Chapter 35

August's POV

I left hockey practice and drove like a mad man, straight to the hospital, barely aware of the road, barely aware of my own breathing. All I could hear over and over, was the way Dona’s voice cracked on the phone. That awful, shaky whisper like she was trying so hard to act fine but falling apart anyway. It kept replaying, looping in my head until my hands went numb on the steering wheel.

The second I turned into the hospital lot, I spotted her. She was sitting on the pavement near the emergency entrance, knees tucked in, like she was trying to make herself smaller just to hold everything in. And God, she looked terrified. Not just scared, but terrified. Hey eyes were glossy, lips trembling and fingers digging into her own palms.

"Shit!" I cursed and hopped out of the car. “Dona, hey, what happened?”

I dropped to a crouch beside her, close enough to see the way her lashes clumped from tears. “Who called you? Why do you look like this?”

She opened her mouth but nothing came out except this tiny, broken sound that made my chest hurt. She swallowed andbwinced.

“My throat hurts,” she whispered. Then she held out her hand, offering me her phone, except it was cracked and half-dead. It looked like someone had stepped on it.

I took it from her gently. The screen lit up for half a second, and an unknown number flashed again and again: calling, canceling, calling, canceling. The hairs on my arms stood straight up.

“How long has this been happening?” I asked.

She shook her head. “It started a few minutes ago."

"Did they say anything? Anything at all? Tell me everything.”

Her throat bobbed up and down like swallowing hurt. “They said they know where I live.” Her voice cracked again. “They said they know my mom. They said they’d come there if I didn’t... ”

I leaned in. "If you didn’t what?”

She dragged a shaky hand through her hair. “If I didn’t tell your dad to pay up. It was Russell, August. He knew my name too!"

A cold, vicious anger crawled up my spine. “What else? What else did Russell say?"

“He said he was coming,” she whispered. “Russell said they already knew where we lived and what happened with our kitchen was just the tip of what he'd do to us. He said he'd 'visit’ me and my mom.” Her voice broke on the last word, barely holding together.

I cursed under my breath. “Why the hell didn’t you call me immediately? Dona, this isn’t something you deal with alone. You should’ve called me.”

“I would have called you, but...” she gestured helplessly at the shattered thing in my hand. “I threw it when it started ringing again, and I just… I didn’t know what to do.”

“Okay,” I said quietly, forcing myself to breathe slower so I didn’t freak her out more. “We have to get the hell out of here first, okay?"

She nodded vigorously. "Okay. Okay."

I was just getting a grip on myself, trying to steady Dona enough to get on her feet again, when the hospital doors opened behind us. I looked up and saw a woman stepping out, eyes scanning like she was searching for someone. I had no idea who she was, but the second she spotted Dona on the ground, her whole face pinched with worry.

“Dona? Dona, what happened?!" The woman rushed forward and stopped in front of us, hands outstretched as if she wanted to take Dona away from me.

"Sweetheart, did you pass out? Do you want to come back inside?" She asked. "You look pale. The nurses can check you."

Dona jerked like she’d been caught doing something wrong. She shook her head fast, wiping at her face with her sleeve even though the tears were already drying unevenly.

“No, no, I’m… we’re leaving,” she muttered and gave the woman a smile that looked anything but convincing.

The woman shook her head. “Are you sure? You don’t look okay. Piper will worry if she finds out that you...”

“I’m fine!" Dona snapped at the woman. She wasn't meeting her eyes. “Just tell Piper I’ll text her, okay?”

“Dona,” the woman said again in a soft voice, but she stepped back to let me help Dona to her feet.

Dona held on to my hoodie as she stood up from the curb. She was swaying a little and her breathing was still broken. I feared that she might pass out, so I slid a hand under her arm without thinking, guiding her up because she wasn’t steady enough to do it alone. She leaned into me barely; she didn’t have a choice. The woman caught that and her eyes narrowed in concern.

“I can still get a nurse to check you—"

“We’re leaving,” Dona answered again. “Please.”

The woman hesitated, clearly not liking it, but after a moment she nodded. “Alright. But please text Piper or me as soon as you get home.”

Dona bobbed her head in a weak little motion. “Yeah. I will.”

The woman gave her one last look, then finally stepped back and went inside. The doors shut behind her, and the second she disappeared, Dona sagged against me like all her strength went with her.

I held onto her tighter, trying not to let the panic inside my chest show on my face. She was still shaking all over, and I didn't know what to do. I wanted to keep her safe, make sure she was okay, but I didn't know how to do that.

“Come on,” I murmured, keeping my voice low so she wouldn’t get more overwhelmed. “I’ve got you.”

She nodded against me, fingers curled weakly into my hoodie. I kept my arm around her as we started moving toward the car, slow enough that she didn’t stumble. Every few steps she tried to straighten up like she didn’t want to look helpless, but her legs weren’t listening to her.

“Just breathe,” I said quietly. “I'm right here, Dona. I’m right here.”