Page 83 of Shattered Mind

I sigh. “I had a car accident after I spoke to you the other night.”

Silence greets me and I pull the phone from my ear and check the calls still active. “Carter?”

“Did you say you had a car accident?” His voice is so quiet he’s almost whispering.

“Yeah. I got out of the hospital like an hour ago.”

“Shit, Liv. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just a broken arm and some cuts, but I’ll be good in a few weeks. Anyway, I’m calling to tell you I’m gonna take the offer on the house if it still stands?”

“It still stands,” he says and my shoulders sag in relief. I’ve had two days surrounded by nothing but blank walls to think about my decision and I know this is the right one.

“Good. I’ll fly home in two weeks. I have to get the all clear from the doctor first.”

“I can explain the situation to the buyers. I’m sure they’ll understand and give you more time to heal,” he says but I’m shaking my head before he even finishes the sentence.

“No. I need to do this as soon as possible, Carter.”

He lets out a long breath. “Okay. I’ll call them tomorrow. Take care of yourself, yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you soon.” I hang up the call and slump back against the couch.

The house is quiet without the girls’ here. It’s only four so I have another hour or so before they finish work and grace me with their presence. Its times like this that I’m glad I didn’t think too much before asking them both to move in with me. I think I’d likely go insane if I had to spend the next few days cooped up in this house all alone.

As much as Savannahs hovering drove me nuts and I couldn’t wait for some time to myself, being alone fucking sucks. My mind has too much opportunity to run wild. To replay things I’d rather forget, create false scenarios and just overthink everything in general.

Grayson is at the forefront of my mind. I think about everything Savannah told me when she found him. All I can picture is a broken man and the image of him that way after how far he has come, hurts my heart.

I don’t know what pushed him over the edge but if I had to guess, I imagine seeing what was left of my car and knowing it was another person close to him whose life was in danger was just too much for him to deal with. And as much as I understand that I don’t deserve his silence.

***

The front door opens at exactly five-thirty and Bellas voice calls out. “Liv? You home?”

“In here,” I call back from the living room. I haven’t moved from this exact spot since Savannah dropped me off earlier and I don’t plan to for the next few hours unless it’s to use the bathroom or take more painkillers.

“Hey. How’re you feeling?” Bella asks as she falls into the seat next to me.

“Well, I’ve felt better, but I’m alive so I can’t complain,” I tell her.

“Do you need me to get you anything?”

“An extra-large bottle of tequila would be wonderful,” I joke, and she lets out a small giggle.

“If you weren’t on strong pain pills, I’d run to the store right now and get you one, but no alcohol for you, doctors orders.”

I pout at her playfully. “You’re no fun, Bells.”

She wiggles her eyebrows at me in return. “Oh, I’m plenty fun.” I let out a genuine laugh for the first time in days and it almost feels foreign.

We simultaneously release a sigh and fall into a comfortable silence. My head becomes lighter as the pain relief I took a few minutes before she walked in start to kick in and I drop my head back against the sofa, turning to look at Bella.

“I’m going back to London for a few weeks,” I inform her, and the smile drops off her face.

“What? Why?”

I stare at the blank TV screen and take a deep breath. “I put my parents’ house up for sale and they’ve found a buyer, so I need to go back and pack up their things. Decide what I want to keep and what to put in storage or throw away.”

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