Page 97 of Ghosts Don't Cry

The pills rattle in the bottle as I walk back through the town, making it back to the factory before I collapse.

The first one dissolves on my tongue, leaving a chalky aftertaste. I close my eyes and wait for relief. I’ll take just enough to think past the pain, enough to survive while my body heals itself.

Enough to make sure Lily doesn’t know what happened.

The pills help. A little. Enough to help me breathe.

And that’s how easily it starts.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

LILY

The medic gesturestoward the ambulance. “Can you walk?”

I look at the ambulance, then at the crowd of people still gathered around. Dan is being loaded into the other ambulance while police are still talking to the witnesses.

“No.” I shake my head, then immediately regret it as pain spikes through my skull. “I don’t want to go to the hospital.”

“You need stitches.”

“I’ll go later. Just give me a minute.”

The medic frowns. “You’re showing clear signs of concussion. You shouldn’t be left alone, and you really shouldn’t wait on those stitches.”

She doesn’t look happy about it, but she can’t force me to go, and right now, all I want to do is go home. She says something else, but I don’t hear it. All the voices are blending together, muffled and unimportant. A gauze is pressed to my lips, but I pay it no attention beyond lifting a hand to hold it in place. My skin feels too tight, my limbs disconnected from me, like I’m inhabiting a body that doesn’t belong to me.

I should be paying attention to what the medic is saying, but all I can think about is Ronan, and the way he looked atme before he walked away. Someone says my name, and a hand touches my arm. I recoil from the touch.

“Lily, it’s me.” Cassidy’s voice, low and gentle.

I blink up at her.When did she get here?

“You need to sit down.”

“I’m already sitting.”

“Somewhere that isn’t the wet ground.”

I don’t resist as she helps me up and steers me to a nearby bench.

“When did you?—”

“Mark called me. He told me what happened and said you looked like you were about to pass out. I got here as fast as I could.”

I try to focus on her face, but everything keeps tilting.

“You’re very pale. Are you dizzy?”

I open my mouth, but no words come out, so I swallow and lick my lips. Pain flares. “Maybe? I … I don’t know.”

“You’re shaking.” Her voice is sharper now. “Maybe you should go to the hospital.”

I stare down at my hands. I’m still clutching the bottle someone gave me earlier. It has mini waves splashing up the sides of the label.

“Lily?”

I suck in a breath, then another, but my lungs don’t feel like they’re working right. My skin is too hot and too cold all at once.