The beeping of the machine behind me sounded comforting. My heart was beating. Light shined into the hospital room, reminding me once again that I had made it out. I was still alive.
I still didn't understand, though. As the nurse cleaned my wounds and patched me up, my mind wandered back to the dark room I had been in. How did the police suddenly know where to go? They didn't have a lead for weeks, and now they caught at least half of the suspects in one go? And where was Mrs. Stolly?
Millions of questions swirled around in my head, but nobody had any answers for me. Even the police officers that had saved me didn't tell me anything. I had given my statement to another detective, and she was tight-lipped too. Surely they could tell me something?
"All done." Miranda, theThe nurse who had been treating me, Miranda, placed a final piece of plaster tape over the bandage on my forehead and stepped back with a smile.
I returned the gesture even though I couldn't make it as genuine as she deserved.
"How is she?" I asked softly, referring to Lexi, who had apparently been in the same basement as me when the cops had come for us. She made it out with a few more injuries and was unconscious, but she was alive.
"She'll be okay. Rest." Miranda patted me on my shoulder before cleaning up her supplies, and I swung my legs onto the bed. I was still sitting upright, but this time with soft pillows behindin my back. It was like a breath of fresh air after my previous sleeping arrangements.
My throat turned dry. I didn't ever want to think about that place ever again.
I rolled my head to the side and looked at my phone. It lay on the side table next to me, the screen cracked and black. They had found it during their little 'raid' but it wouldn't work anymore. I could've expected it, but all I wanted to do was call Aiyden.
Miranda left the room, but she nearly bumped into someone. I shot up in bed when I saw a head of red curls, and tears sprung in my eyes. "Penny," I squeaked out, throwing my legs back off the bed.
"No, no. Stay," she said, quickening her pace. She carefully wrapped her arms around me and I couldn't hold it in anymore. I started sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder, my entire body aching but at the same time feeling more at ease in her arms.
Penny was crying too, her grip on me tightening. "I thought..."
I couldn't reply. I could only sit there with her, letting everything out. It felt so good to be there with her-safe and in the arms of someone I loved.
We didn't talk for a couple of minutes, just holding each other. But it was Penny who eventually broke the silence first.
"Felicity," she mentioned, and I froze. I was going to need to tell her.
"What?" I pulled back and Penny helped me back into the pillows before taking a seat on the edge of my bed.
She wiped her tears and sighed. "She... God, where do I begin?"
"She was there." I chewed on the inside of my cheek, mourning what should've been a beautiful friendship. I had always been good at keeping people out, and the first one I let in-
"I know," Penny replied softly, running a hand through her hair. "She confessed to being an accomplice, lying about her family and...about her mother."
I stared at my friend with wide eyes, not quite believing what I was hearing. "She told you everything?"
Penny shrugged. "Probably not everything, especially because I got pretty mad, but a good portion of it. God, I can't believe her. She was one of my best friends." She looked up at me. "One of my only friends. We had our problems and I definitely haven't been a saint, but..."
I gave her a comforting look and placed a hand over hers. Lots of things had happened between the two but they had been friends before I got here.
Penny took a deep breath before continuing. "She turned herself in."
I blinked. There were a lot of things I had expected to come out of her mouth, and this wasn't one of them. "What?"
"She told me she was going to turn herself in. That she was going to tell the cops everything. And then you came back. So that means..."
"She did it."
My stomach turned and I sighed, feeling like I didn't know anything about the world anymore. So much had happened in the last couple of days and I couldn't keep up. I was torn between hating Felicity and loving her.
She was the one who got me out. But she was also the one who took part in the death and pain of many others. What was her motive?
I turned my attention swiftly back to the redhead next to me, clearing my throat.
"I hope you know that I'm here. And I'm never leaving." I squeezed her hand, making sure she heard me. Over the months I had gotten to know the real Penny. She might have been flawed, but in her heart, she was one of the best friends someone could wish for.
"Thank you," she mumbled softly, her cheeks turning a little red.
I swallowed, deciding to ask the question that had been nagging me ever since I'd gotten out of that hellhole. "Where's Aiyden?"
