva was normally so strong and put together. I’d never seen her so run down before. Then again, the last year had been absolute shit for her.

“You have enough on your plate. The last thing you need is to worry about Isabelle.”

“I can’t walk away,” I said honestly. “I was there. I saw—” That look of fear in her eyes would be burned into my mind forever. I didn’t think I’d ever forget the way my chest tightened when I thought she was in danger. “When she gets out, I’ll be there.”

A hesitant smile parted her lips. “Thank you, Jason. I appreciate it.”

“What now? Are you sticking around?”

“No. There’s nothing more we can do. We’re not allowed to see her. We should go home. I’m sure you want to see Carli.”

“Tahlia probably put her to bed already.”

“Still…there’s no point waiting here.”

“We need a team here. After everything that’s happened, we can’t take the chance that someone?—”

FNG strode over, inserting himself in the conversation. “We’ve already worked out a rotation. She’ll be covered while she’s here.”

Everything was worked out. There was nothing more I could do. Even if it did feel wrong to leave her here, Eva was right, there was no point in staying—not when Carli needed me.

I turned to FNG. “Ready to go?”

He nodded. “I’ll grab the truck.”

“Thank you,” I nodded. “For taking care of her.”

It was probably the first time I’d ever seen FNG so quiet and I didn’t know what to make of that.

“I’d give anything for one of his stories right now,” Eva muttered.

“I second that. His serious face is a little creepy.”

She chuckled. “Don’t tell him that. We’ll be bombarded by stories for the rest of our lives. We’ll never know a moment’s peace.”

I glanced around the hospital and shivered. “Maybe that’s not a bad thing right now.”