Page 138 of Breaking Point
The heaviness of it all weighs upon both our shoulders, the energy in the room growing somber.
“Have you considered writing letters?” I suggest quietly.
Her head rises to meet my gaze. “Letters?”
“For all the important days she will have, you can write her a letter with all the advice you wish to give her.”
She swallows thickly, her gaze darting down to her hands resting in her lap, her tremble noticeable. “I don’t have a laptop, and my hands?—”
“I’ll help you.”
At the first flash of light—ofhope—in her eyes, I’m glad I spoke up.
“That—that would be amazing.”
“I’ll come over after practice, when Bella is still at my house.”
“Thank you,” she whispers, her words full of sincerity.
I can’t help but smile at the spark of life I just witnessed. Not wanting her to lose that spark, I clear my throat and turn to the first page, absolutely stunned to find a trigger warning list a mile long.
“Uh, Trisha?” I say slowly. “Should we still?—”
“It’s fine, dear.”
Chuckling to myself, I go on. A shiver wracks my body when I’m thirty pages into a grizzly murder scene and I find Trisha just…smiling. Here I am trying not to lose my stomach and the woman is cracking a smile at an axe slicing through the victim’s head.
“Should I be concerned? Is this a hereditary thing? Am I going to find Bella cackling over my bed in the middle of the night with a butcher’s knife?”
Trisha bursts out laughing before it turns into a coughing fit. “No, it’s not hereditary. She hates crime and thrillers. I’ve forced her to watch too many.” Her smile grows wide. “It’s just…I haven’t been able to read in such a long time. I started watching true crime documentaries to give me the feel my thriller books gave me, but they still don’t come close.” She reaches over and places her shaky hand atop mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you for doing this for me. For giving me back a part of my soul.”
Emotion clogs my throat. “It’s just a book.”
She shakes her head as she smiles at me. “No…you’ve given me back something that I thought I wouldn’t get to experience again before I died. To hear about a world created from another person’s mind. You’ve given me joy, Grayson, and I will be eternally grateful to you for that.”
The emotion that rises within me takes tremendous effort to squelch. My heart aches for this kind and caring woman who isbeing thrown into the depths of misery and handed the worst life has to offer.
“I’m sure Bella would love to read to you?—”
“She does too much for me as it is. She needs a break.”
“Then perhaps we make this a weekly thing?”
“You would do that?”
“Of course I would. I’ll even do you one better. How about I set you up with an audiobook subscription? Get a nice set of headphones or a speaker that won’t hurt your head?”
Her lip quivers, tears suddenly glistening in her eyes before she takes a play from Bella’s handbook and shoves it all away. But she can’t hide her watery smile. “That would be one of the greatest gifts anyone could give me.”
Giving her my hand, I gently squeeze hers. I couldn’t help Drew, and I may not be able to save her life, but I will help in any way I can.
The words in my throat are thick for a moment as we pick up again before they begin to distract me. I’ve read another forty pages when Trisha interrupts me as the chapter comes to an end.
“She’s going to push you away.”
Closing the book, I rest it on my lap as I give her a sad smile. “I know.”
“You do?” she says, her brows high in shock.
