Grayson
“Mr. Mandrake, if we could get another picture.”
I put on my best smile, sighing inwardly. “Just one more.” I was tired. I just wanted to get to my room with Emmalin. I scanned the lobby for her, and didn’t see her. I took one last picture, and my eyes roamed around the lobby again, since it had started to clear out. Where the hell did she go? I started to walk further out and saw a small crowd had formed in a corner, and someone ran past me. I made my way over to the crowd, and Emmalin was balled in the corner, rocking herself back and forth.
“Fuck, Emmalin.” She was shaking and staring off into space. I cupped her face, but it’s like she wasn’t there; she just kept chanting something.
“Tyler!” I called out.
The manager came over. “Sir, do we need to get medical attention?” I shook my head no. “I don’t think so, we just need space.”
Tyler came running over. “What happened?”
“I don’t know, she was just like this.”
Molly jogged up beside Tyler. “I have her meter.”
I began taking her blood sugar, impatiently waiting for the number. After a few seconds, I shook my head. “I don’t understand; it’s fine.” I looked at Tyler. He studied her, with her arms wrapped around her knees as she whispered something none of us could understand. He leaned closer and grasped her face in his hands, gently saying, “Willow.” All of a sudden she stopped and slowly peered up at him with tears in her eyes. Tyler’s eyes grew wide. He immediately stood up and looked around the lobby, then from me to her. “Let’s get her to your room, Grayson.” I nodded.
I took Emmalin straight to bed. I didn’t know what the fuck that was about. She just completely shut down, but something or someone scared her. I called Benny and had the security feed sent up immediately.
“What are you searching for?”
I looked at Tyler. “I have no fucking idea. Something or someone scared her bad enough to cause her to shut down like that. You have any idea what it could be?”
“I wish I did. I haven’t seen her like that since…” His voice faded.
“Since what?” I had gone over this feed ten times already, and I wasn’t any closer than when I started. With the lobby packed, it was hard to pinpoint anything. I just kept rewinding it back to where she was standing off to the side, and then walking around the lobby.
“Since I used to see her under that damn tree. It’s almost as if-” He stopped talking and faced the window before turning and looking at me. “But that’s not possible. We both know that.”
We stood staring at each other. It took a lot for Emmalin to reveal what happened. Tyler took the blame for killing her stepfather, to keep her safe. They were young, scared, and knew there was no way to explain a dead body.
“I have to go, but keep me updated.” I nodded as he left, still going over the feed, getting frustrated and also getting nowhere.
An hour later, Emmalin came out of the bedroom with her hair damp and skin a bit red. And we’re back to that again. She smiled at me as she sat across from me. “So, do you do roller coasters?”
I moved my laptop to the side, walked over to her, and pulled her up. I moved her shirt off her shoulder, examining her skin, and she flinched. “What did I tell you about this?” She shrugged her shirt back on and turned to walk away, but I held her firm. “And what did I tell you about walking away from me? Seems you’ve forgotten a lot of things.” She dropped her shoulders and rested her head on my chest.
“I’m sorry.”
“What happened back there?”
“I don’t know. I think I was just low or something.” I watched as she went to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water.
“We took your blood sugar, and it was fine.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I was just tired maybe. It’s been a long week. Maybe I was just overwhelmed or something. And the plane ride over probably just wore me out.” I watched as she continued to ramble on and on about complete bullshit.
“Emmalin, are you done lying to me, or did you want to keep going? I’m already thinking of ways to punish you for them later, but please, if you want to carry on, by all means.” She stopped talking and crossed her arms, glaring at me. We were interrupted by a knock on the door. She gave me a pointed look before answering it. She walked back in, followed by Tyler.
He looked between the both of us. “What’s going on?”
I gave her a heated stare. “Emmalin’s lying.” Her head shot up.
“I don’t need the both of you ganging up on me. If I don’t want to talk about it, then I don’t want to talk about it. This isn’t a fucking therapy session, so how about the both of you leave me the hell alone.”
Tyler held his hands up in a defensive pose. “Hey, no one is attacking you here. We’re looking out for you because you basically scared the shit out of us downstairs in the lobby, and frankly, you’re scaring the shit out of us right now.” She looked between the both of us, hands clenched, preparing for battle. Always preparing for battle. She shut her eyes and took several deep breaths.
“I thought I saw someone I knew, and it brought back old memories. It triggered a reaction, and I didn’t know how to deal with it, other than shutting myself down because I knew it wasn’t real. That’s it.”
“Who did you think you saw?” Tyler asked in a scrutinizing way. He gazed at her with that big brotherly look.
“No one,” she answered, not meeting his eyes. “Just drop it.”
I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around her. Emmalin was finally diagnosed with PTSD, and we were dealing with it day by day. I kissed the top of her head. “Are you sure? You’ve never had an episode like that.” She nodded and gave me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“I’m going to go for a walk before dinner.” I grabbed her hand. “Perfect, I’ll go with you.” She sighed.
“That was an excuse for some me time. I want to walk around a bit; window shop, maybe get you a gift.” She gave me a chaste kiss, and I grabbed her and deepened the kiss. “A gift is completely unnecessary; you know that. Are you sure you’re okay?” I cupped her face. She nodded and saluted Tyler on the way out. Tyler looked at me unconvincingly. I went back to the security feed.