next door. From what I heard, he was staying with Colton at his townhouse. The apartment that we made into our home – it was now empty. Forgotten. Abandoned.
“How are you feeling?” Riley asked cautiously.
“I feel like shit,” I said, shocking myself with my honesty. “How’s Maddox?”
Her brows creased. “I don’t understand you. He hurt you, you left him. There’s so much bitterness and heartache there. Yet, you still ask me about him every day. Keeping tabs on him. I don’t understand you, Babe.”
Fresh tears stung the back of my eyes, but I blinked them away. “I still love him.”
“Then why did you leave?”
“Because sometimes love isn’t enough.”
She squeezed my shoulders, and I knew what was coming. “He didn’t cheat on you. Yes, he lied. He should have told you about Bianca the moment he found out, but is it really that bad? This whole situation is just a big ball of mess, but maybe… I don’t know. I just think that Maddox would never intentionally hurt you. I think he was just trying to protect you, in his own messed up way.”
“You won’t understand.” Because she hadn’t looked into Maddox’s eyes and didn’t see his struggles… his truth…
“Help me understand.” She scrunched her nose, as she tried so hard to break down my walls. Riley was a good friend, my only friend. My little bundle of light.
“I can’t,” I whispered.
She let out a soft sigh, and her head dropped back against the couch. “Maddox still hasn’t returned. He’s staying with Colton, and he hasn’t attended any classes since…”
My eyes shuttered close, and I breathed through the stinging in my nose. “He’s going to be okay. Maddox is strong and capable of taking care of himself.”
“I hope you’re right,” Riley whispered.
She didn’t believe me.
And… as much as I wanted my words to be true, I didn’t believe myself either.
My phone vibrated between my legs, and I peeked at the screen, looking at an unfamiliar number. I ignored the call and closed my eyes.
“Someone’s calling again,” Riley said, next to me.
“I don’t recognize the number.”
Five consecutive calls later, I started to grow uneasy. Anxiety tugged at the muscles in my chest, and a heavy weight settled there. At the sixth call, from the same number, I finally picked up.
“Hello?”
“Oh, Lila. Finally.” A familiar voice came through, and I frowned.
“Savannah?” Why was Maddox’s mother calling me?
Maddox. Oh God. Maddox!
I bounced off the couch, my heart feeling constricted, as if something heavy had wrapped itself around the fragile organ, squeezing the life out of me. “Is he okay? What happened? What’s wrong? Is it Maddox?”
“What? No – I mean, I’ve been trying to reach him for the last five days, but he won’t pick up my calls anymore.”
Okay, that wasn’t alarming. Maddox never picked up his mother’s calls or his father’s, for that matter. He rarely wanted to listen to what they had to say.
“I don’t understand. You sound worried,” I said, still frowning.
“The last time I spoke to him, he hung up on me,” she whispered, and then, I heard sniffling.
I rubbed my forehead, feeling another headache quickly approaching. “Savannah, what are you trying to say? If you’re calling me this many time, then it must be important. Is this about another gala or dinner party? I’m not coming, and neither is Maddox. Save it. Don’t even bother asking.”
Savannah was silent for a second, before she burst into tears and choked out her words, half mumbling and half not making any sense. “No. Not…another… gala. This… Brad… Maddox… won’t pick up my… call. His… father…”
I paced the floor, feeling so confused, so lost. Savannah Coulter was crying to me on the phone. For the four years that I have known her, she’s never lost her cool, maintaining her calm, plastic façade.
She was…crying. CRYING! The world was officially ending, this was proof enough. “What about Brad?”
“He’s in the hospital.” She hiccupped back a sob.
My feet came to a halt, and I paused, my breathing stuttering. “What?”
“He’s sick, Lila. Very sick,” Savannah whispered, barely audible. “Maddox needs to be here… but he won’t pick up my calls.”
Oh God. No! “Did you tell him?”
“I did, but he didn’t say anything and then hung up on me. This was five days ago. Brad is… He wants to see his son.”
His son – the same one he didn’t give a shit about before. But now that he was bedridden in a hospital bed, he needed to see his… son.