Page 110 of Sharing Silence

Chapter 36

Silence

Ryker guides me into the living room and sits me on the sofa. I’m swaying, my head a tilt-a-whirl, the pain back. There are so many thoughts that none of them register, just words, and places, and promises broken.

“Here.” Ryker presses two pills into my hand and a glass of water in the other. “For your head.”

“No,” I mumble. “I’m not taking anything you give me.”

“Rose, you’ve been here two weeks. If I was going to hurt you, I would have done it already.” He brushes my hair back. “Please, take it. Then I’ll get you some food and we can talk.”

“Zayden,” I breathe, shoving Ryker awake from me. “Where is he? Where are you keeping him?”

“He’s safe, Silence.”

“Liar.” I try to stand, but the floor tips. Ryker catches me again, and I try to wrestle myself free.

“Silence, you have a concussion. You cannot just⁠—”

“Get off me!” I shove him away and fall back into a table, the lamp tumbling over as I hit the ground. Bullet whines and trots over to me, snuffling my face.

“They’re all safe, Silence. X, Y, Z—they’re all here.” He takes my hand. “Let me help you up.”

“I want to see them.” I snatch my hand back. “I need … I need …”

I lay my head down, the carpet soft on my cheek, and I close my eyes. My stomach roils, my mouth waters, and I breathe deeply to resist vomiting. Pressing my nails into the carpet, I cling to it as if it can stop me from floating away, when maybe that’s exactly what I need.

No … I need …

Sleep. Just for a moment. Rest.

I’ll rest, and then I’ll find the brothers. Or maybe they’ll find me.

I’ll just close my eyes.

One long blink later, and judging by the ache in my arm, I’ve been asleep on the floor for a while. My head hurts so much I’m close to tears, and I bury my face in Bullet’s fur.

“Rose, please,” Ryker pleads. “Let me help you.”

“I want to see them.”

“You need to eat first.”

A spark of pain climbs across my forehead. “Fuck. You. I want to see them now.”

Ryker sighs. “Don’t you think if something were wrong, Bullet would be acting out? What would be the point in me bringing you here? Why would I care for you?”

Now, I open my eyes. The pain is worth it to remind myself of the man with me—the one who stabbed Xavier. Who took Zayden and hurt him.

“Because you’re hoping to rekindle what we had when we were teenagers.”

The words strike true, and he sits back, running his hand down his face.

“I won’t lie and say I’m not hoping for it, but I know that hurting the men you love isn’t the way to go about it.” I close my eyes again, hating that he’s making sense. Hurting Yale, Xavier, and Zayden would be a surefire way to make me want to kill him. There’d be no coming back from that, even though he doesn’t have a chance, anyway. “So, will you please eat? You’ve been living off soup for days.”

Tears sting my eyes as I reluctantly nod.

He helps me back onto the couch and disappears for a while. He returns with a plate of food—chicken, rice, and vegetables—and places it on my lap on a tray, along with water and pills. I ignore the pills and pull apart the chicken, sniffing and examining it. Eventually, Ryker has a mouthful of all of it to prove it isn’t drugged, and I eat.