The redhead looked at her fingers with a slight frown, and my stomach dropped. Did something happen? "Penny?"
"This whole thing has been pretty hard on him."
My bottom lip trembled, but I waited for her to continue before I would jump to conclusions. "He has been cleared by police, but when he heard about what happened to you..." She looked up. "He relapsed pretty badly I think."
"Relapsed?"
Her cheeks darkened. "When you were gone, I looked him up and went to his home. He isn't a professor anymore and it was the only way to..."
"Penny."
"Right, sorry. He was passed out drunk and I had to wait until his friend came by before I could get into the house. Did you know he's an alcoholic?"
I blinked rapidly. I had seen the book a while ago and knew something was up when he wouldn't drink, ever, but now I had the confirmation, I guess.
Worries about his health slammed into me like a truck and I attempted to jump from the bed. Penny yelped and reached for me, but I was faster. I ignored the way the room spun around me when I got on my feet, but I was on a mission now.
"Jay, you can't just walk out," she exclaimed when I pulled all the wires off my chest.
A nurse entered the room and quickened her pace when she saw me. "Ma'am, you need to sit down."
"I need to get out, that's what I need. Can you help me?" I gestured to the IV that was still connected to my hand. The nurse hesitated for a moment but nodded, carefully getting me off all the monitors.
It took Penny and me about half an hour to get me discharged, but I felt much better when we were on our way back to campus. My stomach turned with anticipation and dread, the knowledge that Aiyden was in trouble doing nothing to ease the nerves.
My head throbbed and I licked my dry lips, but I ignored it all. I would feel better when I saw him, anyway. No matter what state he would be in.
"Are you sure?" Penny asked when we pulled up on Aiyden's street, and I nodded without hesitation.
We got out of the cab and Penny paid the driver, while I was too busy walking up the right driveway. I rang the doorbell and leaned against the wall to stay on my feet. I really hoped he would open the door. What if he was passed out? Or worse?
But the door opened, and it was Aiyden who I was met with on the other side.
I got emotional again. Mostly because I was really fucking happy to see him again, but also because he looked terrible. Dark circles sat under his eyes and they were red, his lids hanging low. He grabbed the doorpost when he saw me, blinking rapidly. "Jamie?"
A loud and ungracious sob escaped me, and I nearly fell forward into his arms. He stiffened, his entire body going rigid against mine. "I'm dreaming. Y-you're not here," he whispered, and it took everything in me to straighten up and look him in the eye.
"I am. Baby, I am." I cupped his jaw, feeling the rough texture of his grown-out stubble under my fingers.
He leaned into my touch, his eyes falling closed as his arms encircled my waist. He held me as if I was made of porcelain, and only when I pushed myself against him, did he tighten his hold. Suddenly it was like he was afraid I would disappear again.
"I missed my little devil so much," he slurred, the alcohol on his breath making my eyes water. I tried not to faint in his arms and instead pulled back, waiting for him to let me further into the house.
He did, closing the front door behind me and helping me to the couch. "I thought I'd lost you," he said softly when I sat back, and he crouched in front of me on the floor.
"You've been drinking," I whispered, watching tears roll down his cheeks as he stared at his hand touching my leg.
I felt tears behind my own eyes, seeing him so...broken.
"I wasn't strong enough," he admitted, avoiding my gaze. I placed my hand on his, rubbing my thumb over the back. He watched my finger move, swallowing.
I slid myself off the couch and kneeled in front of him with a hiss, grabbing his face in my hands so he was forced to look up at me. "You are. And we're going to fix this."
"She left me because of this."
It took me a moment to figure out what he was talking about, but then I knew. I stayed quiet though, letting him tell his story.
"It got really bad and I'd admit I wasn't the best husband, but... My state worsened when I found out she had been cheating on me." He slowly raised his eyes to mine. "Please don't leave me. I swear I'll get better."
I swallowed hard, watching him as he lifted a hand to my face. "What have they done to you?" he asked, though I wasn't sure if the question was directed at me. He softly brushed the pads of his fingers over my cheek, careful not to put too much pressure on the bruise.
I placed my forehead against his, releasing a shaky breath. "We're going to fix this."