Chapter
Thirty-Nine
I wake up slowly, and it feels like my head has been stuffed with cotton. My brain is fuzzy, and my eyelids are so heavy. I struggle to open them, and when I finally do, I find I’m not in my bed at home. I’m in an unfamiliar place.
I realize quickly I’m in a hospital bed, not in my own room.
“Oh, Penny. There you are.” It’s Mom. She’s standing by my bedside, tears shining in her eyes. “How are you feeling? Are you uncomfortable? I can call the nurse—”
“No,” I interrupt her with a croak. I clear my throat and wince. “Can you get me some water?”
She pours me a glass and hands it to me, helping me sit up so I can take a sip. The water is cool relief considering my mouth and throat both feel like the Sahara desert. “Why am I here?” I ask. “What happened?”
“You were injured.” Mom’s face becomes serious. “Stabbed, but luckily enough, no major arteries or organs were hit. They called it a shallow wound, though it certainly didn’t look shallow to me.”
“Maggie.” I close my eyes, sink my head into the flat pillow. It all comes rushing back now. The candlelight vigil. Me suspecting it was Maggie and following her as she followed Courtney. “Maggie did it to me.”
“I know. We all know. She’s been taken into custody.” Mom pats my arm gently.
“What about Courtney?” I struggle to open my eyes again, but it’s so hard. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. Everyone’s fine, including you.” Mom’s voice starts to drift. She sounds like she’s so far away. “It’s okay. We can talk about it later. Get more rest. You need it, darling. You’ve been through so much.”
I want to say something more. Ask about the cops. Where’s Courtney? Where’s Cass? Why isn’t he here? Is he okay?
My head is too heavy to fight it, though. I give in.
And sleep.
…
They release me from the hospital the next afternoon with little fanfare, thank goodness. I couldn’t stand being in there. Thankfully, the wound wasn’t that bad, but they wanted to keep me overnight for observation. What made me so groggy was the pain medication they pumped into me. The doctor prescribed pain meds for me to take home, but I don’t like being so foggy headed.
I felt completely out of control. And after what just happened to me, I don’t ever want to experience that again.
Once I change into a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt Mom brought me from home, I’m ready to go. The nurse pushes my wheelchair outside into the blinding midafternoon sun, and I see my dad’s car is parked right in front of the main entrance. Mom is walking beside me, and she helps me get out of the wheelchair, then into the backseat of the car. She’s treating me like a total invalid.
But that’s okay. I sort of feel like a total invalid.
Once we’re in the car, Mom doesn’t stop chattering. I think she’s trying to keep me focused, so I won’t feel sorry for myself or think too much about what happened last night.
“Your sister and brother wanted to come see you right away, especially Peyton. But I told them to wait until this weekend, after you’ve had a few days to recuperate. I didn’t think you’d be up to visitors just yet, don’t you think? You need as much rest as possible after everything you’ve gone through.”
“Yeah. Sure,” I say distractedly.
“Courtney’s mother called me this morning, checking on you. That was nice, wasn’t it?” she asks.
“Have you talked to Cass?” He didn’t come to the hospital to see me, and I don’t know why. I need more details. I want to know where Maggie is, what did the cops say, how Courtney is and what happened to Cass. I’m worried about him.
He saved me.
“He called this morning, but I told him you couldn’t talk yet.”
“What?” I say it so loudly Mom turns to look at me. “Why did you do that?”
“You were sleeping.”
“But I want to talk to him.” He’s my freaking hero.
“You can do that later.” She waves a hand, as if dismissing the subject.
“I want to talk to him now, Mom.” I’m so tired of her controlling my life all the time. “Do you have my phone?”
She reluctantly hands it over and I power it on, watching all the notifications rack up, one after the other. I scroll through everything, relieved when I see the Snapchat selfie from Cass that came early this morning, captioned I miss you, accompanied by a sad emoji.
I send him a Snapchat message back. A selfie with the caption I miss you too.
My phone rings. It’s Cass. I bring the phone up to my ear, smiling. “You saved my life.”
“I told you I wasn’t the killer.”
I’m smiling. I can’t believe he’s joking about this right now. “Guess you couldn’t wait to talk to me?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t. Where are you?”
“I’m on my way home. They released me from the hospital.”
“So you’re okay.”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Thank God.” I can hear the relief in his deep voice, and it makes my skin go warm.
I lower my voice. I can feel my parents spying on me and I wish I were by myself. “My mom told me you called. I’m sorry I didn’t call you back.”
“It’s okay, she said you were sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb you. I can’t lie, though, I’ve been worried sick.” He hesitates, and I can’t help but think he’s being so sweet. “It’s been crazy, Pen. I had to stay at the school last night, since I was an eyewitness. The cops questioned me. Then I went home and my grandma was completely freaked out. I had to reassure her that everything was okay. She wanted me to tell her everything. So I did, staying up half the night spilling it all. Spalding called around midnight to let me know that you were all right. He knew I was worried.”
Aw. Spalding was actually nice to Cass. I can’t believe it.
“I just called the hospital about a half hour ago, trying to get them to put me through to your room, but they said you were taking no personal calls.”
“Come over to my house,” I whisper. “I want to see you.”
“I’ll leave in a half hour. Is that okay?”
I smile. “That’s perfect.”
The moment I end the call, Mom starts in.
“Are you sure you should have visitors? You need to rest.”
“I want to see him, Mom.”
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea—”
I interrupt her. “I know you don’t approve of him one hundred percent, but he saved my life, Mom. He means a lot to me, and we’ve been through so much together. No one else understands, except for Cass. And I understand him, too.”
“It’s just that…” Her voice trails off and she shakes her head before looking over her shoulder at me. “I just want to protect you, Penny. You’re our baby. And we could’ve lost you.”
“But you didn’t, thanks to Cass,” I say firmly. “And I want to see him. I care about him, Mom. A lot.”
She relents. I witness her sag in seeming defeat. “Fine. He can come over. But I don’t want him to stay too long. You need your—”
“Rest,” I finish for her. “Yeah, I get it.”
The minute we arrive home, Mom’s helping me walk to my bedroom. I’m not as strong as I thought. The stab wound is throbbing and I practically collapse into bed, sighing when Mom pulls my comforter up and over my body.
“My bed is the best bed in the whole wide world,” I tell her, making her laugh.
“There’s nothing like sleeping in your own bed when you’ve been missing it,” Mom agrees, sitting on the edge of my mattress. She tucks the comforter around me, acting like a typical mother. “That call from the police last night was one of the most terrifying I’ve ever experienced in my life.”
I meet her gaze, see the sadness and worry written all over her face, and I feel awful. “I’m sorry, Mom. I should’ve never followed after Maggie like that. But I just knew she was going to attack Courtney. And I was right.”
“Why don’t you start at the beginning of this story,” Mom says with a gentle smile.
So I do. I launch into all the details from the last few days, trying to ignore the dawning horror on her face. I did some stupid stuff. I realize it now. But every move I made last night was impulsive—and potentially life threatening. Following after Maggie is where I made my biggest mistake.
Luckily enough, I paid for it with only a minor stab wound, versus my life.
“I’m just glad you’re safe. These last few weeks have been an absolute nightmare,” Mom says.
I roll my eyes. “Tell me about it.”
We both smile wanly, and then Mom dives in for a hug, making me wince with pain. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” She moves away, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It’s okay, Mom.” I grin at her. “I’ve realized I’m pretty tough.”
“Of course, sweetheart.” She pats my cheek. “That you are.”