Page 19 of Degradation
‘I think we keep her with us for now. Close.’
Blake nods. ‘Close,’ he echoes.
He starts tapping at the keys again.
‘What are you doing now?’
‘Making sure I have a plan in place for Marcus, Rob, and Pete. For when the time is right. And I want to find out about the spreadsheet her friend was talking about at the party. The only sheet I know of was the one I made for the pledges to log her movements for us, and it wasn’t points-based. Nothing of yours, right?’
‘I didn’t make any other sheets, and Mav hasn’t mentioned anything either.’
‘I want to find it.’
I nod as I stare at the picture that asshole took of Daisy on Blake’s screen, taking in her sad eyes, the split lip. They’re all going to wish they’d never set eyes on her by the time we’re done with them.
Chapter Two
DAISY
The bath helped a little. At least I’m not freezing cold and dirty anymore. I shift on the bed, so tired I can barely keep my eyes open, but I can’t go to sleep. My body feels wired despite my fatigue. Pain seems to be coming fromeverywhere. My feet burn, my ankle throbs, and my legs hurt, the left one most of all. My palms are grazed, too, which I hadn’t noticed before I put them in the water, and they began to sting. My jaw aches where I was slapped. My lip, too. There are a ton of random bruises beginning to bloom on me, most of which I can’t remember getting.
I shiver as my mind inevitably goes back to the night’s events, what happened in the games room at the forefront of it all. It’s not the first time I’ve been hurt by a guy in a white coat, I rationalize mostly so I can calm down and go to bed. Maybe I should just be glad I was wrong, and The Heath wasn’t actually coming back for me like I thought. At least, not yet. Maybe Shade really will make sure his dad doesn’t find out about this.
I shift again, my aching limbs restless.
Or maybe Plan B needs to be fleshed out better. It’s becoming more and more likely that I’m going to need it to be a viable option.
I let out a sigh, curling into myself a little. Lu just left. I was afraid of her seeing me like this, of not being able to be the Daisy she’s come to know over the past few weeks. What if she decides she doesn’t want to be my friend after tonight?
I hear my door again, and when I look up, it’s Mav who’s hovering at the threshold.
He raises the first aid bag he’s holding. ‘Can I come in?’
I nod, shuffling up the bed a little so that he can do whatever he’s going to do easily and then leave me alone.
I know I shouldn’t be angry at him. He didn’t do anything. In fact, from what I recall, he was the one who came into the games room in time to stop what was happening.
But I am angry at him, as well as at Blake and Shade. I’m angry at the campus cops, the frat bros, the wrestling team. I’m pretty much angry with everyone. I was even angry with Lu for disappearing at the party and not being in her dorm when I went to find her, even though I know that’s not fair. And she explained to me with lots of tearful, ‘I’m so sorrys,’ that she lost me and was trying to find me. I know what happened wasn’t her fault anyway.
It was mine.
‘Daisy?’ Mav asks.
I look at him and he sits on the bed beside me.
‘I’m so sorry.’
I shake my head. ‘You stopped them,’ I say, attempting a smile.
I don’t succeed though. From his expression, I think it comes out as more of a grimace.
‘Lay back,’ he murmurs. ‘Try to relax and let’s get you feeling better, okay?’
I nod with a small sigh, allowing myself to trust him. I let my body lean back. It’s surprisingly easy, which tells me just how drained I am. Even the ingrained fear of correction isn’t enough to keep my back straight, though I realize I’m keeping my face in its practiced and pleasantly neutral mask.
I know it’s beginning to slip though.
I glance at Mav who’s rifling through the bright green bag he brought and pulling out medical gauze of different sizes wrapped in plastic.
