Page 173 of Voices

He touches my shoulder as another shock hits my chest. I fly backwards and right as my back hits the ground I open my eyes and suck in a breath.

A bright light blinds me as blurry faces swirl around me. I hear my heart beating on a monitor and close my eyes.

It’s time I live the life I deserve.

Chapter Forty-Two

Shane

Beep…beep…beep

The sound of Charlie’s heart monitor has been the only sound in my life over the last couple of days. He was touch and go for a little while after they revived him and was put on a ventilator to help him breathe. They took it out yesterday morning and said that he should wake up soon. It’s now eight thirty at night, over thirty-six hours later and there’s still no sign of him waking.

Between the amount of Ambien and alcohol that was in his system along with hypothermia from being out in the freezing cold for who knows how long, he’s lucky to be alive. A surgeon was able to reset his shoulder that had been dislocated, and his ulna was fractured in three places and required plates and screws to realign the bone. The cast goes from his bicep all the way to his hand.

I’ve lost feeling in my ass from this hard as hell chair so when an officer steps in and motions for me to follow her, I’m thankful for the excuse to get up.

She stops by the door without stepping out.

“The results from the residue we found on his underwear are in.”

Because it had been over seventy-two hours without him waking up to give consent for a rape kit, they sent his clothes to be examined for evidence when they found blood and semen in and on him.

I nod for her to continue.

“The blood was all Charlie’s, but the semen belonged to Conrad Richardson. He has a history of sexually assaulting young men. Unfortunately, he has a very convincing lawyer with deep pockets, which is why he’s never done time. But fortunately for us, once your information is in our system, it stays there which is how we were able to get this.”

She hands me a list of the test results. Thankfully the scumbag doesn’t have any diseases.

“Send that to your lawyer right away. There’s no telling what he or Franklin Alexander is up to.”

“I will. Thank you.”

She nods and leaves.

I send the information to Ryder’s dad who’s a judge in Chicago. He already has the best lawyer available for us, so Conrad won’t be getting away this time without a prison sentence.

I retake my spot next to Charlie, taking his hand in mine.

“He’s never going to touch a single hair on your head ever again, baby.” His pale skin almost blends in with the white sheet making his inky hair stand out. “You can wake up now, beautiful,” I lightly run my finger along his freckles, “you’re safe.”

I rub my thumb over his ring that Ryder found on the ground after I picked Charlie up to carry him to the ambulance. Leaning over, I kiss it. His eyebrows twitch but otherwise, he doesn’t move.

Blowing out a slow breath, I open my phone and check on the game. It’s the first game since the break ended. It took Matt and Ryder three days to convince Coach Q to let me miss it, not that I was going to show up. He was pissed but ultimately found his heart and gave me this week and this one game off.

The guys are being slaughtered. It’s only five minutes into the second and we’re down five to zero. Sorry guys. I knowMatt has had a rough week dealing with his family shit plus this and Ash and Ryder have been here every night bringing me my homework. And Lily has been a saint, bringing me food before and after her classes. Becca and my mom even flew up here. My mom made sure I took care of myself while Becca stayed with Charlie. They flew back this morning and now it’s just me and Charlie.

Resting my head on the edge of his bed by his hip, I slowly kiss each finger until exhaustion takes over. Placing his hand over my cheek, I rest my eyes. Just for a second.

Chapter Forty-Three

Charlie

Consciousness comes back in waves. The first sense I get is hearing. There’s a constant beeping and whirring sound all around me. The next is touch. I can’t feel my left arm, but my right hand is on something warm and prickly. I wiggle my fingers but can’t figure out what it is. Then I finally, slowly, pry my eyes open. But the light burns so much that I have to close them. I try again to slowly open my eyes and get used to the light little by little until I’m able to keep them open in a squint.

Looking around the room, I realize the only light that’s on is the light directly above me making the rest of the room dark. Looking up at the insistent beeping, I see a few machines that have wires that lead under my blanket. Then I see a huge cast on my numb left arm. Moving across my stomach, I stop when I see light brown ruffled hair against my hip. My fingers twitch on his cheek.

“Sh-”

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