Strangely Normal - By Tess Oliver Page 0,76

limbs felt heavy, and my head throbbed from crying as I lowered myself into a waiting room chair. There were pleasant paintings on the wall, and someone had coordinated a color scheme of rose and blue with fake flower arrangements and furniture upholstery. The last time I’d been in a waiting room was when Sophie was three and had fallen and cracked her chin open. She’d needed twelve stitches and she’d bled so much I was certain she would die from it. I remember sitting, holding my dad’s hand, and feeling sick to my stomach with worry. And I remember hating the cold, dreary, and crowded waiting room. We’d had no money or medical insurance, and Mom had held a cloth against Sophie’s chin while Dad drove us across town through irritating traffic to the county hospital. With the amount of blood covering Mom and Sophie’s clothes, I was certain they’d rush them right through the door and to a doctor. But at a county hospital, they took the most life threatening injuries first, and that meant gunshot wounds. There seemed to be a lot of them that day, and we’d waited anxiously for them to help my little sister. It was one of the worst days in my memory, and yet, it had been nothing compared to this day. Jude had been so busy chastising me, he’d left us with little information. I had no idea what kind of shape Finley was in.

Sitting there, with my arms crossed tightly against my churning stomach and a bleak bitter feeling flooding chest, I suddenly knew how badly Finley had been feeling these past few days. Even when things had sunk to their absolute worst, and my family and I had spent several weeks living in our car, I hadn’t experienced this sensation of complete and utter hopelessness. It drained every ounce of energy from me, and I wanted to roll off into a dark hole or fall into a deep, endless sleep . . . just like Finley had wanted.

I’d hardly moved a muscle since I sat down, and when Cole walked into the room, I was completely stiff from sitting so still. It took some effort to push from the chair and stand up.

Cole looked decidedly better and more relaxed than he had an hour earlier when he’d clutched his steering wheel so tightly I thought it would come off in his hands. “They pumped her stomach, and she’ll be all right.”

I burst into tears not realizing just how terrified I’d been.

Cole put his arm around me, and I pressed my face against his shoulder. I heard footsteps enter the waiting room. I gathered my strength and turned to face Jude.

His skin had barely regained its color. “Eden, I’m sorry.” His voice was low and hoarse and every word caused the pain in my throat to grow. “I was scared and I lashed out and—”

I swallowed hard and attempted to produce my coldest tone. “How’s Finley?”

Apparently, my attempt was successful. Jude looked at me as if I’d slapped him. “She’ll be fine, and I think she’ll finally get the help she needs.”

“I’m glad of it.” It was hard as hell to sound emotionless when every emotion I’d ever felt was swirling inside of me. “I need to use the restroom.” I sidled past him without giving him as much as a glance. He’d apologized, but there was no way to take any of it back. His angry words had sliced through me like an icy blade, and there was just no way to recover from the blow.

I headed through the two automatic doors and turned down the walkway that led to the street. I’d loved my time with Finley, at least the original version of Finley, and Jude had been the first guy who I’d felt I could give my heart to. But as far as I was concerned, my summer job with the King family was over.

CHAPTER 22

Miraculously, I found a taxi without much effort, and I paid for a ride back to the mansion. I told Tilly that Finley was all right but that I’d returned to pick her up a few things. I looked in on Some Pig. He had curled up on her bed. He lifted his snout as I kissed him on the head and then I went to my room to pack my few belongings into my broken duffle. The only place I could think of going was our old apartment. I still had