Page 28 of Blossoming Dahlia

“Hey now, that’s a good thing, remember?” He smiled, and I wiped my cheeks roughly with my palms, feeling like a true idiot. “You should go home, get some rest, you’ve earned it.”

I laughed bitterly, rubbing my hands on the scrubs I was wearing. “I don’t have anywhere to go,” I replied softly. He grunted, and I saw him reaching out to grab his phone off the table. It was awkward since he only had one un-splinted finger on his good hand to type, but he seemed to manage it okay.

“I’m sorry, I never managed to get you that phone I promised.” He grimaced. “But I’ll let Amanda know you’re here.” I smiled gratefully, twisting the loose fabric in my hands nervously. The silence in the room stretched out, and Hunter set his phone back down, groaning softly as he relaxed back into the pillows on his bed.

The quiet weighed on my soul, and I finally couldn’t stand it anymore. “I’m sorry,” I blurted out, louder than I intended. He looked at me in surprise, his undamaged eyebrow raising.

“What could you have to be sorry for?” he asked incredulously. I looked around us as if it should’ve been obvious.

“Everything,” I replied weakly, more tears threatening to spill out. “I’m sorry that you got hurt, that Asher nearly died.” Iinhaled a shaky breath, trying not to completely unravel right here.

“Are you confessing right now?” Hunter asked, and I frowned at him, confused.

“What?”

“Are you confessing to me that you committed all the crimes we’re investigating? That you framed Curing and it was really you the whole time?” he pressed, and I realized he was teasing me. I bristled, my eyes narrowing.

“No, of course not. But-” I started, but he cut me off with a wave.

“Curing did this, do you understand? He killed all those women. He was going to kill you, and then he would’ve kept on killing. He was holding the knife that did this.” He gestured to his face. “He beat the holy hell out of Asher. So please, don’t apologize. You are a victim of Curing and, just because you lived, doesn’t shoulder you with the burden of guilt over his actions.” The lump in my throat was back, and I swallowed thickly, my gaze dropping to my lap.

“This is our job, Dahlia,” Hunter continued, but softer now, his tone no longer admonishing. “We knew the risks when we got into this. Believe it or not, you are a rare success. Most of the time, we don’t get a living victim.” He sighed. I let that knowledge settle over me like a chill in my bones. I was so tired, I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry somewhere until the tears were spent. We settled back into silence, but this time it wasn’t weighed down with my guilt. My eyes drifted closed at some point, and I fell into a light doze, tucked awkwardly into the small hospital chair.

Voices woke me a while later, and I sat up, seeing a few nurses around the empty bed, which was no longer empty. I waited until they cleared out, then hurried over to see Asher. He had some color back in his face, but he still looked rough. His armwas patched up, thick bandages encircling his wrist and covering his hand, his thumb splinted. He had more bandages covering his chest and his face where he’d gotten stitches. Someone had done a half-assed job of wiping the blood off his face, and it added a macabre look to the bruises that were starting to form. “Of course he tried to one-up me,” Hunter mused, but his voice was tight. I sat down beside Asher’s bed, reaching out to rest my hand over his.

I didn’t know how long I sat like that, just holding his hand and watching his chest rise and fall with each breath he took. Nurses came in and out periodically, checking on Hunter and then coming to inspect Asher’s IV and monitor his vitals. I felt myself drifting off again, my head bobbing every so often, jolting me awake. I felt like I was in a daze, not quite asleep but definitely not fully awake.

A hand grasped my shoulder, startling me out of my reverie, and I yelped, jumping half out of my skin. “It’s just me,” Amanda soothed, rubbing my shoulder gently. “It’s just me.” I gasped out a sob, nearly knocking over the chair as I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” she muttered, squeezing me tightly. “I’m getting you microchipped.”

“Okay.” I laughed, my tears staining her shirt. “Whatever you want.” She finally let me go, giving me a once over and shaking her head.

