Into the Woods: A Mad World Novel by Hannah McBride

Author:Hannah McBride [McBride, Hannah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

BEX

Present Day

I thought I’d seen Court Woods experience every possible emotion—happiness, sadness, fury, playfulness—but I’d never seen him look so ashamed. It made me ache to hug him, to make it all better.

He cleared his throat. “It took me a little over four hours to get to the drop-off spot. And then another four days, twelve hours, and sixteen minutes to find the cabin. The storm that hit came out of nowhere, and I kept getting turned around. I thought I’d never find you… then I heard you screaming.”

A shudder rolled down his frame, his dark eyes full of anguish. “At first I thought it was the wind. When I realized it was you… Becca, I’ll never forget that sound. You aren’t the only one who has nightmares—I have them, too. And in them, I hear that scream. Then it goes quiet, and when I find you, you’re…” He shook his head with a sniff.

“I’m right here,” I reminded him, my voice soft.

“Yeah, but I still close my eyes and see the girl I found. Becca, you were so sick. It took them almost another six hours to get to us because of the storm, and the whole time, all I could do was beg you not to die.”

My eyes widened.

Court’s jaw was tight. “Baby, you were burning up. Then you had a seizure. They didn’t know if you’d survive the medevac flight back to Los Angeles. It took them almost a week to get you stable enough for the transplant.” His eyes drifted shut. “And it was all my fault.”

“What? No, it wasn’t. Court, that was your dad, not you.” I frowned at him, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze, so I tugged on his hair until he looked up.

He shook his head. “He told me that caring about people left you vulnerable, but I never believed it. I mean… Fuck, we were kids.”

“Exactly,” I agreed. “We were kids. I can’t believe my dad was part of this.”

He grimaced. “I didn’t know about that until later when I heard our moms fighting. Well, it was more like your mom laying into my mom and threatening to go to the cops.”

“Why didn’t she?” I wondered.

Court looked like he wanted to sidestep the question, but then he sucked in a deep breath. “Fear. My dad threatened your parents. Plus he had the donor lined up for you when you were strong enough… They did what they had to do.”

“It broke their marriage,” I whispered. “And when I came home from the hospital, we moved. I missed being the girl next door.”

His eyes shut, as if pained by my confession. “Every time I looked out my window and saw your house, it made me sick. Sick and angry. I was so furious for so long.”

“Bishop mentioned military school?”

His lips twisted into a sardonic smirk. “Yeah. That was a fun few months. Hell, I was so twisted up, even Mom agreed to send me away.”

“What changed?”

“Royal,” he admitted. “He came to talk to me.

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