Page 166 of Salvation

“That’s what I thought,” I said with a heavy sigh. “I best go and check on her. Are you staying here tonight?”

“No. My mum’s on her way. Imogen and Gemma are packing a suitcase for me and Trex.”

“Make sure you find me before you leave.”

“I will. I promise. Go. Go see to Mama. I need to find Trex, anyway.”

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine, Rachel. Well… I won’t be fine. But I’m gonna sit in the bar and be around friends. I won’t let myself be alone.”

“Okay. You know where to find me if you need me.”

“I know. Thank you.”

I pulled her into another hug. I had hugged her more the past few days than I had the entire time I’d known her, but everything else just seemed so… lacklustre. Almost phony. I felt fucking useless.

And now I had to go and perform another failure and attempt to speak to Kitty.

Chapter 74

Rachel

“Kitty?” I knocked on the door, bringing a plate of dinner to her. She didn’t respond, so I knocked a bit louder, pushing the door open as I called out her name once more.

“Are you awake? I’ve brought you something to eat,” I told her, noticing she was once again lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. She was dressed in all black, so I could only assume she had made every effort to get ready for Shark’s funeral, but something had prevented her from leaving this room.

Just when I thought I had been making progress with her!

It’s not your job to fix her, Rachel.

And I knew it wasn’t. But this woman had been such a fucking battleaxe. It unnerved me to see her so broken and defeated. The Kitty I had met would have outlived us all out of pure spite. She wouldn’t have caved and called it quits.

“Is everything okay?” I asked quietly, placing the tray of food on the dresser and pulling up a chair, moving it closer to the bed.

“Kitty?” I probed, reaching out for her hand. It was cold, colder than a human hand should be, and I felt my heart begin to race.

Fuck me, don’t be dead, don’t be dead!

It would be fucking typical for the selfish cow to die on my watch!

Okay, I didn’t mean that, but I was on the verge of a panic attack. Dante needed to be here for his mother’s final moments, and I’d resurrect the bitch and kill her myself if she checked out without so much as a goodbye to anyone.

Why did people keep dying in the same fucking room as me? Have some bloody consideration and die on someone else’s watch!

Great. Now I was turning into Vienna with the inappropriate jokes. And the thought of him had my heart breaking once more, picturing him alone with his grief in the same hospital bed where he had almost taken his last breaths.

God…

“Mama!” I hissed, my tone harsher than I meant it to be as I leant over her, placing the back of my hand to her mouth to try to detect her breathing.

“I’m not dead yet, Rachel,” she rasped. “More’s the pity.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, you daft old fuck!” I breathed, flopping back down in my seat. She twisted her head to the side and gave me a crooked grin. “You scared me half to death! Why didn’t you answer me?”

“How long have you been calling me?”

“A few minutes.”

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