Page 28 of Closing on Lynx

“He is in 4606,” Skoden mumbles and drops his head.

Pushing past the group of men, I make my way to the elevator, press the button to go up and step in when the large metal doors slide open. Stepping inside, I spin around and look at all the people in the area. None of them have moved. Shaking my head, I slap my hand on the number four button and wait for the doors to slide close and the machine to move.

“Assholes,” I mutter as the lift rises one floor. The doors slide open, and I step out to Paul, bursting through the door from the stairs. I ignore him and make my way down to Neo’s room.

Keifer Rivers–Medically induced coma – Suicidal tendencies – psychiatrist,was written on the door plaque. Placing my hand on the lever, I push down and step in.

There is a nurse at his bedside, fixing the blankets. Her eyes are on his face. She lifts her head and looks at me. “Family members only.”

“I’m his sister,” I state, making sure the nurse knows she won’t be getting rid of me.

“Okay, we have reduced his sedation. He may wake up while you are in here, but we aren’t sure.” I nod, and she moves to walk past me. “His wounds will heal, but they will leave scars on his body.”

“We all have scars. Some just can’t be seen,” I state and walk toward the ledge against his window and place the flowers and bear down on it so he can see them when he wakes up.

“It’s not your fault.” A sob tears from my throat. I quickly wipe at the water running down my eyes. “Neo, I am here because a man worse than the devil decided I wasn’t worth having in this world.”

“He worked his ass off to find you,” Paul states, leaning against the doorframe.

“You fought for me. That’s more than I can say for a lot of people. I can count only a few handfuls of people who would make sure I was still alive to tell my story. You fought for me; you helped save me. This isn’t on you,” I tell him.

“He blames himself.”

“You think I don’t know that. You think every person that came into my life lately doesn’t feel this. You think I don’t feel this. I watched them kill Tina’s husband while I was listening to her scream from being raped. I watched her repeatedly take my punishments so I could heal. I watch you look at me like fragile fucking glass. I’m not. I am angry. I was violated, and I want retribution on every single person who thinks it’s okay to abuse, rape, and hurt innocent people. I want them fed to pigs. No, I want them buried in a grave covered in protected plants and flowers so they will never be found. I want my peace. But my head won’t let me have that,” I scream, slamming the tray that was on the moving table down on the floor.

“Baby, we are here for you. For Tina and for Neo. We will help you heal,” Paul says, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around me.

“I want to go back to when everything was normal.” I sob into his chest.

“Normal only exist in movies about weird cults.” He chuckles.

“True, then I want to go back to a time when I felt safe.” I breathe.

“We will make you feel that way again. I promise,” he whispers, his lips against the top of my head.

“Will he be alright?” I ask.

“We will all make sure everyone that is injured is safe, and finds peace living with their demons,” he states, as he turns and guides me out of the room. There is so much I want to say to Neo, to make him realize this isn’t on him.

“What happened to that girl?” I ask, pulling back from Paul to look at him.

“Gone.” Is all he says.

“Dead?” I ask.

“No, vanished. We have been looking for her, but she is gone.” He guides me to the elevator and back down to my floor. Time to get ready to go home.

Chapter Twenty-One

Jessikah

Walking into my house is like walking into my own personal oasis. I know Paul has Moose and promised to bring him back after Tina and I settle. So, now we just have to settle in and relax.

“Let’s get that pizza in the oven and get in our pajamas and watch copious amounts of romance movies,” Tina states and makes her way into the kitchen. There are threeLittle Caesarpizza kits. Tina takes out two, starts the oven. She then starts setting up the pizza, one with pineapple, pepperoni, bacon bits, mushrooms and extra cheese and the other one with mushrooms, green peppers, red onions, bacon bits, ham chunks and extra cheese and then throws them into the oven.

“Let’s go and get changed.” She helps me to stand and then we both make our way to my bedroom. Tina has no clothes, so we will be going shopping in the following days. Tonight, she and I will wear whatever I have in my drawer.

It didn’t take us long to change. Then we are back on the couch, searching for our first movie. Tina gets up to go to the kitchen and get our pizzas ready. She puts the cooked pizza back in the box and slices it into six slices. She carries them out and puts them on the table, before going back in and grabbing us each a bottle ofCoke Zero,then sits down beside me.

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