The Steps We Take: thrilling psychological suspense fiction by Vanessa Garbin

Author:Vanessa Garbin [Garbin, Vanessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Folks
Published: 2022-04-30T23:00:00+00:00

14

Mila

Mum is unusually quiet on the way to the hospital and for that I’m grateful. She obviously knows that I wasn’t with Jaxon this evening but she’s not angry with me. If anything, she looks heartbroken. She thinks I can’t see the tears she keeps blinking away.

Rome will be looking for me right now. But even without Jaxon being in hospital I never would have made it after I fell off Ethan’s bike.

Though I dread texting him and disappointing him, I open my phone and type.

Sorry, I can’t make it tonight. I really am sorry. Can I come tomorrow? During the day? I’ll wag school.

He reads my message but doesn’t write back.

Great.

I’m the only person Rome trusts, and now I’ve gone and broken a promise.

What if I never see him again?

My thoughts return to Jaxon and my heart squeezes in terror. The very idea of losing him is horrifying to me. We’ve been through everything together, since the first day we met in kindergarten.

I can’t believe that he tried to take his own life. When I was with him earlier, I honestly thought it was the bourbon talking. Drinking has never agreed with Jaxon. It always leaves him feeling depressed. And thinking that he’s responsible for murdering Rome doesn’t help.

Poor Jaxon.

If only I could tell him the truth.

But I promised Rome.

I stare at the dark screen of my phone, already missing him. I’m not quite sure what’s developing between us, but I know that the only reason I open my eyes in the morning is to check my phone for Rome’s messages. It’s all that keeps me going.

Mum parks the car and we get out and walk quickly to the hospital entrance. Somewhere inside this building, Jaxon is in a room being treated. He nearly died. Jaxon, my gentle giant, my best friend.

I’m so disgusted with myself for even considering that he may have had anything to do with Rome’s disappearance.

I’ve been a terrible friend.

We rush through the sliding doors and are hit with a wave of ice-cold air-conditioning as we approach the main desk. Mum asks the receptionist which level Jaxon’s ward is and we head straight to the lifts.

Nobody gets on with us and Mum and I both share a moment in the intimate confines of the elevator, where our eyes meet and we both half-smile. The gentle hum of the elevator is calming, and I almost wish it would never reach the third floor, that we’d never have to step foot in the real world again, because then I wouldn’t have to face Jaxon and feel so sick with guilt.

I wonder how much Mum knows about what’s been going on in my life. She’s very perceptive. I’ve always thought that instead of working as a payroll officer, my mother should become a private investigator. Because it usually doesn’t take her long to sniff things out. So I’m surprised that she hasn’t worked out that I’m speaking to Rome. But then again, she would expect me to tell her something of that magnitude.

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