Someone has injected concrete into my brain, I swear.

With a soft groan, I ease my eyes open, squinting against the light.

A body shifts in a chair near the window. I turn to my left, only to be met by the towering chief of police as he stands and walks to my bedside. He’s in uniform, his expression ominous.

“Am I being arrested?” I croak.

With a soft snicker, he shakes his head. “For saving my life? No. For dating my daughter behind my back? Tempting, but…” He raises his eyebrows, his mouth tugging up at the corners. “What you did was very brave.”

I close my eyes and lick my lips, suddenly aware that my shoulder is killing me.

With a wince, I reach up to investigate.

“The bullet went straight through your shoulder and chipped the bone. You lost a lot of blood, but the surgeon cleaned you up and you’re going to recover just fine.”

“It hurts,” I rasp.

Chief Barlow reaches for my head. I lean away from him with a wary frown and don’t relax until I hear the beep of the call buzzer behind me.

“I’m not going to hurt you, son. You saved my life. You saved Chloe.”

“I’d never do anything to hurt her,” I whisper. “Is she okay?”

“She’s still a little traumatized, but she’ll get there.”

My face crumples as the urge to find Chloe and see for myself swamps me. I just want to hold her. I struggle to sit up, but a gentle hand on my chest forces me back down.

“Hey, she’s all right. She’s going to be fine. We all will be.”

I swallow, the sound audible in the silence between us.

“Are you going to let me see her?”

“I’m pretty sure she’ll kill me if I don’t.” His wink is so subtle I nearly miss it. “But she’s sleeping right now and I’m not going to let you wake her.”

“Sleeping,” I whisper, relaxing my head onto the pillow and picturing her curled up in bed. I hope she’s not having nightmares.

I know what it’s like to relive a beating. It took me weeks to sleep through the night after the first time Enzo got to me.

Shit, Enzo.

I grimace and glance up at the police chief. “Is my family…?”

“They’re still in Armitage. I suggested that it’d be better if they stayed put. I’ll look after you. Your uncle wasn’t too keen but I’ve managed to talk him around, for now.” His voice takes on a hard, unimpressed edge.

Dread simmers through me as I imagine going back there, having to deal with their shit while I recover. I don’t know if I can do it.

“You know, the Hales have offered to let you stay with them until you’re better.”

“What?” I frown.

“Mr. Hale, the music teacher from school.”

“I know who he is,” I murmur. “But why would he do that?”

The policeman gazes down at me. I can’t read his expression. It’s maybe a mix of sympathy and understanding, I’m not sure.

“Not everyone in this world wants to hurt you, Vincent. Some are dead set on taking care of you.”

I snicker. “Chloe’s proof of that.”

“She’s not the only one who cares, and when I spoke to your brother earlier, he specifically requested that I find somewhere safe for you to go until he gets out. I can’t exactly have you moving in with my family, but—”

“He’s getting out?” I hold my breath, hope daring to surface.

Chief Barlow bobs his head. “Milo Carter signed his confession while you were in surgery, which seems to have started a chain reaction. Luisa Garcia is reluctantly telling her side of the story now that her brother Tomas has completely denied all knowledge of it.” He lets out a derisive snort. “Guess family bonds aren’t as tight as she thought they were, but it works in your favor, kid.” He taps the end of my bed. “It’ll take some time, but your brother should be fully exonerated.”

“You mean he’s free?”

“He will be.”

Thick emotion kills my ability to speak.

“How are we doing in here?” A nurse bustles in with a sweet smile. She has a short black ponytail and big brown eyes. Her olive face is round and friendly.

Chloe’s dad steps back so she can stand beside the bed and look at me. “Nice to see you awake.”

I lick my dry lips again and let her check my vitals.

“Any pain?”

“My shoulder.”

“Okay.” She bobs her head while checking my chart. “Looks like I can give you some more meds in about ten minutes. You sit tight, I’ll go and get things organized for ya.”

“Thank you,” Chief Barlow answers on my behalf.

She nods and smiles at him, looking like a dwarf next to the towering man.

He steps forward as soon as she’s left. “So, you think you could live with the Hale family for a while?”

“I guess.” I shrug, then wince, my shoulder reminding me not to move around. “Not sure Enzo will be too happy about it though.”

“Hey, you leave Enzo to me.”

“You can’t watch him every second of the day. He’s not just going to let me walk away.”

“If he lays one finger on you, I’m taking him down.”

I glance at the man, surprised by the strength of his statement.

“Don’t be afraid to trust me on that one, kid. Chloe tried to tell me what an excellent guy you are, and you showed me how right she was.”

There’s this warm thing happening in my chest right now. I’m not sure what it is, but no adult has ever made me a promise I could believe in. But I trust this guy. I trust the look on his face, the confidence in his tone and posture.

He’s not going to let me down.

A smile creeps across my lips before I can stop it. “So, am I allowed to date your daughter, then? You know, in front of your back?”

My joke falls a little flat and I cringe, looking down at the white blanket covering my legs. It was a lame joke anyway.

“Of course you can date me.” The soft voice at the door makes my heart sing.

I strain to see her, ignoring the pain searing my shoulder.

Gritting my teeth, I hold back my hiss and smile at the vision shuffling into view.

“Hey,” I whisper, drinking her in. My beautiful Chloe.

“Hi.” Her smile is pure sunlight and I reach for her face, but can’t get my arm high enough to touch her. “It’s okay.” She perches on the edge of the bed, leaning close so I can cup her cheek.

“You all right?”

“Yeah, I am now.” Her blue eyes sparkle, but don’t hide the trauma of what she went through. I wish I could wipe it from her mind. I wish I had a magic touch to heal the wound on her head and the bruise on her cheek.

Anger flares briefly as I picture Milo Carter punching her, but she takes the emotion away with her delicate fingers.

“How bad are you hurting?” She traces the contours of my face. It kind of tickles, but I’m not moving for anything.

“My shoulder’s not great, but I’m going to be fine.”

“I know you will be. You’re the toughest guy I know.”

I grin and pull her in for a kiss, but a little throat clearing makes me pause.

Chloe rolls her eyes, but doesn’t turn to acknowledge her father.

She keeps gazing at me like I’m the most important thing in the world.

No one’s ever looked at me like that before and it’s hard to know what to do with it. My chest feels like it’s going to burst; the emotion bubbling inside of me is indescribable.

“Okay, fine. I’ll let you have a moment,” her dad finally mutters. “Not too long though. You both need your rest.”

Chloe grins as her father steps out of the room. As soon as the door clicks shut, she leans down to kiss me. It hurts my split lip but I don’t care. Running my fingers into her blonde locks, I cradle the back of her head and skim my tongue against hers.

It’s warm and comforting, enveloping my senses and taking all the pain away.

She smiles against me, running her thumb across my cheekbone and murmuring, “I love you.”

The words only add to my heart expansion. I swear I’ll be floating soon. It’s like there’s this balloon inside of me that she keeps inflating and I don’t want it to ever pop.

For a second, I glimpse my future. Instead of dread and resignation, I spot something bright and brilliant. Chloe’s holding my hand, smiling her sunshine smile and letting me lead her out the door to prom.

I’ve never let myself imagine something so High School Musical before, but there it is. And I can’t help hoping the vision will come true.

It’d be so normal, so unlike anything I’ve experienced before.