Page 97 of Kandie Shoppe

To the man, we all agree to annihilate the threat.

Chapter

Thirty

Kandie

“Nooooo,” the bloodcurdling scream rips from my raw throat with a scratchy croak. My chest hurts. My heart races. My neck hurts so badly I can barely breathe. Who knew breathing could hurt so bad?

I’m trembling, sweating and freezing all at the same time.

“You’re okay.” I swing around to see Mimi injecting something into my IV.

“What’s that?” I croak out, wary, not wanting to get doped up. Daddy always warned us about letting people give us medication because of his and Mommy’s negative experiences with having medication forced on them.

“Just a mild sedative, and an anti-inflammatory to ease the pain and swelling you’re experiencing. Maybe a little later we can give you a bath.” She smiles, pulling a chair alongside me.

Normally, we all crowd in together when we visit each other, but I can see from the IV and monitors that it’s not possible.

I squint for a moment, not recognizing the room. Then I remember where I ended up the night I escaped Nathaniel.

“I’m still at EL Diablo’s clubhouse?” I look around the room, taking in the buttercup yellow duvet, but then notice allthe masculine dark grey and steel. “Easy and Angel’s place?” Bewilderment clouds my words as my cousin gives me a soft smile, nodding.

“We didn’t want to move you. Everyone who needs to know is aware you are here and safe. As you can see.” She waves to the wall of flowers, notes, and balloons covering one side of the huge bedroom.

“Wow,” I say, my voice small with embarrassment and awe.

“Yeah, wow. We were so scared we lost you and not just because you make the best cakes either. Because we love you, Kandie.” Tears spill down her cheeks as she takes my hand. I let her words fill the hollowed out places Nathaniel tried to carve in me.

“Wow,” I say again. No words come as my shoulders quake and sobs wrack me, seeming to shake me apart. The whole terrible ordeal washes over me. Sadness, rage, and sorrow pummel me like the rains of an April storm.

“The kids?” I manage after a time. Trying to push the despair that’s trying to eat you alive away is easier if you focus on something outside of yourself.

“They are fine, for the most part. None of them were used like his father did to the other kids. They are all being placed with local families as we try to find their people.” The network Angel set up for the kids we saw being trafficked by Rudy is still in effect. That’s good, I guess.

“He’s dead then?” I ask the most unnecessary question maybe in the history of the world, but people have survived worse.

“Yeah, you did good.” She nods in confirmation.

“It doesn’t feel like it.” Tears well in my eyes. “How could I be so stu?—”

“Aht, aht, aht, we ain’t doing none of that.” Scolding me with a firm shake of her head, she squeezes the hand she was already holding, then covers it with the other.

“There’s only one person who is responsible for all of this, and you did the world a favor by killing his ass.”

A rough chuff of laughter slips out. “Who knew you were so bloodthirsty, Doctor?” We both giggle.

“It’s not ‘first do no harm,’ it’s ‘do all the harm first if they fucking with you.’” Mimi winks. I forget sometimes she was in the military for a little while. Since the time she spent in the Airforce, she had her first husband die and a secret baby with a rockstar who’s now her second. Not to mention the scandal that erupted around her from Joi’s thoughtless piece blasting her and Santiago’s business all over the internet. She’s been through so much, yet here she is by my side taking care of me and I just know she’s not missing a beat at the Shelby-Love Medical Center or her free clinic.

“So, when will I be good enough to go home?” I watch as she hesitates, a sudden frown marring her face.

“Your vitals are still not what I’d like to see. Let’s give it a couple of days. I was hoping you talk to our new psychologist first Dr. Lockett?—”

“No.” I’m already shaking my head.

“Kandice, you just survived a huge trauma. You were kidnapped and imprisoned in a place you survived previously. This time you nearly died. Ain’t no way you can tell me that you can just go about your daily life like shit ain’t happened.” Gone is the cool, calm doctor with the excellent bedside manner and in steps my straight up country girl cousin who doesn’t take anyone’s mess, least of all mine. Separated by just a few years, Mimi has always been the leader of us Love girls.

While I was the rule breaker, she was the one keeping us in line. So yeah, I listen to her words or I pretend to.

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