Holden
Iwatch TV for a bit, giving Briar some space. I channel surf and then decide to check on her since I hadn’t heard from her and it’s been almost an hour. King will be back soon.
“I’m going to grab a bite to eat, be back in a bit. I’ll bring something back for you two,” Remo says, before walking out.
I listen to the silence and I don’t like it. I knock on the door to the bedroom but no answer.
“Briar?” I don’t hear anything so I peek my head in, but she’s not on the bed.
The bathroom door is closed so I knock.
“Briar?” No answer. Maybe she fell asleep in the tub.
I push the door open and see her underwater.
I still see bubbles, so I pull her out.
“Briar!”
She’s still breathing so she wasn’t like that for long.
“What happened?” I ask her, shaking her awake.
“You should have let me die,” she says.
Hell no. I wrap a towel around her and carry her to the bed.
I try texting Remo since he’s a doctor.
“Briar?”
“I can’t…” She’s crying.
“Why do you want to die?” I ask her.
“Because,” she rolls to the side, curling into herself.
“I need a little more than that,” I snap at her.
“If I was gone, Lane would leave all of you alone,” she says.
“Briar, I don’t want you to leave, neither do the others. Can you sit up and talk to me?”
She does and looks at me and the sadness in her eyes tears me apart.
“Thorn would be sad if you left,” I say and tears start to spill out of her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she says. I know she’s going through some traumatic shit. She’s not thinking straight.
“I know what happened to you and it’s understandable that you would feel like this. I’m not judging you. None of us would. We want you to be happy and we wouldn’t be if you weren’t here with us. Remo is going to come check you out. You probably should talk to someone when we get home, it might help,” I tell her.
“Why do you care?”
“Because I need you. Thorn needs you. If you weren’t with King right now, I’d be making my move. You are everything.”
“Oh god,” she starts wailing and I hold her as she works it out.
“You good?”