Lynn

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I sat on the edge of the hospital bed, clutching tightly to Mason’s hand. His hand was cold, and it had been cold for days. Last night, I’d tucked it beneath the covers, but it didn’t warm up, not the way I’d liked.

Mason’s mother sat on the other side of the bed, shooting daggers at me with her eyes. She’d asked for me to be removed from the room, but since I’m his wife and I technically didn’t do anything, or so they all thought, I was allowed to stay.

After the police took Shelly away, they’d brought me to the hospital where I’d been given scrubs to wear. Mason’s mom had helped me wash the blood from my hair. That was where her kindness ended.

“Lynn,” she said quietly over Mason’s still body.

“What?” I whispered back, still clutching his hand.

“You should let him go.”

I didn’t even look up at her. I didn’t need to. The tiniest grin tugged at the corners of my lips, but I pushed it back. She wouldn’t appreciate it.

“I couldn’t let him go if I tried.”

Countless stitches and multiple pints of blood later, Mason still wasn’t awake. This morning, they’d done scans to be sure he had brain function. His brain was fine. He just wasn’t ready to wake up. I knew what that felt like.

I was determined to hold on to him. I’d never let him go.

“I wish I’d never introduced him to you,” she said.

His mother had always loved me. In fact, she’d taken on the role of a mother in my life long before I even met Mason. She’d cared for me, taught me, accepted me, and loved me. And now she wished I wasn’t here.

“I do too, most of the time,” I admitted. But now, it was done, and there was no way to undo it.

“When Mason wakes up, I think you two need to have a very serious conversation about the future.”

I nodded, but said nothing. We would. We would talk about everything. I laid a hand on my stomach. No one else knew about the baby. No one would until I could talk to Mason about it.

His mother got up, suddenly looking older than her years. Regret pierced my heart like a dagger, painful and abrupt. “I’m going to get some coffee,” she said.

“Okay.” I stared at him, willing him to wake. But I knew in my heart that he would, as soon as he was good and ready.

She left, and then the door snicked open a few minutes later. I turned to see Malcolm walking toward me. He’d been here most of the time since it happened. He sat in the waiting room while Mason’s mom and I sat by his bedside. Aubrey had been by twice.

“How’s he doing?” Mal whispered as he came over and kissed my forehead.

I reached for the hand he laid on my shoulder and covered it with mine, giving it a squeeze. “Same.”

“How about you?” he asked. He took a seat next to me.

“Same.”

“I’m glad you’re back.”

I yawned. “Me too.” I smiled at him, because it was what he wanted to see.

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Hey, Mal,” I finally said.

“Hey, Lynn.” He grinned.

“Do you think you could do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Could you go and check on Shelly?”

“Anything but that,” he replied. He shook his head. “No way, no how.”

“I need to be sure she’s okay.”

He probably didn’t care if she was okay. She’d done some pretty shitty things to him.

“I can’t do it, Lynn. I’m sorry.”

“Okay,” I whispered. I blinked back tears that pooled in my eyes. “I understand.”

He let his head fall back against the back of the chair. “Fuck,” he growled. “You know I can’t resist a pregnant crying woman.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to.”

He blew out a breath. “I’ll do it.”

I turned to face him. “Really?” I tried to bite back my excitement, but it was impossible. I’d been so worried about her. She’d taken the fall for me. I would set it all to rights, though. I would tell the truth about what really happened, as soon as Mason woke up. I couldn’t let her sit there when she’d done nothing wrong. She didn’t stab him.

“Yeah, really.”

A knock sounded on the door and Malcolm got up to open it. The private investigator stood there with two police officers. Malcolm stood between me and them. “Not now,” he said. “Her husband is still unconscious.”

“We just want to talk,” one of the police officers said.

“About what?” I asked.

“About what happened.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” I stared hard at him.

“Can you give me a second, guys?” the PI said. With some low spoken words, he ushered them from the room. Then he turned back. “I’m trying to help you here.”

“I don’t need your help.” I turned back to Mason, taking his hand again.

“You do need my help. I’m the only one who knows what really happened.”

“You weren’t there until the end. You don’t know anything.”

He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a memory card. “I was as good as there.”

“What’s that?” Malcolm asked.

“Surveillance video.”

“Where did you get it?”

“A few days before the event, I installed some cameras in Shelly’s apartment.”

I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t do anything. He knew what happened. Even I didn’t know every detail. I’d only seen what Ash had shown me.

“That can’t be legal,” Malcolm protested.

“I didn’t give it to the cops.” He stared hard at me. “I can help you.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I think that, deep down, you’re good people. Even Shelly.”

Malcolm snorted. He jerked a thumb toward the PI. “Has he met Shelly? Apparently not.”

“I saw her today.” He looked down at the floor. “She’s doing well, considering.”

I laid my forehead on Mason’s chest, relief flooding my heart. “She’s okay?”

“She’s fine. In good spirits. Doesn’t regret a thing.”

“Regret really isn’t her thing,” Mal muttered.

“When Mason wakes up, I’m going to tell the cops the truth. I’ll explain everything to the police. But I don’t want them to take me away yet,” I told him.

“She’ll never let you take the fall for this,” he said. He shook his head. “She loves you. Desperately, dearly, devotedly. It’s absurd, the bond you all have, really. I don’t understand it, but I want to.”

“Why?” Mal asked.

“I can’t tell you that. Let’s just say that I have a lot of sympathy for your situation.”

“Are you working with the cops now?” I asked.

He smiled. “I’ve always worked with the cops. They bring me in for special cases, like this one.” He took a chair and spun it backwards, straddled it, and rested his arms along the back. “Why don’t you start at the beginning? Help me understand.”

I don’t know why I did it, but I started to talk. I told him everything. He already knew some of it. He’d learned it from Mason, when Mason had first hired him. What he didn’t know was my side. Shelly’s side. He didn’t know any of that, but I told him.

When we were done, I turned and laid my forehead on Mason’s chest. I breathed in the scent of antiseptic and Mason. I needed for him to wake up.

Suddenly, his chest flinched beneath me. I lifted my head and looked at him. He looked back at me, blinking his dark eyes at me. “Have to…get Shelly…out,” he said. “No matter…what.” He held my gaze long enough that I understood. He knew. He knew Shelly had taken the fall for me. He knew she did it out of love. He knew I needed her.

“You’re awake.” Tears pooled in my eyes and I didn’t even try to brush them back.

He lifted his hand and touched the side of my face. “You’re back.”

“I’m back.” I smiled at him. I was a watery mess.

“I missed you.” He puckered his lips and waited for me to lean forward and kiss him.

I touched my lips to his, lingering just long enough that it felt real.

“Is Ash mad at me?” he asked, his voice little more than a croak.

“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “I haven’t heard from any of them since it happened.”

His brow furrowed. “Not at all?”

I shook my head. “Not at all.”

“Where did they go?”

“I’m not sure.” I had no idea where they’d gone. They’d never done this before.

Silence fell upon the room, because neither of us knew how to feel about my friends being gone.

Suddenly, Malcolm spoke. “Does this mean I’m off the hook?” he asked. “I don’t have to go see Shelly?”

“Yes, Mal,” I said with a sigh and a roll of my eyes. “You’re off the hook.”

“Good, because that bitch scares the fuck out of me.”

What scared the fuck out of me was the thought that Ash, Jamie, and Charlie could just leave me. And I didn’t know what to do about it.