Page 11 of Blossoming Dahlia

“Before you threaten to kill anyone, just remember you’re at the FBI offices right now.” He smiled, and Amanda rolled her eyes.

“WellDoc, if you guys would actually do your job and find this prick, I wouldn’t have to go all vigilante justice on his ass,” she replied tartly. I gave her a sharp look.

“Mandy, be nice, they did find me after all,” I murmured, and her look softened when she turned back to me.

“Yeah, because I was up their asses every single fucking day. And even then it took them too long.” Amanda grimaced, her hand moving to smooth down my hair. She was my best friend in the world, and she had taken up the role as my mother hen, always fussing over me. I gasped softly as the tears increased and another sob worked its way out of me.

“Shh, shh it’s okay,” she murmured, soothing me as I completely broke down, everything hitting me all at once. Someone helped me into a chair and hands pressed a box of tissues into my lap as I cried. It was like a dam burst inside me, I didn’t even know I had this many tears in me. I went through the entire box, leaving a small mountain of crumpled snotty tissues on the table beside me. Asher appeared at some point with a bottle of water, and I drank half of it in one shot, feeling horribly dehydrated.

Finally the sobs began to subside, and I started to laugh again. Amanda knelt beside me, her eyes wide and confused. “Josh broke up with me today,” I burst out, laughing harder. Her eyes narrowed, and she stood up, glaring at Asher like it was his fault.

“You brought that dipshit here and let him dump her? Really!?” she snapped, and he held up his hands, warding her off.

“We had no idea he was going to do that. We interviewed him initially, and he said he wanted to be contacted with any news, so that’s what we did. I had no idea he would do that, honestly,” Asher insisted.

“You should’ve. Some FBI agents you are. I could’ve told you he was a spineless little bitch,” she huffed.

I shot her a dirty look. “Hey, he wasn’t all bad,” I protested. “And you said you liked him, remember?”

Amanda sighed and touched my arm. “I lied, you have terrible taste in men,” she told me gently, and I laughed, more tears working their way out. “He helped me put out flyers for the first couple weeks, but then he stopped showing up. He gave up,” she muttered and threw me an apologetic look.

“Did you really harass the FBI for me every day?” I asked her softly, and she laughed.

“No, she harassed the police department at first since they were in charge of the initial disappearance,” Asher corrected, and we both turned to look at him. “Then, once we took over, Amanda started pestering us. She would come here every day after work to remind us about your case, bringing us pictures of you, lists of names of all your students… we probably have the names of every person you’ve ever spoken with in your entire life.” He smiled, and Amanda lifted her chin with pride. “Then she somehow got ahold of my personal cell phone number and started texting me every day as well.”

Amanda smirked, giving me a sidelong glance. “You’re lucky you didn’t get arrested,” I told her with a smile. “Stalking federal agents is probably some kind of crime.” She rolled her eyes.

“He’s not an agent, he’s adoctor, right Doc?” she teased, and Asher chuckled. It was weird to see them interacting like this, to know that they knew each other separately from knowing me. I stifled a yawn, but eagle-eyed Mandy noticed it immediately.

“You need to rest,” she announced, “And what’s this about stitches? Where do you have stitches?” she demanded. Damn, I was hoping she’d forgotten about that.

I motioned behind me, wincing slightly at the movement. “Just on my back, it’s fine though. They’re healing,” I told her. She spun my chair around and yanked up my shirt, eyeing the bandages covering the half-healed wounds.

“What else?” Amanda asked abruptly. “I can see the bandages on your neck and the bruises. Is there anything else?” she asked me, her voice deathly serious. I shook my head quickly, but I could tell she didn’t quite believe me. She lifted my shirt higher, revealing the scars of the previous damage he’d inflicted.

“Oh, I’m going to fucking rip him to shreds with my bare hands,” she snarled, and I pulled my shirt down quickly. “How have you not found this guy yet?!” She whirled on Asher. His brow furrowed as he looked down at his feet, and I saw the muscle in his jaw clench.

“We have a nationwide search underway, he can’t hide for long,” he assured her, but she crossed her arms over her chest, unimpressed.

“And how do you plan to keep her safe in the meantime?” Amanda demanded, and I groaned, resting my head on the table. Immediately they both turned to look at me. “Dahlia what’s wrong?”

“Can I just go home?” I asked, sitting back up. “Please? I’m tired.” I was a lot of things, but right now tired seemed like the easiest excuse. Amanda bit her lip, her eyes filled with sympathy, and I felt like another shoe was about to drop. “What? What is it?”

“Oh sweety, I’m so sorry. But your apartment...” she trailed off, her hands waving anxiously in front of her. “I fought your landlord for weeks, but your lease was up, and since we couldn’t say for sure if you’d be coming back...” My eyes widened in horror.

“I’m homeless?!” I shouted, my voice cracking from all the tears I’d shed. Amanda nodded sadly. “Oh my god, what about my stuff? My books, my furniture??” I asked, feeling more tears building up.

“I have all of it, don’t worry!” Amanda replied quickly, and I let out a sigh of relief. “I got a storage unit and got it all packedaway. I wouldn’t let them throw anything out.” I smiled wanly, still devastated over the loss of my little apartment. It hadn’t been much, it was not like part-time professors made that much, but it had been mine.

“We’ve got you set up in a hotel for now,” Asher told me, and I narrowed my eyes at him. Had he known I was homeless the entire time and just let me believe I’d be sleeping in my own bed tonight? “It’s not safe for you to go back to the places you’d frequent just yet,” he explained quickly. “On the off chance that Curing might try to find you, it’s best if you stay under the radar.”

“I’ll bring you some of your things, clothes and stuff,” Amanda added quickly, glancing at Asher as if daring him to say no. He just nodded along, looking at me with so much sympathy I wanted to throw something at him. I wasn’t someone to be pitied.

“How about you go and grab some of Dahlia’s things now and then you can meet us at the hotel? I can text you the address, you’ll need to show your ID to get up to the floor though,” Asher explained, and Amanda nodded quickly. She gave me another hug, careful not to squeeze too hard.

“See you in a couple of hours baby girl.” She smiled and gave me a kiss on the forehead, waving as she walked out. I waited until she was gone to sink back into my seat, hissing as my stitches stretched and sent waves of pain over my body.

I noticed Asher had pulled out his phone and was texting someone, a frown creasing his forehead. He finally shoved it back into his pocket and moved over to my side, his fingers brushing my shoulder. “I can take you to the hotel now if you like, your room’s all set up and the doctor will meet us there to check you out.” I nodded tiredly, my eyes gritty and swollen from all the crying I’d been doing. I let him help me up, every movement sending fire across my back.

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