Chapter 70 Make My Move
ELIJAH
Maybe it was the anger that was already bubbling inside me from having to deal with Donald and that daughter of his, but I had taken it all out on Adriana.
I didn’t mean to say that to her, but I had already said it and I couldn’t take it back now.
As soon as I slammed the door in her face, I suddenly came back to my senses and just stood there, wondering what the hell I had just done.
I mean, I was angry at her, but I knew I had gone too far. I didn’t actually mean to tell her to stay away from Leo, I knew they couldn’t do without each other.
Maybe I should go tell her I didn’t mean it… but then she would think I wasn’t mad at her anymore. And I didn’t want her to think that.
When I saw her lying there with Leo, I actually wanted to wrap my arms around her and pull her in for a hug since I hadn’t held her since everything happened.
Hazel told me how shaken up she was, and I could see it clearly. After what she did that day at the hospital, I knew she needed to recover from certain trauma, and I felt terrible that I wasn’t able to help her go through what she’d been through.
I knew she had also been through a great ordeal and needed someone by her side too, but as much as I wanted to be there for her, I just seemed to pull back at the last minute. Like the time when she was crouched on the ground, begging me not to hit her. I wanted to hug her and tell her I would never think of it even in my ninth life.
Or the time she was alone in the hospital room. I’d wanted to go in and see her until I heard her voice professing her hatred for Lisa. I stepped back immediately, not wanting to upset her any more than she already was.
As I made my way out of the hospital that night, I could feel eyes on me and caught a whiff of something very familiar.
I searched around for the source of that scent until I caught her eyes up on the roof, staring down at me.
The first thought that crossed my mind was fear that she might jump, but as I stared back at her, her eyes told me a different story.
She had been through so much back at her pack and she didn’t think of ending it all then, so this wouldn’t be any different. I was sure she wouldn’t try to kill herself because of what happened.
I mean, she wasn’t the one who stabbed Leo. The ones responsible were paying for it. I opened the door, hoping she would still be there, but just then I heard the slamming of another door and knew it was her.
Damn it. Hazel was right though. How long did I plan on ignoring her?
It wasn’t like I didn’t want to speak to her. I wanted to touch her and ask how she was doing, kiss her and tell her everything was going to be okay, hold her in my arms and tell her I didn’t blame her for what happened.
But I couldn’t. Maybe it was guilt that was overtaking me.
I went back to the bed and lay beside Leo who was sound asleep. He had asked for her almost every single day since he woke up from his surgery.
At first, I avoided the question, telling him he had to take care of himself first, but eventually when it got too much, I couldn’t avoid it anymore so I had to ask him to tell me what happened that day.
From his account, he had been the one to put himself in danger because she told him and the other kids to go inside, and even when she saw him outside, she still shouted at him to run.
“It’s not her fault. She ran to me and hugged me before the other lady got to me and we fell on the floor, but then I still felt the pain,” he signed.
I simply told him she was at home healing too. At that point, I was so angry at her that I didn’t want to hear anything about her.
Then he started asking me if she was so mad at him that she hadn’t come to see him. When he started to cry, I couldn’t help but feel terrible, so I told him she wasn’t mad at him and that her recovery was taking more time than expected.
I could see he wasn’t exactly happy since he hadn’t seen her since he woke up. As soon as he saw me at the hospital every day, the first question he asked me was always where she was.
When the doctor told me her diagnosis and that she had broken her arm after falling from the bench, I couldn’t help but feel awful because if I hadn’t said those things to her, she wouldn’t have run out crying and she wouldn’t have gotten hypothermia from the cold outside.
I even thought she went home when she ran out. I had no idea she was still there. It was probably the guilt, but I told the doctor to do everything he could to make sure she was fine, to make sure she recovered quickly and perfectly.
I just stayed beside Leo that night, feeling sorry for everything.
I’d arrested Lisa despite her father’s pleas and deals. That little toad Landon couldn’t even stand up to me once.
He just stood there looking at me without saying a single word. It made me sick.
I’d arrested all her accomplices too. I haven't killed them yet. The truth was I wanted to deal with other things before figuring out what to do with them.
Hazel told me to use them as leverage against Donald, which made perfect sense. It was the best option currently. And I was sitting on it just for a bit. I know he would get nervous when I'm silent. When he breaks and brings himself here, I’ll make my move then.