Chapter 104
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Up till now, the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen was when I came home for Thanksgiving and found my parents dead and my sister half- starved to death.
The nightmares plagued me for months before they subsided and became once a year.
This is a thousand times worse. And I know that this particular nightmare will never cease. It will haunt me for the rest of my life–night and day.
“Summer,” I attempt to say, but the sound that comes out of my mouth is more like a hoarse moan.
I hear thundering feet behind me and then Nathan’s panicked voice. “Valerie, what–fuck!”
I don’t turn, unable to tear my eyes off my sister, but I know he’s seeing what I’m seeing.
Does he understand it?
Because I sure as hell don’t. Why is she here? Why is she unconscious? Why is there blood?
I’m still frozen where I fell in front of the stall, paralyzed with horror and fear. But Nathan moves, entering the small space.
He falls to his knees next to June, displacing thin wisps of hay that swirl in the air before settling over him and my sister.
“June,” he whispers in a strangled voice, his hands shaking as he reaches for her.
Something about that sight snaps something in me. “Don’t touch her!” I shriek, scrambling to my knees.
Nathan jerks back, looking at me in alarm.
I crawl forward on my hands and knees, stopping when my hand lands in a pool of warm liquid.
A strangled sound tears out of me as I glance at my palm–at the warm, sticky mess of blood and hay.
I close my eyes tight, trying to make sense of everything going on.
Outside, I can hear a ruckus rising as more people come in. Terrified gasps, curious whispers.
But the only voice that registers is Nathan’s.
“April.” His voice is strained but steady. Calm.
“Nathan.” My voice trembles. “Is she… Is she-” I can’t ask the question. I can’t open my eyes and see for myself.
But the picture is already burned behind my eyelids. June, my sister, my baby. Eyes like mine–closed. Hair like mine–matted with blood and hay.
Back when my nightmares were frequent and gave me panic attacks, my court–mandated therapist gave me an exercise to carry out.
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Take note of all your senses. What do you feel, see, hear? You can bring yourself back from your head by grounding yourself in the physical
Sight. Nothing; black. The gruesome image of June.
Hearing. Whispers, gasps. Someone is calling an ambulance. Someone else is crying. Nathan’s harsh breathing. My harsh breathing.
Taste. Salt. I must be crying, and the tears have slipped into my mouth. A metallic tang–blood. I’m biting the inside of my cheek.
Smell. Hay, horse droppings. Nathan’s cologne. The coppery smell of blood.
Touch. Rough, sharp bits of hay digging into my knees. Nathan’s warm hand in one hand. June’s warm blood on the other.
“Is she injured too?”
A wary glance.
“No, that’s June’s… She’s fine, it’s not her blood.”
“April, let’s get you cleaned up, hmm?”
A warm, familiar touch. A wet rag swiping down my palm. Cleaning up June’s blood.
“April, please say something.”
What happened?”
“I don’t know, I just walked in and found her like that.”
“That stable was smelly and dirty, Valerie. You wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like that so what the hell were you doing there?”
An indignant gasp.
“What are you insinuating? I’m a lot of things, Lara, but I would never hurt someone so terribly! April, you have to believe me!”
A hand on my shoulder, shaking me.
“Hey, don’t touch her!”
“She has to believe I didn’t hurt her sister. April!” Another shake. “You believe me, right?”
“I swear to God, Valerie, I will break that hand if you don’t get it off her!”
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“How is she?”
“Stable, thank God. She took a nasty hit to the head and had to have stitches. Thankfully, her MRI came back clean. She lost a lot of blood, but we’ve already transfused a pint and will get the other one going after an hour.”
A heavy sigh of relief.
“When will she wake up?”
“Soon, hopefully. She’s had quite the trauma.”
A wary glance.
“Is her sister…okay? Does she need medical attention, too?”
“No.” A hand slips into mine, intertwining our fingers.
“She’s just in shock. She’ll be fine.”
“You hear that, April?” A gentle squeeze. “June will be fine.”
A kiss on my forehead.
“Please say something, baby.”
Another kiss.
“Please look at me.”
Arms around me, pulling me to a warm, solid chest. A heart beating rapidly against my cheek.
“April.”
“Hi, I’m Dr. Penelope Carter.” Two white coats shake hands. “Miss Farrah is my patient. I’m here to process her transfer to our medical facility.”
“Right this way. I’ll fill you in on her treatment and observations so far.”
“There they are!”
Flashing lights, the staccato rhythm of clicking cameras. Reporters tripping over themselves.
“April, can you tell us what happened?”
Microphones shoved in my face.
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Chapter 104
“Was it an accident or an attack?”
“Do you think this has anything to do with the competition?”
“A comment, please April!”
A warm arm around me, steering me away. “Back off.”
“Nathan, what about a comment from you?!”
A jacket over my head, covering my face. A long black vehicle.
“Get the fuck away from the car!”
:
“It’s okay, April. June is fine.” That warm, familiar voice. That warm, familiar hand in mine.
“It’s all fine. I’m here, okay?” A hand against my cheek, pulling my head to rest on a strong shoulder.
“I’m here.”
A squeeze.
“I’m here, April.”
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