Fractals by Alicia Anthony

Author:Alicia Anthony [Anthony, Alicia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781733362474
Publisher: Drury Lane Books

Twenty-Eight

CARLY

The lights were too bright. A searing pain lit in my skull every time I tried to pry my eyes open. My mouth was dry, cotton-like. I cleared my throat and felt a hand on my arm. I squinted, bore the pain of the lights, and blinked through the fuzziness. The hand on my forearm was smooth, not the rough, calloused skin I’d grown used to. But the man attached to it was a stranger–almost. I shrugged away from him until a permeating pain in every muscle stopped my retreat.

“I know you don’t remember me.” He smiled. Brushed a hair away from my face. “My name’s Ethan Thompson. Asher’s brother. Do you remember what happened last night?”

I closed my eyes again, letting his voice flow over me. Warm. Safe. A tickle of a memory flittered at the edges of my consciousness, not yet close enough to grasp. “I don’t remember,” I spoke, but only managed a whisper.

“Probably for the best.” He patted my arm, his fingers soft against my skin. I heard the door click, but I didn’t open my eyes to see who had entered. Instead, I just listened, protecting my eyes from the pain.

“She asleep?” Miss Harrison’s voice.

“In and out,” Ethan answered. “Any word from Asher, yet?”

“Not since they invited him down to the station.” I detected the frustration in Miss Harrison’s voice. Heard the fwump of her body as she sunk into a chair. “My boss called, though. Had to do a lot of talking to keep him from removing me from the case. They’re revoking Asher’s guardianship.”

I forced my eyes open, bracing against the slice of pain. “Why?” My voice was thick and rough. It sounded exactly the way I felt. “He didn’t do anything.”

“Oh, Carly.” Miss Harrison leaned forward, her hand skimming along my leg. “It’s policy. Our job is to make sure you’re in the safest place possible. When something like this happens …”

“But he didn’t do this. I did.” Desperation was creeping into my lungs, pitching my voice up an octave. A sudden lurch of memories pummeled me. A burgundy truck. An ill-advised trick. Mom’s opal. I sat up, ignoring the burning pain of every core muscle.

Ethan stepped forward. His eyes flicked to a nearby monitor. “Take it easy, Carly. We’ll get this sorted out.”

“But … where am I supposed to go?” The tears came without warning, and there was nothing I could do to hold them back. Whole body fatigue settled over me, rendering me incapable of the façade I normally kept on stand-by.

“We’ll figure it out later. Everything will be okay. I promise.” I checked Miss Harrison’s eyes. She was trying for truth, but I read something darker. Guilt, maybe.

“He’s in trouble, isn’t he? Because of me?” I wracked my brain, trying to remember every element of the decisions I’d made, how any one of them could have been construed as his fault. I came up empty.

“The police just wanted to ask him some questions. They want to find out what happened so they can make sure it doesn’t happen again.

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