Sicko(74)

I promise myself and Bonnie that I will graduate medical school. I will do it for her.

Once we’re back in the house, Slim leads me up the stairs as police cars roll in through the gates. Gypsy is quiet in the corner of the kitchen, his head hanging between his arms, resting on his knees. My heart contracts seeing him so young and losing a parent. I could have only wished that I had a parent even close to as warm and loving as Bonnie was. I whimper, my lip trembling. I want to wrap my arms around him and take his pain away.

The front door slams closed, the silence inside the house deafening.

“I’ll head up for a shower.” I push past Slim and ignore the girls who are on the sofas in the sitting room, soft cries and hushed whispers.

Once I’m in the safety of Royce’s bedroom, everything seems to come crashing over me at once. It’s as if I mentally know that I’m safe and stable, and now I can crumble with Royce around me. Running for the small toilet and shower area, I kick open the bowl and bend over, spilling out my breakfast from this morning. Muffins. Orange chocolate chip. Pain grapples with sorrow, fresh tears springing from my eyes. My shoulders curl over, my chest caving in. I clutch the porcelain of the toilet, releasing angry wails between hiccups. I didn’t know Bonnie for long, but she welcomed me into this family and made me feel like I was important. The world needed more of her, not one less of her. I will forever hold a piece of her within me.

I tap the lever and watch as all the murky, orange goo gets washed up and sucked through the bowl before coming to a stand and removing my clothes.



The shower was rough. I cried a lot while scrubbing off the blood and washing the taint of death from myself. After changing into some fresh gray yoga pants and a white crop top, I slip on some socks and bag my bloody clothes, the smell of what just happened laced within the stitches of my favorite pair of jeans. Snatching up my phone after brushing my long hair and twisting it into a topknot, I push open the door and freeze when I see Bea on the other side, glaring at me with red-rimmed eyes. Her white skirt is short, her fishnet tights ripped in various places. Her mascara bleeds down her flawless cheeks as her platinum blonde hair hangs like daggers down her back.

“Why didn’t you save her?”

I squeeze the bag in my hand, knocked off my feet at her question. “I tried.”

She takes another step closer to me, and just when I think she’s going to say something hurtful, or maybe even hit me, her shoulders sag in defeat. “I’m sorry.” Her eyes fly over my shoulder, landing on Royce’s room. A different kind of pain flashes over her face before she comes back to me. “He’s going to make you his.”

“What?” I snap, almost angry that she’s bringing this up right now. Like she really wants to go down that road after Bonnie just died in my fucking arms. I want to rip out her fake hair and sink my fingernails into her eyeballs.

“I’ve seen how he is with you. Different. He moves like a possessive animal anytime you’re near. He shared me out, but I can’t see him doing that with you.”

I run the palm of my hand over my cheek to stop me from balling it into a fist and accidentally hitting her. “Why are you telling me this and right now, of all times?”

Her blues come down to me, because I’m a whole few inches shorter than her.

“Because I don’t think you deserve him. I see it in your eyes. The deceit, the secrets you’re holding from him. That man would tear the flesh off of people just to ensure your safety, yet you—” She pauses, and my fingers twitch into the palm of my hand. “You can’t even be honest.” She spins around before I can hit her and disappears through another door, slamming it closed. That bitch doesn’t know a fucking thing about Royce and me, and I don’t have to explain it to anyone.

But is she right?

With new worries now fresh in my mind, I make my way back downstairs and to the kitchen, where Slim is seated with Roo. Movement interrupts me through the crack in the curtain and I watch the police tape the scene, with Lion and Gypsy still outside.

“The police?” I don’t know why, but it’s the first thing that I think about. It strikes me as odd that outlaws would have the cops at their pad.

Roo swipes his thick thumb over his mug, nodding his head. “Yeah, they’re all in our pocket, with the exception of the little fucking redhead that keeps looking into the kitchen. There was history with her and one of our other brothers from another chapter. That tight ass doesn’t just have beef with us, she has a whole fucking butchery.”

I ignore his comment, just as Slim points to the plastic bag I’m holding. “Clothes?” He stands from the table and takes it from me. “I’ll get rid of it.”

“Thank you,” I murmur just as my phone vibrates in the waistband of my pants.

(image)

Now it’s your turn to play. Be out the front in four minutes and bring nothing.

The blood drains from my face, my knees turning to Jell-O.

“Wow, you alright?” Roo asks, watching me before looking down to my phone.

I clutch it to my chest. “Yes. Ah, I’m just—I need a minute.” I rush back upstairs and yank on my Vans, jogging back down the stairs.

“Jade, just stay inside, babe,” I hear someone say, but I ignore them.

I ignore every single person who tries to stop me from leaving this house.