Page 75 of The Other Side of Together

I frown. “Hold up. Who’s leaving…?”

“Mei Li.”

Her name is a force field that sends ripples through the shop as I slam into it, rattling my brain and my body. Feelings erupt, flinging questions and fear through my head until I’m swerving around Guo, shoving aside racks of robes to get to the light in the back faster. My chest has a jetpack in it, hurling me forward, my heart straining to beat me to her.

I rip aside the curtain covering the backroom entrance and scan the empty table, two abandoned teacups. Two empty chairs pulled away from it. I whirl around. “Where is she?”

Guo steps to me, her hand firmly on my arm as she looks up at me. “She is here, but…”

“But what? What’s going on? Tell me.” I search Guo’s eyes for clues, but she pats my arm.

“She will not want you to see her like this.”

My stomach clenches. “Like what?”

Guo takes a deep breath, sighs it out. Her shoulders slump, holding invisible weight. “She is very hurt, Marcus Miller.”

“What did he do?” My voice is hard, fighting rage, andher silence is all the answer I need. I wanna puke words and mental pictures. I wanna smash things. Break him into tiny pieces. “Where is she? Does she need a doctor? I need to get her out of here and—”

“No.” Guo shakes her head. “No hospital. No doctor. No Ray, just you. Understand?” She holds up her finger. “She will be okay. I gave her something for the pain. If you care about Mei Li, you will do as I say. Tell me you understand.” Her voice is low, but her eyes pin me.

No. I don’t understand. At all. But I nod, afraid if I open my mouth, I’ll yell or sob.

“She is upstairs in the shower.”

Mei. Hurt. Upstairs.

“What do I do?” I ask, panic swooping over me. I have to see her, have to stop the pain, have to keep her here. This is my fault. If I’d just talked to her instead of freaking out that night at The Clubhouse, she never would’ve left. She never would’ve been near Nick. He never would’ve—

“What did he do to her?”

“Things he will never do again. I made arrangements for her to leave so she will be safe from everything.”

“No.” The word shoots out of me like a missile, attacking the thought of her leaving. “No way. She can’t.”

“She must. Things are not good here.”

“But I’ll keep her safe. She can stay at The Clubhouse. My dad can’t say anything. I’m not letting her out of my sight again. And why won’t someone call the cops? He can’t just do this and—”

“The police will already be involved and that is another reason she must go away from here, but I will let her tell you why. She will not want you to see her like this, but she needs you right now. Go to her.” She points a knobby finger toward the stairs that lead to her apartment over the shop.

I look at Guo, at her finger, at the stairs, back to her, then take the stairs two at a time, my heart struggling to break free.But the locked bathroom door stops it short. I stare at the wood grain, my hands fisted at my side.

Water slaps tile on the other side of the door. Mei’s on the other side with the water and the tile and…so close. Hurt. How bad? I lean my forehead against the door, hand on the locked knob I could break off.

I turn and slide down the wall, leaning my head back against it, hands clenched over my bent knees while I work to control my breathing and wait for the water to shut off. Squeeze my eyes shut. Listen. Wait.

Guo eases up the steps past me, walks through her bedroom door, and perches on the end of her bed, hands in her lap.

When a cry comes from the bathroom, my eyes snap open and I’m on my feet. “I need to get to her, Guo.”

She hesitates, then nods and shuffles to her nightstand, pulling open the drawer and rummaging through it. She hands me a paperclip and I bend it, shove it in the lock until it pops, then slip inside the bathroom.

Mei’s a sobbing smudge huddled in the corner on the other side of the frosted glass, and I choke down steam and fear to make room for my voice. “Mei?”

A fresh sob cuts through the spray and I curse, grab the handle, and fling open the shower door. Mei’s on the tile floor, arms locked around her bent knees which are pulled to her chest, her black and blue body trembling.

“Please leave,” she chokes, pulling herself into a tighter ball.

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