Chapter 41

"I"m going to get some coffee," Paloma says. "That way, you can have some alone time with her."

She exits the room and closes the door softly behind her.

With my hands on the wheels, I push forward until I reach Tia's bedside. I reach out to hold her hand and caress it with my fingers.

"I can"t believe this happened to you," I sniffle. "I"m so sorry, Tia. I"m so sorry." I drop my head on the bed and weep quietly.

"Well, it"s about damn time you showed up, bish," Tia whispers weakly.

My head shoots up with a sudden burst of excitement to see her hazel eyes staring back at me.

"Hey, Tia," I chuckle, happy to see her being herself. "How are you feeling?"

Tia winces slightly as she adjusts her position. "I"ve been better," she admits, her voice tinged with pain. "But I"ll survive."

Her expression has changed to a pallid gray hue, much like the color of the sky on a dreary, overcast day. "Sade. I"m—" Her lips quiver as she speaks, struggling to form the words. "Sophia—"

A single tear trickles down my cheek, its salty taste lingering on my lips. "I know, but Javi is doing everything he can to find her, and I"m not giving up," I reassure her. I can only imagine she"s experiencing the same pain and sorrow I feel.

Tia drops her head back and closes her eyes. "What about the psycho who attacked us?" she asks in a contemptuous tone.

"All I know is that they"re looking for her." As far as I know, there haven"t been any new developments, and that has only intensified my fear. A Google search says that the first seventy-two hours a person is missing are the most critical. I stopped reading because I didn"t want to think about what that meant.

"She better pray Javi gets to her first before I do," Tia says.

"I"ll bury the body," I respond.

She turns to face me and smiles, but it quickly fades. The corners of her mouth draw down, and her eyes glisten with tears. Seconds later, she covers her face with her hands and weeps.

And I cry with her.

Minutes go by before our crying session ends. Tia wipes her face with the palm of her hand. "I need you to know that I fought, Sade." She turns to face me, her expression heavy with grief. "I fought hard."

I smile through my tears, blinking them away. "I know you did, Tia," I tell her, my voice filled with love and loyalty. "I know you did."

Eventually, she drifts off to sleep from the exhaustion of her emotions.