Page 115 of Ordinary Secrets

Liz steps back and gestures for me to go first. With my giant gift bag in hand, I enter the small hospital room. Sara quietly shuts the door behind me.

The square room is dimly lit and smells of disinfectant. My girl is propped up on the bed in a light-blue gown, wearing a neck brace that looks like it’s suffocating her. Cords are tangled around her body in every direction, hooked up to machines that do who knows what.

I’d do anything to take her place. I’d go through a thousand car accidents if it means she’d never have to go through another one again.

“Trey.” Her voice cracks, sounding weak and fragile. I want so badly to hold her until the pain is gone.

After setting the gift bag down, I slide a chair closer to her bedside and sit. Then I take her hand and squeeze it between both of mine. Once again, I draw strength from her touch. A tiny beam of light shines into me, erasing some of the darkness in my chest.

“Hey, beautiful.”

She lets out a littlepfft. “I doubt I look that beautiful right now.”

“You’ll always look beautiful to me.” I mean that with all my heart.

This catastrophe only confirms how much of a wreck I’d be if something ever happened to her. Silently, I vow to myself to never let anything else happen.

With a smile, Arella turns her head to fully face me. The stitches on her lip flash me back to when my mother’s lip was cut. She had blood dripping down every curve of her face. Her screams echo in my mind as that big man drags her away from me to pound his fist into her head. I should have protected her, like I should have protected Arella.

A pang of nausea hits me hard, except this time, it’s not from the glimmer. I swallow thickly, trying to keep it down.

“What’s in the bag?” Arella asks.

“Something for you.” The bag crinkles as I pull out a big purple teddy bear.

Her eyes light up as she accepts it from me. “Awe. It’s adorable! Thank you.”

My phone vibrates in my jeans. It’s Victor—again. What the fuck does he need so badly? This is the worst time to be calling. I don’t want to leave Arella, but in all my twenty-six years, Victor has never been this insistent about reaching me.

“I’ll be back, angel,” I say as I step away. I gesture for Liz to enter the room as I head down the hall to answer my phone. “Hello?”

As always, Victor sounds snippy. “Are you with the girl?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Any updates?”

“No.” I could tell him that the very person we need alive for any of this to work almost died today, but she didn’t, so that information isn’t relevant.

“Seriously? Have you been able to senseanyemotions from her?”

“Nope,” I lie again.

“Not a single one?”

“Nope.”

“Hmm. We’ll have to try something else.”

I enter the stairwell as my heart clenches. “What do you mean?”

“These tests aren’t working.”

Something inside me flips into panic mode. Careful to keep my tone steady, I ask, “What tests?”

“You know... the flu, the spiders, the truck.”

I stop breathing as everything clicks together. I try to sound less angry and more surprised. “Wait, all of those things happened to her... because of you?”

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