Breaking Through (The Breaking Series Book 3) (38 page)

Anyway, I called him first thing in the morning and told him I could go right away.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “You guys didn’t have a big party last night?”

“It’s okay. I’m fine,” I assured him.

“Okay, let me call them and see if I can schedule something for today.”

Ten minutes later, João Pedro called me back, saying he had been able to schedule it for that afternoon. That was too far away, but I figured I could go early and kill the time there, even if that meant I had to stop by a coffee shop and wait it out.

As it turned out, I was stuck on the interstate for well over one hour because of an accident, and arrived at the ranch in Fresno only a few minutes before the appointment.

“This is Speedy,” Magnum said, showing me the pony.

I went over the fence and approached them.

The pony was young. If I bought him, we would have to keep him at the ranch until he was old enough to be trained. But he looked strong and spirited. After years watching polo ponies from the time they were born to when they were shining on the field, I knew this guy would make a fine one.

We were discussing prices when my cell phone rang. A peek at the screen told me it was Leo, so I ignored the call. I could call him when I was on my way back.

But he called again. And again.

“Excuse me,” I said, stepping back. “I gotta take this.”

“Sure,” Magnum said.

I walked a few steps farther into the field and answered the damn call. “I’m in the middle of a negotiation; it better be good.”

“It’s Hilary.”

My heart skipped a beat. Leo’s tone was grave and it chilled my veins. “What happened?”

“She’s at the hospital now and—”

“At the hospital?” I shouted. I noticed Magnum and the others raising their eyebrows at me, so I walked farther away, already in the direction of where my Jeep was parked.

“Yeah, hm …”

“Just say it, man!”

“We don’t know details yet, as the police only allowed Joyce in her room so far, but apparently, she was at a friend’s house when a guy broke in and assaulted them.”

My step faltered. “A-assaulted?”

“Like I said, I don’t know details. I’m here with Hannah and we’re waiting until they let us in her room.”

“But … how is she?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Shit.” I jumped over the fence. “I’m on my way right now.”

“All right. I know you’re in Fresno and I know you’re upset, so
por favor
be careful. The last thing we need is someone else in the hospital.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Behind me, Mangum and the others called for me, but I just kept running to my car. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

Chapter Thirty

“Take it easy,” Hannah said, holding my arm.

“I can do it.” I pushed her away and stood from the bed on my own.

“Sorry, just trying to help.”

I sighed. “I know. Sorry.”

I was just too stressed, too frustrated, too disappointed.

The 911 operator was able to trace the call from my cell phone, and she sent cops to Evie’s place. Apparently, they arrived there moments after I fainted. The cops arrested Mike and called an ambulance, and Evie and I were sent the hospital where we were ushered to a double room and examined by doctors and interviewed by a lot of cops. I remembered having answered the same questions at least five times. Plus more times for my mother and Hannah and Bia and Gabi … the list went on. I was so done with this day.

After many examinations and x-rays and lots of probing, the doctors said I needed to stay a little longer to get a CT scan because of the concussion, and for observation. If I didn’t show any more problems, I could go home later that evening.

My mom stood from the armchair she had been lounging in and followed me to the bathroom.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” she asked, leaning into the doorway.

“I’m sure.”

I closed the door, careful not to slam it into her face, and turned to the sink. I splashed some water on my face and made the mistake of looking into the mirror.

I winced at my reflection. More pale than normal, heavy sunken eyes, and dark, red bruises all over. By the looks of it, I had just survived a war zone. Which, in a sense was true.

Besides the bruises and the concussion, I didn’t have anything bad. On the other hand, Evie had a broken nose and two broken ribs. She would stay the night and, pending a family member to come pick her up, go home under supervision. As far as I knew, she didn’t have anyone else.

I might have begged a little and my mother moved some mountains. She had secured a room for Evie at the women’s center, where she could stay for the next month while recovering.

After using the bathroom, I washed my hands and came back to the room, with Hannah and my mom hovering over me like two shadows. They kept their hands outstretched, as if they were expecting me to fall and they wanted to catch me before I hit the floor.

Dragging my feet back to my bed, I looked at the second bed in the room. Evie was in the second bed, sleeping—probably from a mix of exhaustion and morphine. After what happened, I didn’t know how she wasn’t in a worse state. Thank goodness, she was resting now. She had a lot of recovering to do and sleeping was the first step.

I winced as images of the incident flashed in my mind.

“Are you okay?” Hannah asked, reaching for me.

I nodded and let her help me back into the bed. Let her mother me a little, it was better than arguing over so little.

I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, feeling a little safer.

No, actually I felt a lot safer. Because of me.

I still couldn’t believe I had taken him down by myself. That I had beaten a man that size. That I had called for help and hung on tight until the cops arrived. This evening during the cops’ visits, I heard time and time again about how brave I was, and how great the self-defense classes and the pepper spray had worked out. I even heard atta-girl once or twice.

And, as if my mind conspired against me, that brought thoughts of Gui. Maybe because he had been the one to give me the pepper spray or to take me to my first self-defense class? I didn’t know. Still, I wondered where he was. I mean … well, I knew I had told him to stay away from me, and who knew what was going on with him right now, but I thought … I felt silly thinking that now, but I thought he cared about me. Had
cared about me. At least enough to come see me.

Maybe … maybe he had called. My phone had been smashed into the wall. Even if he had called, I would never know.

