Chapter 88

We got to see Emily and sat with her for a while. We all sat with her for about an hour. Tubes hung out of her nose and mouth, her arms covered in different lines. The room smelt heavily of antiseptic, and I could even smell the infection running through her veins, and smell the antibiotic drips hooked up to her. Emily did not deserve this; nobody did.

Looking down at her, she looked so frail, her skin pale, and I found it hard not to break down. Emily was always so bubbling and a chatterbox. Seeing her like this was heartbreaking. I prayed she woke up soon, prayed she would pull through this. I would even drink her terrible coffee. God, I wished I could be drinking that horrible coffee. I wouldn’t even complain if it meant she would come back to us.

We weren’t sure if she could hear us, but eventually, Zoe had to leave to help Marcus and Macey wanted to go home and check on Taylor. Sitting next to Emily, I held her hand, rubbing circles into the back of her hand.

“You hold on, Em. Benny needs you,” I told her. Kissing her hand, I tucked her blankets around her and reluctantly left. It was dark as I climbed into my car. It was the middle of the night, and I listened to the radio as I headed toward the old commune and to Emily’s caravan on the way home. I was mentally and physically drained, and all I wanted to do was go home, see Valarian and crawl into bed beside my mate.

The commune was all mud and puddles, the rough terrain a little slippery since the storm, yet I managed to navigate through to the back where Emily’s caravan was. Pulling up beside it, I got out. Using the key Officer Derrick gave me not long after she went missing, I unlocked the flimsy door.

I stepped inside the tiny little place she shared with her son. Toys and stuffed bears sat on the bed they shared, a small Tv perched in the corner, and the walls were littered with Ben’s artwork. I saw two jars of her special made coffee and chuckled.

I see a blue duffle bag hanging on a hook on the wall. I grab the bag, looking for clothes with her son’s scent on them before carefully bagging them, making sure not to taint them with my scent and hoping it would give Emily comfort. I tidied up a little before finding a picture of her and Ben taped to her fridge, both smiling as they stood out the front of the school.