Colin’s cry will get louder, and I pull his arms away from his head to examine his face. His nostril is crooked and there is blood in all places.

“The hospital,” I say rapidly, “We have to go!”

Lake nods, pulling his keys from his pocket as I hand Colin the towel hanging on the fridge door earlier than we scurry out of the condominium.

Colinistalkingwiththe physician close by on one of many rolling beds, a skinny sheet of fabric separating us, whereas one other nurse tends to my brow wound.

“Not deep sufficient for stitches,” she says, putting a bandage over my wound. “You are fortunate, although. Might’ve been a lot worse.”

It might’ve been a lot worse. I put myself in a harmful state of affairs tonight, pondering I might overpower Colin. Seconds away from passing out, I might’ve been critically injured. I’d have been, if not for Lake.

He is by no means going to let this go.

Lake is pacing within the ready room as I strategy, bandaged up. He stops when he sees me, his fingers resting on his head, a glance of pure defeat in his reddened eyes.

“It is damaged,” I say, “however they already reset it and he’ll be f—”

“I harm him, Dylan,” he interrupts with a damaged tone. A glance of full disgust is etched into his options. “I fucking harm him.”

His ache is killing me. Actually breaking me. I do know the place this goes.

“You probably did what you needed to do. I could not management him.”

“No. I am no good for you,” he says all of the sudden, hitting me the place it hurts most. “I am worse than Eric. I laid fingers on him, Dylan. He’ll by no means take a look at me the identical once more. He’ll by no means really feel secure round me.”

I look down on the ground as one thing like a sob leaves my throat.

“With time, he’ll—”

“I can not preserve dragging you each down, making life worse for you. I will not. I gained’t do it.”

“Lake,” I say, wishing he would not do precisely what he is doing proper now. Beating himself up over this, utilizing it as additional proof to distance us.

However he was there after I wanted him. He got here again.

“However you got here again. Why did you come again?”

There was a motive he was there. He could not have heard what occurred. He got here again for one thing, and I have to know why. “It does not matter,” he says, pacing in place as if being in his personal footwear has by no means felt extra uncomfortable. “Inform him I am so sorry,” he chokes out, an apparent break in his voice. “I can not be right here when he will get out. I’ve to go.”

And identical to within the stairwell, he walks away from me once more.

This time, his causes are set in stone.

55

Lake

“SothenIsaid,you lyin’ out your ass, ho. My mama makes the most effective greens this aspect of the Mississippi. You out your goddamn thoughts.”

I nod, lacing up my footwear.

“And he hit me with the ‘your mama can’t cook dinner’. And I swear to God, Lake, I nearly caught the road marker up his punk ass.”

I nod once more, pulling out my cellphone and scrolling by means of the outdated textual content messages, touching her phrases as if I might contact her by means of them.

“After which I informed him I couldn’t wait to spouse up Dylan now that she’s single once more.”

My head snaps over to the place he’s casually leaning with one leg perched on the bench. He removes his helmet from his head, his eyebrows raised and a smirk in place.

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