Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 73153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I’d seen what it had done to my best friend. I hated that it could scar her, too.
I sighed. "Yes. Don't call them until we know for sure if they did this to her or not."
She nodded and pointed at the door. "Out, now." She moved to pick up her phone to call for an ambulance.
I nodded and walked out of the nurse's office, pulling my phone out. "Kaleb, why are you calling me while you're in school?”
I yanked my hand through my hair once again within the span of a minute, not even caring that I just smeared blood through my strands. "Tracey is about to go to the hospital.” Mom sucked in a harsh breath of air. “She passed out, and she has a head injury that's bleeding pretty badly.” I lifted my hand up, grimacing at the blood that was still on my hand, hating the thought that somebody could have done this to her. "I want to be there."
She sighed on the other end of the line. "Are her parents going to be notified?" I could understand her worry. Hell, I was just about freaking out.
"I don't think so. I can't be sure, but I tried my hardest to talk Mrs. Williams out of it, so hopefully not."
"Okay.” She drew in a deep breath. “I’ll call the school and let them know it's okay for you to sign yourself out. I'll meet you at the hospital in about fifteen minutes, okay?"
"Okay, Mom."
I hung up the phone and waited until the receptionist told me I was okay to sign out and leave. As I was walking out to the parking lot, an ambulance sped into the lot and parked in front of the school doors. They yanked a stretcher out of the back and ran inside. I blew out a breath and continued walking to my car, hoping that Tracey would be okay and that they could help her in time.
I tapped my foot against the tiled hospital floor, not able to concentrate on anything as I waited for some kind of news about Tracey. My mom was sitting beside me, typing away on her phone with urgency. I knew she was dealing with something at work, so it didn't bother me.
I leaned forward and ran my fingers through my hair, feeling extremely restless. I hated not knowing what was going on. Something had happened to her, and I was desperately wanting to know what.
I looked up as one of the doors snapped shut quietly. "Tracey Olive?"
My mom and I both stood to our feet and walked over to him. "I need to know you can be trusted before I allow you to see Miss Olive.” Mom sucked in a harsh breath of air, her eyes meeting mine, both of our worst fears confirmed. Someone had been hurting Tracey. “Therefore, you will need to speak to Officer Henry before I release any information."
My eyes snapped back to my mom’s. Sadness coated her eyes. I hated that this just confirmed my mother's suspicions about someone abusing her. I desperately hoped it wasn't her parents. Your parents were supposed to protect you, not use you as a personal punching bag.
We went into an empty hospital room, where an officer was waiting on us. My mom and I both took a seat across from him. He smiled at my mom. "How are you, Angelina?"
She smiled at him softly. "I'm doing a lot better. You know Kaleb and I aren't people to be suspicious of.” I vaguely recognized him as an officer who had helped Mom a lot during her case a few years ago when my biological dad was being arrested for domestic violence. “We're both desperate to know how she's doing."
He nodded, but he still didn't tell us anything we wanted to know, which just made me scowl. "I know you can be trusted, but I want to ask you some questions. Have either of you noticed any signs of abuse, such as Tracey flinching away from people or going out of her way for people to not touch her, perhaps?"
Nausea swirled in my gut. She always flinched when people came too close to her or unexpectedly moved, and she didn't like to be touched. Fuck, she always wore concealing clothes, even when it was hot as balls outside!
I rubbed my hands over my face tiredly. "She flinches back from me all of the time, and she doesn't like to be touched. She also doesn't interact with anyone.” I swallowed hard. “I tried being her friend. She kept pushing me away. I thought she was just being stubborn, but I guess there was just really something going on with her." And I hated myself for not noticing all of the signs before today.
He looked at my mom. "What about you, Angelina?"