44. Vaughn

Chapter 44

Vaughn

G arrison stands in the hallway, eyes closed, head tipped back, and both hands stuffed in his pockets.

It's a familiar pose.

Painfully so.

The location is different, a clinic instead of a hospital, but I got used to seeing him stand like this outside Blaine's room when we weren't sure if he would live or die.

We barely slept, and we came out the other end like husks of our former selves. It's the reason Garrison decided to hire an assistant in the first place.

He struggled to find his purpose with Blaine still in a bad way. And me… I'd lost Violet, my little sister. When I wasn't wishing I'd gone with her, I was trying to get Mom to speak to me.

She came for the funeral, left soon after, and never spoke to me again.

My fault, she said, clutching a soggy tissue at the cemetery. Her last words to me, as tears slid from eyes red rimmed from crying.

It took years for me to stop believing it wasn't my fault. And only then, because I remembered Violet was like trying to tie up a tornado. What Violet wants to do, she will fucking do it. Some way, somehow.

So it was my fault she joined Lucas Security, but it wasn't my fault she died. An alpha was to blame for that.

Roman and Frost have parked themselves outside the clinic. I didn't ask them to. Roman stepped up next to me and told me to go inside. He'd take over the watch.

Frost said he'd do a slow saunter around the building.

When shit hits the fan, everyone pulls together.

I walk over to Garrison, lean on the same wall and rest my shoulder against his. "How is he?"

"Sadie said he was lucky. Five stitches. It could have been worse."

I know.

I cut the vest off him and dug out the bullet buried in it.

"We nearly lost them," Garrison says quietly. "If Blaine hadn't moved when he did… I promised her she would be safe. That I would protect her."

"Blaine, Resa, and the baby are okay."

He focuses bleak eyes on me. "And the next time they aren't?"

I grab him by his shoulder and haul him close, hugging him as hard as he hugged me after Violet's funeral. "Let it go."

A female voice drifts toward us. It sounds like it might be Resa.

I pull away from Garrison and tilt my head toward the doorway. "What do you think they're talking about?"

"Hopefully, it's not whatever had her reaching for a knife. Let's go find out," Garrison says, leading the way.

As we approach Blaine's room, he's talking about kidney punches.

Every now and again, I hear Resa's low, husky voice as she asks a question.

We reach the open doorway.

I'm stepping in when Garrison grips my arm, lifting his finger to his mouth before I can ask why we're stopping short of entering the room.

I see it.

Blaine is in bed, ankles crossed, introducing Resa to new ways to incapacitate a person. Painful ways that make me regret agreeing to be a dummy. The thought is fleeting. Blaine wasn't ready to teach self-defense lessons one-to-one. That was plain to see back in the kitchen when Resa asked him to.

If Blaine needs more time to get used to touching, then I can wait until I get my sparring friend back. And if Resa needs to elbow me in my bladder to feel safe, then I'm good with that as well.

Resa is standing beside his bed. I can't see her face since she has her back to the door. But her hand…

Garrison tugs me away, and I let him pull me from the entryway before Blaine can spot us.

"Did you see?" he asks.

"I saw."

Blaine not shying away from touch. Not curling into himself or tensing the way he always does. He was talking quietly with Resa as he held her hand. And it looked like he was the one holding onto her . Had he been the one to instigate it? Or her?

And why?

Resa was on her way to stabbing Blaine in the throat at the house. It looks like she's changed her mind about wanting to kill him.

I told Resa that Blaine would never hurt her, so whatever he was doing in her room last night wasn't to hurt her. I can ask Blaine or even Resa about it later.

We stand feet from the open doorway, processing what it might mean.

We're still processing it when Sadie heads this way. "Ah, it's been fifteen minutes. I wanted to let Blaine know he can leave after I check his wound."

"Is it important to do it right now?" Garrison asks.

"Uh…" Sadie bounces her gaze between me and Garrison. "No. But it's important to him. Remember?"

I get why she's looking at us like we've lost the plot. Blaine has no interest in hanging around clinics and hospitals. He did it for Resa, but it was a struggle for him. So much of a struggle that as soon as we'd get home, he'd shut himself in his room for hours, like he needed to decompress.

Blaine should be scratching at the walls to leave the clinic at the first opportunity. He's not doing that. He's in there, explaining how to take a grown man down with nothing more than a well-placed punch.

"Give him a few minutes, okay?" Garrison asks. "I think he might be turning a corner."

Her gaze darts to the open doorway, but she doesn't push to know more. "Ten minutes, okay?"

Garrison nods.

Sadie leaves, and we spend the next five minutes quietly listening to Resa and Blaine talk.

As their conversation rumbles on, I lean closer to Garrison, whispering, "I think she might stay."

Garrison quietly snorts. "I think she's too determined to have decided so soon. But I think we're on our way to convincing her that her place is with us."

When Blaine asks about Sadie, we make our way to his room.

Resa is standing beside the window now, arms folded as Blaine swings his legs to the side of the bed, frowning. "Have you seen Sadie? I've stopped bleeding, and she said she'd be fifteen minutes, but…" His voice trails off.

"But what?" I ask, curious about his response.

He shakes his head. "Nothing. Just, she's been a while."

Yes, she has, and it sounds like you only just noticed.

If I hadn't seen what I had, I wouldn't have known they were holding hands. I saw it, and I warn myself not to get excited about what it means. Blaine isn't suddenly going to be hugging everyone and hitting bars. But it would be amazing to have my friend back.

Garrison nods. "I'll go get her. You ready to go home?"

Blaine blows out a sigh of relief. "Yeah." His eyes dart to Resa. "I have a self-defense lesson to teach, and Vaughn…"

"You need me to play dummy?"

He nods.

"Sure." What's a kidney punch between friends?