I opened my eyes and looked up at Hannah. “Can you go out and buy me a new phone?”

She stared at me, stunned. “Now?”

My mother settled back into the armchair and started reading her book again.

I shrugged. “It doesn’t seem I’ll be out of here any time soon, so, why not?”

Hannah glanced at our mother, and then returned her knowing eyes to me. “Leo called him as soon as we heard about it,” she whispered, so our mother wouldn’t hear it. “Gui was in Fresno. From what Leo told me, he is worried about you and he’s driving here right now.”

I nodded, not sure what to say. If my cell phone had been with me, I think I might have called him to let him know I had been strong enough, that I had been able to defend myself and Evie, and that I even used his pepper spray. Even though I should let this go, I wanted him to feel proud of me.

Which was silly and selfish. I was feeling proud of myself for being able to take care of myself, and that was enough.

Soon after, a nurse came back and gave me pills for pain. “They will make you a little sleepy. Try to rest before your next exam,” she said.

As if by magic, the pill’s effect was almost instant. That, or the adrenaline was finally wearing off and deep exhaustion was catching up to me. I turned to my side, hugged the pillow, and soon I was in dreamland.

Gui

When I got to the hospital, everyone had already left, except for Leo, Hannah, and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. Since they all couldn’t stay in the room with Hil, everyone else got a chance to sneak into the room at some point, say hi to her, then leave.

I found Leo and Mr. Taylor in a waiting area.

“How is she? Where is she?” I asked, approaching them.

Mr. Taylor frowned at me while Leo stood up, draped an arm around my shoulder, and steered me to the hallway.

“She’s fine now,” he said, his voice low, probably not to disturb the other people in the waiting area and the many other people at the hospital.

I crossed my arms and braced myself before asking. “What happened?”

So he told me.

Rage, fury, disgust, nausea, dread, and another million emotions filled me and fought for attention, asking me to react. Punch a wall, break something, vomit, scream.

However, another emotion I wasn’t expecting cut through all those others.

Pride.

I was proud of Hilary for standing up for herself, for helping her friend, for saving them both.

That didn’t lessen my want, my wish to be able to turn back time and be there to help her, and break every fucking bone in that guy’s body.

At least now I knew why the calls I made to her while driving back to Santa Barbara went directly to voicemail—because that piece of shit broke her phone. Damn it, I could kill the guy.

I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and then let the air out slowly. I snapped my eyes open and looked to my cousin. “I want to see her.”

“I know,” Leo said, nodding. “I’ll check with Hilary and her mom if you can enter. Just wait here.”

As Leo turned, we saw Mrs. Taylor coming our way. She barely nodded at us, then approached her husband, and invited him to go to the cafeteria and eat something.

I lifted an eyebrow at Leo.

He shook his head. “It’s your lucky day.”

He took me to Hilary’s room and opened the door slowly.

A pang squeezed my heart upon seeing Hilary sleeping on the hospital bed. With her hair undone and the white gown, she looked so fragile, so small, so helpless. A burning sensation itched behind my eyes.

Hannah approached us at the door. “She fell asleep not even fifteen minutes ago,” she said.

“Can I come in and sit by her? At least for a little while?” I asked, hoping my eyes looked like abandoned puppy eyes.

She glanced at Leo before returning her eyes to me. Finally, she nodded. “Be careful not to wake Evangeline.” She pointed to the second bed that had been concealed by the half-opened door. “She’s in worse shape and needs to rest.”

“Will do,” I whispered.

Then, Hannah took Leo’s hand and they both walked away.

Slowly, I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me.

I gasped and the burning behind my eyes increased as I approached the bed and saw the bruises on Hilary’s face and neck.

Fuck.

I pulled up a chair and sat right beside her bed, from where I needed to reach over and stroke her hand, her arm, her face.

I didn’t know how long had passed. I just stared at her, still wishing I could have done something to prevent this from happening, to have interfered, to have saved her, even though she had done a good job of saving herself. Still, the bruises. Fuck. I didn’t think I could ever get over that.

I was swearing under my breath when Hilary stirred. Her eyes fluttered and then she was staring at me, confusion written all over her face.

“
Oi
.”

“Hey.” Hilary turned her face down, letting her hair fall over her face. Over her bruises.

I lifted my hand and slowly, gently brushed the hair away from her beautiful face. Because she was beautiful, she was gorgeous, even with the red-purple marks on her skin.

“No need to hide from me.” My voice broke and the tears finally won, making their way to the front of my eyes. I blinked hard, trying to stop them before she could see them.

“It’s just …” She motioned to her face, and then shook her head. With a sigh, she snaked her hand to the side of the bed and, pressing the button, lifted the head of the bed until she was in a semi-sitting position. “How long have you been here?” She sounded a little groggy, as if the pain meds were still strong in her system.

“Not long.” I had wanted to do so many things, to say so many things. Now that I was here, no fucking words came to me.

I had come to make sure she was okay, to see with my own eyes, because … because what I felt for her didn’t go away, wouldn’t go away, even after she told me to leave her alone, to forget her, to go on and live my life without her.

Suddenly, I felt fucking stupid for being here. Hilary had been the one to tell me to go, to leave her alone, and here I was, feeling like my heart was bursting out of my chest. And for what? To have her shut me down again?

“I … I was worried,” I confessed. “I need you to know that I never wanted something like this to happen to you, I ne—”