Page 90 of Hale

“I know you do, baby.” She squeezes me tight and whispers, “I’m so sorry.”

As soon as she pulls away, I slip past her into the room. Rylie is awake and staring at the ceiling. The door closes behind me. Quietly, I approach her bed. Her arms have been wrapped with white bandages, but blood is still in the crevices of her fingernails.

“I was always coming back for you, heathen,” I whisper.

She flinches and turns her head. Her impassive features crumple as all the feelings at seeing me rush in. A loud sob hangs in her throat.

“Shhh,” I coo as I sit on the bed next to her. My hand is gentle as I take hers in mine. “Don’t ever fucking try to leave me alone again.” She blurs as my tears leak out.

“I…I…thought they t-took you away f-forever,” she sobs. “I couldn’t live without you.”

“I’m here, baby.”

Needing to be closer to her, I twist my body and put my legs on the bed beside hers. I lay my head on her stomach and hug her to me.

“We’re going to leave this place, Rylie. Just you and me. We don’t belong here anymore. I’m not sure we ever did. But where we do belong is together.” I kiss her stomach. “You can’t hurt yourself, though. I won’t fucking be able to deal with losing you. Promise me.”

“I promise,” she chokes out.

Her weak fingertips run through my hair and I close my eyes.

“We’re not a goddamned tragedy.”

“I know,” she breathes. “We’re a happily ever after. Just a complicated one.”

Two months later…

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Aunt Becky asks, a frown marring her features.

“She needs the vacation. And then…”

She sighs. “I know. I just…I hate to see you both go.”

I hug my aunt and let out a heavy breath. “She needs a change of scenery. I’ll always take care of her.” I pull away and start for the truck that’s packed with our luggage where Rylie’s already waiting inside. Finally, after weeks and weeks of physical therapy from the damage she inflicted on herself, the doctor says she’s on the mend and safe to do normal things. While she missed vital veins when she cut herself, she did a number on her muscles, nerves, and ligaments. But she’s worked hard to get where she is now. A long overdue vacation is in order.

“Hudson,” Aunt Becky calls out.

“Yeah?”

“Just so you know, this isn’t me condoning…you know.”

Incest?

I grin at my aunt. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” To this day, Rylie and I deny it. Even when Aunt Becky finds us glued together, clinging desperately to each other in our sleep in her downstairs basement.

She cracks a rare smile. “You’re a little asshole like your mom.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Aunt Becky.”

I climb into the truck and wave at her as she goes back inside. Rylie reaches over and holds her palm out to me, her long rosy-pink scar visible on her forearm that no longer dons bandages. I take my ring from her palm and slide it on my finger before kissing the side of her head.

“Can we make a couple of pit stops along the way?” she asks, her hand settling on my thigh as we pull out onto the road.

“Yeah. Where are we headed?”

“I need to see Travis.”

I arch a brow and shoot her a questioning look.