Page 130 of Heartstruck at Dawn
“It doesn’t hurt much right now,” I said to her. “They gave me meds for it during the night.”
“We wanted to see you, but they wouldn’t let us through,” she whispered, looking at the two agents behind me. She wore jeans and a sweater, but her ponytail from last night was still intact. She had washed her face, and her eyes looked puffy. She’d been crying, for sure.
“I know. But my father’s feeling extremely uneasy about the situation. He didn’t want anyone coming to see me.”
Lily explained how Eric had taken William’s mother back to her apartment to rest for a while. She was deeply disturbed, and she was getting anxious sitting in the waiting room.
Dr. Lindström gave her one of his happy pills after telling her that William’s surgery was a success, so she went to sleep while he was still in the recovery room because she hadn’t slept all night.
Joel and Tobias stood up and hugged me too. They both looked weary and gloomy. Probably hungover too. Unlike Lily, they were both still wearing their formal attires from the night before, but they had taken their jackets and ties off.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, crying. “I feel like it’s all my fault.”
Joel hugged me again and said, “There’s nothing to be sorry about. This isnotyour fault, and he’s going to be okay.” Joel sniffed my neck and pulled back with a frown. “Why do you smell like Billy?”
I broke away from Joel’s embrace, and Tobias said with a laugh, “I’m curious too. It’s as if he were standing here. It threw me off a bit.”
I’d already gotten used to the scent that I forgot I smelled like him.
“William gave me this hoodie back in December,” I said, crying and laughing at the same time. “They brought it by mistake, thinking it was Nathan’s. Someone’s bringing something else over for me to change. Plus, it’s huge.”
Lily’s eyes turned into hearts like the last time we talked about William on the night of the Super Bowl.
Suddenly, I felt lightheaded again and took a seat on one of the sofas. I needed to eat or drink something. Agent Johnson immediately approached me and asked if I needed anything as she pulled one of her toffee-colored curls away from her face.
“Coffee would be great. And—cookies?”
She nodded, and I thanked her afterward with a smile.
I needed to ask her what her name was. I was avoiding calling her by her last name. It felt weird.
Lily sat next to me, and my phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.
“Murph? Murph, can you hear me?”
“Hey, you,” I said with a trembling voice. “Yes, I do. Can’t wait for you to get here.” I exhaled air slowly through my mouth, making my cheeks blow up.Calm down. The full weight of everything that happened was beginning to crash against me.
“Oh, God. How are you feeling? I’m about to go mad any second now,” Nathan said, his voice infused with concern.
“I’m—fine.”
“I’m so anxious to see you. Your father told me everything. I’m so sorry, love. I can’t stop thinking about how I should’ve never left. I should’ve—”
“Nathan, this is—no. Don’t say that, please. There was no way we could’ve known what Thomas was planning all this time.”
Nathan took a few seconds to reply. I could hear him breathing on top of the airplane’s loud thrumming in the background.
“How’s your wrist? Your father told me it’s broken.”
“Yes, um. It’s in a cast.” I was having a hard time talking to him on the phone. I just wanted to see him so badly. “I’m just still … I don’t know. It’s all so surreal. I can’t believe Thomas is dead, and William and Caleb—”
“Don’t worry, love. I think it’s best if we talk about everything once I get there. I just wanted to hear your voice. Everything’s going to be okay. I’ll make sure of it, okay? I promise.”
“I really need you here,” I said with a gasp that broke my voice.
“I want nothing more than to be there for you, too. I’ll arrive in a few hours,” he said with that soothing voice of his that I adored. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
