Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
Frankie
"Frankie, sit down. You're making me tired just watching you."
Newt sat in a chair next to Sebastian's bed, changing the bandages wrapped around the other man's torso and arms.
Sebastian's lacerations and burns were healing nicely, the skin around the edges a healthy pink of new growth. While it was impossible to tell without an x-ray, his leg also seemed to be doing well. The pain had lessened and there hadn't been any more incidents after he fell out of bed the other day. Seeing Newt so worried must have humbled him, for he'd been a model patient ever since.
I wished I could be happy about his progress, but I was too stressed to feel anything but panic.
It had been two days since Gabe left to meet with the FBI director, and we hadn't heard a word from him since.
"How can I sit down? I feel like I'm going to explode." To emphasize the point, I swung my fists wildly as I paced back and forth across the small room. "A simple meeting shouldn't have taken this long. What if they arrested him? Or worse, what if he's..."
I couldn't bear to finish that sentence, but it echoed in my brain anyway.
What if he's dead?
No, it wasn't possible. Gabe was too strong, too smart, too damn stubborn to just die. Something else must have delayed him. Maybe he'd discovered a new lead on finding the people who were hunting us. Or maybe Damien needed help with something.
Yes, those were perfectly logical reasons why Gabe hadn't returned yet, so long as I ignored the silence of the phone clutched in my hand.
Gabe had left behind a second secure cellphone to maintain communication while he was gone. It had taken him a few days to set up after we arrived at the safe house, but it worked now, so there was no reason for him not to call if something had changed.
Unless he couldn't call.
My thoughts came full circle, and I was back to fretting again.
With a sigh, Newt finished tying off the last of Sebastian's bandages.
Sebastian placed a hand over Newt's, thanking him with a smile, before his face fell back into a solemn expression.
"I should have gone with him."
Newt and I both immediately tried to argue, there was no way Sebastian was going anywhere in his condition, but the man just cut us off with a raised hand.
"I know I couldn't go with him like this. I've only just started sitting up on my own. I'd be no use to anyone."
He closed his eyes for a moment, holding back a deep well of pain and regret that made Newt squeeze his hand tighter.
"What I mean is that I shouldn't be injured like this in the first place. If I'd done things differently... been more careful with my investigation of the missing kids, or noticed an intruder in our apartment before they planted a bomb, then I could be helping Gabe now. He'd have some backup instead of having to handle everything alone."
I stared down at the phone in my hand, willing the screen to light up with an incoming call, but it stayed dark and silent.
"No, I should have gone with him."
On instinct, Newt reached out to grab my hand, but he didn't let go of Sebastian. A smile threatened to take over my face at the sight of Newt accidentally turning himself into an overstretched bridge of support.
"Don't be silly, Frankie. What could you do? You're not law enforcement or a detective. You don't have any combat training. There's nothing you could do for a meeting with the FBI director, especially if that meeting went wrong somehow."
With the phone in one hand and Newt holding the other, I couldn't do anything except growl in frustration under my breath.
"I'd at least be more help than I am here. Sebastian needs a nurse more than he needs a physical therapist right now. If I'd gone with Gabe, maybe I could have done something to help him."
"Or you could have hindered him even more." Sebastian spoke softly, with an apologetic look on his face, but he also didn't try to take his words back. "I'm sorry to be blunt, but unless you know what you're doing in a situation, it's best to stay out of the way."
He looked down at the bandages covering his body, and his leg wrapped in a cast from toe to hip.
"Even when you know what you're doing, sometimes things still go wrong. There's enough danger for all of us right now. We don't need to make things even harder."
Shaking off Newt's grip, I ran a hand through my braids and flinched when I felt one of them start to unravel.
"I'm not useless. I can help."
"I know, but?—"
Before Sebastian could finish, I cut him off. "No. Don't placate me. I'm not a child. I just..." My fists clenched so hard I felt the edges of the phone press into my palm. "I need to go sit down."
It was the exact thing Newt had been trying to convince me to do a few minutes ago, yet no one commented on my hypocrisy as I used it as an excuse to leave the room.
I first sought the solace of my bedroom, but it was a space I shared with Gabe. His side of the bed, somehow neatly made despite only having access to half the sheets, was a stark reminder of his absence. Instead, I tried to lock myself in the extra bathroom, but this was where Gabe had set up a makeshift office. I also didn't want to monopolize the main bathroom in case Newt or Sebastian needed it, and the kitchen was too open for privacy.
So, I turned to my tried-and-true hiding spot.
The RV.
When this whole adventure was over, I was going to miss the clunky vehicle. It had given me so much support during the second most trying time of my life.
Taking a deep breath, I curled up on the RV's bed. The phone remained clutched in my hand, still silent.
I stared at the dark screen.
"You stupid man. Where are you?"
Holding the phone to my chest, I lay my head on the pillow, just intending to rest my eyes. I had barely slept in the last few days. Although my nerves were still strained with worry, my exhaustion won out in the end, and I fell asleep.