Recovery | On Hiatus

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

CAMILLE'S EYES WIDENED, her hand slipping from mine as they both covered her mouth in shock. "Dar—what?"

      I reached up with a wince and wiped the tears from my face, trying to fight the burn behind my eyes. I averted my eyes, my guilt making it hard to swallow as I thought about what I'd let him do to me. "A few weeks after Victoria died, he started drinking and shoved me after an argument. I got hurt pretty badly and he left me alone for a while, but started taking his anger out of me later—sober or not."

      Camille still started in shock as Hayden came back down the stairs, pausing at the bottom when he noticed her face and my crying. "Well, shit. What now?"

      "Nothing," said Camille, quick to keep her son out of trouble. "She tried to sit up again and pulled a muscle."

      He jerked a thumb behind him towards the kitchen. "I can go make some more ice packs. I think we still have some zip-lock bags under the sink."

      Camille shook her head and waved him over. "Come help me sit her up. I need to assess the damage." Hayden placed one hand behind my back and the other on my shoulder as Camille offered me her hands. I winced from the movement, but the pain became more bearable the longer it lasted. Camille pulled away and reached into her first aid kit, pulling out a topical thermometer sand slid it across my forehead, stopping at my temple.

      "She'll be okay with some rest," Camille said. "I'll wrap your stomach when you wake up in the morning. We'll talk about this then, okay? In the meantime, I'll make you some soup." I said my thanks as started her stroll to the kitchen.

      "So," Hayden said after a while. Neither of us had enough nerve for direct eye contact. "How are you feeling?"

      I tried to sit up straighter, but the pain glaring through my ribs stopped me. I slumped back in place. "Like Hell."

      He sighed and pointed towards my feet stretched out on the couch. "Can I?" At my nod of approval, Hayden gently lifted my legs and slid onto the couch, dropping my thighs on his legs. He switched on the TV with the remote on the table as Camille brought in two bowls of noodles—one for me and one for Hayden.

      "They're hot." she warned, setting down the bowls on the table.

      "Thank you," we said simultaneously. This, of course, was followed by mutual glares.

       Camille chuckled and shook her head. "I'm going to head up to bed. You're welcome to say the night, Scarlet."

      I nodded my thanks again, knowing what she really meant was 'you have no choice, you're staying or I'll kill you myself'. We sat in content silence after she left, the only sound being the low volume of the TV. Neither of us dared to say a word, seemingly scared to break the silence and risk upsetting the other.

      Eventually, though, one of us was bound to ruin the moment. "I'm sorry," Hayden whispered. His voice was so quiet I'd have missed it if not for the volume on the TV being as low as it was.

      "For what?" I asked, turning my attention to Hayden. The bruises hurt less now, and I was finally able to sit up without the pain being unbearable. Granted, if it were someone who wasn't as used to the pain as I was, they'd probably still be crying their eyes out.

      Hayden still refused to look at me as he spoke. His eyes were locked on the TV, but I knew he wasn't paying it a bit of attention. "For everything," he said simply. He glanced over at my raised eyebrow and sighed. "I shouldn't have left you at the school. My instincts told me not to—that's why I came back—but I'd left in the first place, which isn't okay."

     For everything. He wasn't just talking about today. I wanted so badly to address the elephant in the room and just fix everything in that moment, but I didn't. He'd messed up—we both had—but neither of us had the courage to admit to it.

      "You couldn't have known," I said instead. "I told you to leave."

      He brought a hand up to the back of his neck with an awkward chuckle. "Still, I feel responsible."

      I hesitated before reaching out and pulling his hand from behind his head. He glanced up at me as I smiled softly, his hand resting in mine as I stroked the back of it with my thumb. "Don't. I should've accepted the ride. If anyone's to blame here, it's me." And Darrin.

      Just thinking his name brought a knot of anxiety to my chest, but I took a deep breath to calm myself down. I wouldn't think about that right now. Instead, I wanted to enjoy however long this peaceful moment with Hayden would last.