“Dee, you need a shower. Come on, let me take you back to my place, get you cleaned up a bit.” She smiled, and I shook my head.

“No, I need to be here in case Asher wakes up,” I replied, glancing over my shoulder at his prone figure in the bed. Amanda’s face pinched, and I could tell she wanted to protest, but lucky for her, Hunter stepped in first.

“Go get some rest, Dahlia. He won’t be waking up tonight, anyway. He’s got about two months of sleep to catch up on,” Hunter told me. “I promise, I’ll call Amanda if anything happens.” My chest seized, and I looked back at Asher again, torn between wanting a shower and not wanting to leave his side. Finally, the need for my own clothes won out, and I gave Asher’s hand a quick squeeze before following Amanda out of the room.

She looped her arm around my shoulders, holding me close as she guided me through the hospital and into the parkade. My heart sped up when we walked past the spot where Curing had grabbed me, and I was relieved when we finally reached Amanda’s car. The further I got from Asher, the weirder it felt. We’d been basically glued at the hip for what felt like ages, and now being away from him I felt… untethered. Amanda cranked up her music as we drove back to her place, but I still couldn’t quite relax.

Her roommate wasn’t home, so we had the place to ourselves. Amanda ushered me into the bathroom as soon as we got in, and I wondered just how badly I must stink. It took a while to get showered since I had to somehow avoid the bandages on my neck. I managed it eventually, and when I stepped out I found a pile of clothes neatly folded on the counter, which I assumed I was meant to wear. I pulled on the leggings and the oversized sweater, recognizing them as Amanda’s, not mine. She must’ve not had any of my things around here, which made sense because the apartment was cramped enough as it was. I’d have to get her to drive me to that storage unit of hers so I could load up some of my things.

I left my hair to air dry and came out to find Amanda busying herself around the table, a pizza box already set out. My stomach grumbled as the smell reached me, and, as soon as she saw me, she grabbed a couple of slices, setting them on a plate for me andbeckoning me to sit down. “How’d you get a pizza here so fast?” I asked, taking a bite and immediately burning the roof of my mouth.

“I’ve been carefully and consistently flirting with their delivery guys for months.” Amanda smirked, sitting down with her own slice. She set her phone down on the table beside us, and I glanced at it, wondering if Hunter had called.

“No news,” she told me, reading my mind. “I’m sure he’ll be fine, Dee. He’s surrounded by doctors, in his natural habitat.” She winked, and I rolled my eyes at her.

“You didn’t see him in the ambulance,” I murmured, pulling a mushroom off of my pizza and flicking it back on the plate. “One minute he was fine, and the next, it was like his battery just… died.” I didn’t trust them at this point, I needed to see him awake and talking to actually believe he was going to be okay.

“We’ll go back to the hospital first thing in the morning, after you get a good night’s sleep,” she told me, and I huffed a laugh. I didn’t think I’d ever sleep well again after all the shit that had happened recently.

We finished our pizza and curled up on the couch together with some tea and a bad reality TV show. Amanda draped her legs over mine as we laughed, and she filled me in on the latest gossip in her life during the dull bits. Her roommate, Jillian, was having her birthday party at a country bar next weekend, for reasons neither of us could ascertain, and Amanda begged me to come with her.

“Please, I don’t want to be running solo with a bunch of idiots in cowboy hats and chaps,” she whined, tugging on my leg. “We can wear tassel vests and daisy duke shorts, it’ll be fun!”

“Maybe, I’m not sure,” I replied, biting my lip. It was hard to say how comfortable I’d be rejoining the world so soon after what I’d been through. But maybe it would be a good thing, to just… reinsert myself back into my life again. “I’ll think aboutit, okay?” I compromised, and she smirked, probably thinking she’d already won.

I must’ve fallen asleep at some point and, for once, I didn’t have any nightmares. Maybe it was because Curing was finally dead and I could rest knowing that I’d gotten away from him yet again. Or maybe it was just the exhaustion finally catching up to me.

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