Crush

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

Cami-

He was buried a week later. Sadly, there were not many people in attendance besides his family, my parents, and me. I didn't cry—I couldn't. I was still in shock over everything. I couldn't seem to make the pieces fit together in my mind. I kept trying to figure out the moment when my best friend had turned into a monster.

His parents felt horrible—said they had no idea he'd become so deluded. They thought we were dating from the things he'd told and shown them—everything from fake letters and emails, to pictures he'd photo shopped of the two of us together. He'd been living a totally phony relationship with me in his own head. The police profiler told me Clay was delusional—he really believed us to be a couple—and none of this was my fault. But he was dead now. That felt like my fault.

I'd woken up in the hospital attached to I.V.'s, which had been used to help flush the strong date rape drug Clay had given me from my system. Hunter was the first person I asked for. They said he'd been flown by helicopter to a larger facility, but no one would tell me how he was doing. I tried calling his cell phone, but it said the number had been disconnected.

Chris came to the hospital when he heard I'd awakened. He asked me a lot of questions about what had happened with Clay that night. I kept waiting for him to tell me something about Hunter, but he never did. I finally asked him.

"I can't discuss Hunter with you, Cami, since this is part of an ongoing investigation." He looked really sad. "But I promise you'll get answers as soon as possible. You're going to have to trust me, okay?"

I snorted. Trust. Who knew what that word meant anymore?

"Can you tell me if he's alive, at least? He did get shot trying to protect me after all."

"He's alive."

Relief washed through me.

"Is he going to be okay?" I had to know.

He stood and went toward the door. "He was listed in critical condition the last I heard. I'm on my way to see him now. Is there anything you want me to tell him?"

A million things raced through my mind, I love you being first and foremost. "Tell him I . . ." Confusion raced through my heart, making me second-guess everything. What if he didn't really feel the same? What if it was just an act? He'd pulled away from me so many times. He had to be several years older than me. Could he really be in love with a teenager? "Tell him thanks."

"Is that all?" Chris asked, his eyes full of concern.

"Are you really his uncle?" I wanted to hear the truth about something from someone for a change.

He shook his head. "No. I'm actually his brother-in-law. At least I am until his sister gets ahold of me. She's gonna have my head for allowing him to get hurt." He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "The whole family is in quite an uproar over everything."

"I'm sorry he got put in danger because of me." The tears began leaking from my eyes without my permission, and I tried to rapidly blink them away. I felt like I was barely clinging on to my sanity by a thread.

Chris came over and grabbed my hand, squeezing it. "None of this is your fault, Cami. Hang in there, okay? I'll see to it you have the answers as soon as I'm able."

He walked out the door, and that was the last I heard from anyone. The next Monday at school a dozen kids were arrested in a giant drug sting. I knew Hunter had to be alive then. Someone had given them names.

Yet, still I heard nothing from him.

I walked into my room when I got home and threw myself on the bed, desperate to escape all the stares and whispers that followed me the whole day.