Page 97 of Hearts of Fairlake

"If you ask me, Ian and Kyle deserve the canonization, not me," I said as I sat in the chair again. "Have a good heart-to-heart?"

He rolled his eyes. “I saw your shadow in the doorway. I knew you were there. Don't think she did, though. She normally?—"

"Clams up when she thinks anyone who gives a shit is around to hear her, sounds familiar," I said with a smirk.

He shook his head. “Well, I know she's extra fucked in the head right now after seeing her mom again. She says she doesn't care about the woman, which...that's fair but fuck, it has to be hard to see someone you once loved reduced to whatever the fuck happened to her."

"Jail and prison are two different, very hard worlds," I said knowingly. "You need to be tough, smart, and have a good run of luck as well. And from what we already knew, Isabellewas neither of those things...or stable. Her turning out this way is not surprising."

"I just...don't understand what she could have been thinking. How did she think that was going to end?"

"Who knows? Probably not her. Though if I were to guess, she wouldn't have expected to get taken down and beaten by Annie of all people."

"I'm still sad I didn't see it."

"It was...something. Not hard to imagine why, though. Last time Isabelle was in town, she and her buddy left Annie in a rough state. I bet Annie has been holding onto that anger for a long ass time. It probably felt great to get revenge."

"Probably," Chase said with a snort. "Ayla also came in here to tell me everyone we know made it out alright."

"I heard while you were in surgery," I reminded him.

"I know, but I got the follow-up because I knew once you heard everyone was alright, you weren't going to follow up with them because you were more worried about me," he said with a shrug. "I guess Ian isn't happy about his hair. He took the worst of the blast, but it's his hair he's mad about."

"Sounds about right," I said with a shake of my head. "Still amazed he was up and moving around with broken ribs, a broken arm, and a twisted ankle."

"That batshit lady held his daughter hostage, threatened to kill her, and then tried to blow pretty much everyone he knew up. Rage and adrenaline are going to take you far in a situation like that," Chase said with a shake of his head. "Didn't even hesitate, from what I heard. He threw himself right on top of Ayla despite barely knowing what was going on. That's love."

"I distinctly remember someone ready to throw themselves in the line of a bullet for me," I said with a soft smile, reaching over to take his hand and give it a soft squeeze. "So yeah, it is love."

He snorted. “Yeah, well, I don't envy him. Mostly because it sounds like he refused to listen to Kyle after the blast and went after Isabelle, leaving Ayla with Kyle and with Kyle knowing Ian was hurt. I suspect a very uncomfortable doghouse is being made right now that Ian will be sleeping in for a while."

"At least he knew he was okay," I said with a shake of my head. "Adam didn't know where Bri and the kids were for a bit and only knew Bennett was alive because he heard it over another deputy's radio. That's not even counting Bri, who didn't know for a while if anyone was alive."

The others had more or less fared like Ian and Kyle, having been together when the explosion happened. There were those like Sylas and Grant who’d been away from the blast zone, as had Felix and Luke. Others, like Trevor and Ethan, had been close to the blast but were able to confirm the other was safe before trying to help the wounded. Ethan had earned himself a few cracked ribs from a stall hitting him in the chest. His reaction had been to say if he lost any more ribs, he’d be even more flexible in bed, which had understandably earned him a smack upside the head from Trevor.

The worst had been Chase, who ironically had been a safe distance away from the blast compared to the others. Ian had been beaten up pretty good, but after a couple of months in a cast, he’d be alright. Chase, however, was looking at repeated doctor visits, medications, and probably quite a bit of pain while he recovered from the surgery. He had already been told he wasn't allowed to do any heavy lifting for a few weeks, and it was going to be up to me and the guys at the shop to prevent him from breaking that rule and ending up with sepsis.

Good thing I was just as stubborn as him.

"You're not staying here again tonight, are you?" he asked,raising a brow which told me he knew the answer and was resigned to losing any subsequent argument.

"We both know I'm not going anywhere," I said, nodding at the chair in the corner. "That thing has a footrest, so I have no intention of going anywhere without you. I already asked, and Bennett's parents will take care of Cole and Leo for us."

"Assholes could learn to feed themselves for once, dosomethingproductive around the house."

"Uh-huh, and I suppose you don't care that I asked them to do it after you went into surgery because I knew there was a good chance you and I would be staying here for a while."

"Nope."

"Sure."

"Don't give me that. I'm not in the mood."

"You're never in the mood, and that's never stopped me before, so it won't stop me now."

Chase gave a weary sigh. “Throughout all this, I never asked how you're doing."

"Me? Chase, I'm not the one who took shrapnel to the back and had a couple of organs pierced in the process. I think overall, I'm doing just fine."

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