Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

Riff

She woke up with a gasp, shooting up in the bed, pulling her knees to her chest, her eyes huge and unfocused.

With an ache in my chest, I realized this was likely how she'd been waking up for months. Afraid of having been unconscious for so long, unaware of what or who was around her, not sure what might be done to her.

"You're okay," I said, voice as soothing as I could make it. "You're in the motel with me, remember?" I asked, watching as her head snapped in my direction, unseeing for a moment, then slowly relaxing as she realized I was right.

"Oh," she said, looking embarrassed as she reached up to brush some of her hair out of her face.

It was a copper shade of red now that it was clean and dry, and it was a really pretty contrast to her gray eyes and the freckles over her cheeks, forehead, and the bridge of her nose.

Vienna slow blinked, her gaze moving around the room.

"Raff went to get coffee and breakfast sandwiches," I told her.

"What time is it?" she asked, glancing toward the windows, but the heavy, hideous paisley drapes were pulled against the light. We'd wanted to let her sleep in as long as possible.

"A little after seven," I told her. "We have to be out by nine, but we have plenty of time to have an easy morning. How does your ankle feel?" he asked.

"Oh, it's… it's okay," she said, brows pinched as she looked toward her blanket-covered leg, like it hadn't occurred to her to think about that wound. Why would it? When she'd clearly had open wounds there for months?

"Raff picked you up a few more things last night," I told her, going over toward the bags he'd brought in while she'd been asleep. "Looks like he got you… another sweater and blanket," I said, pulling out said items.

Her hands went right to them, fingers drifting over the impossibly soft pink sweater, and the faux fur of the blanket, like she couldn't get enough of soft things after such a hard time.

"Some hair shit," I said, pulling out soft hair ties and a brush. "Um, I think this is, like, a skincare kit or something," I said, putting a small kit inside of a zippered bag on the bed. "A wearable blanket," I said, dropping that out. "And… ah, books," I said, pulling out a crossword book, a word find, and three different novels. "I think he bought out everything he found interesting at the pharmacy," I said, smiling. "Do you like reading?" I asked as she dropped the wearable blanket and reached desperately for the novels, stroking her hands over the covers, then flipping each over.

"Yes," she said, the word sighing out of her as her eyes scanned the blurbs on the backs.

Fuck, if that was how she felt about books, I'd buy her every one we passed from Arkansas to California.

If anyone could use that kind of escape from reality, it was Vienna.

She was already sitting with her knees to her chest, one of the books open in her hands, when Raff came back with breakfast. His gaze slid to her, a smile tugging at his lips as he saw her enjoying the books.

"Should edit the map to include a bookstore or two," he decided, voice low enough for only me to hear as I took the tray of coffees. "We don't have one in Shady Valley."

"We got credit cards and access to every online retailer."

To that, Raff's face screwed up. "You don't get the book girls, man."

"And you do?"

"I think when you fuck enough of them, you start to absorb some of it," he said, making me roll my eyes. "They love to go to the bookstores, man. Something about the smells, they say. They want to browse the shelves and hem and haw shit. Then leave with a pile they can't wait to dive into."

"How many book girls have you fucked?" I asked, shaking my head at him.

"The book girls are where it's at, man," he claimed as he reached into the bag to hand me an aluminum foil wrapped bagel. "Didn't know your bagel preference, sweet girl, so I got you plain with egg and cheese. Figure that's something everyone likes. Got the coffee how you like, though," he said as she used a thinner book to bookmark her bigger one, and reached for the coffee.

"Thank you," she said, shooting him a ghost of a smile, but I noticed she didn't make eye contact while she did so.

Raff rolled with it, opening his breakfast sandwich, and getting started eating. "I figure you drive the first leg today," he said. "This route has the most turns and shit, and we both know I'm the better map reader."

That was… fair. Even if my ego didn't love admitting that.

"Vienna, love, do you want to ride shotgun, or sprawl out in the backseat?" he asked, making Vienna look up, her mouth stuffed with bites of the food.

I knew I should probably caution her to ease her stomach back into full and consistent meals, but after having seen her bones sticking out of her skin, I couldn't really bring myself to say those words.

"Back," she said around a mouth full.

"Smart choice," Raff decided. "I could bring some luggage out of the trunk to put in the footboards and make a makeshift bed," he offered, getting a nod from Vienna who was busy taking another big bite of her bagel. "I fueled up the car, so we can get moving as soon as we're checked out," he told me.

"Good. I'd like to get at least ten hours in today," I said, thinking that it would be good for Vienna to be settled somewhere safe. For her mental health. Because she was safe as she could possibly be while around us. But to start, you know, recovering and shit, I thought she needed to feel comfortable and protected from the outside world.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Raff said, nodding.

Or, at least, that was what we thought as we got on the road.

Vienna made a nest in the backseat using her blankets and stuffed animal. She was nestled with both of her sweats on as well as her wearable blanket draped over the legs she had stretched across the backseat.

Two of her books were resting on her legs like they were a security blanket as well. The third was open in her hands, and she was clearly lost in a fictional world as we drove into Colorado, then up toward Wyoming to avoid a big touristy area in Colorado.

"Vienna," I called softly a few hours later, making her jolt, looking unfocused for a second.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to stretch your legs and hit the restroom?" I asked, gesturing toward the rest stop we were parked at.

Raff had already taken off, wanting to walk around for a bit.

"Oh, okay," she said, using her book to mark her other book again, making me wish there was a rest stop nearby that actually had some stores. Hell, this one didn't even have a fucking vending machine or gas station.

All it had to offer was a small building with bathrooms, a dumping spot for RVs, parking, and a small booth where you could rent binoculars because this rest area had a view of roaming bison.

"These might not be the best bathrooms," I warned her as she climbed out of the backseat, wiggling some life back into her legs for a moment before falling into step with me.

"Believe me, I'm not picky," she said, making me think of the makeshift facilities she'd had in the shed with her.

"They're individual rooms," I said, knocking on the door, then going inside to look around for her before leaving her inside, rushing into the next room myself, and getting back out before she did.

"Want to check out the bison?" I asked.

"Yes," she said with an enthusiastic nod as we moved back outside.

Raff was already standing at the fence holding sets of binoculars. "Cool shit," he declared as Vienna took a set of binoculars and looked across the field.

I should have been looking too. Instead, I found myself watching Vienna for some reason I was choosing not to analyze.

We moved around for the better part of half an hour, checking out other areas, trying to get even better views.

It was on the way back to the car that Vienna let out a squealing noise that had every cell in my body tensing, terrified we'd screwed something up, that she was going to have a panic attack or refuse to get back in the car with us.

But then she was rushing forward toward an overflowing garbage can near the RV parking lot.

"It's okay," she cooed, making Raff and I share a look before following behind her. Until she threw up an arm, a silent demand to stay back.

"Oh, oh, it's okay," she whispered, dropping down to the ground, and practically crawling toward the trash can. "Psstpsstpsst," she said, making me realize just a second before she gathered the ball of fur into her arms that she'd clearly found a kitten.

Except it wasn't a kitten at all. It was a full-grown cat in a white and orange-brown fur pattern that I'd never seen before, with big blue-gray eyes.

"Looks like we got another road trip friend," Raff said as Vienna petted the cat's head as he just let himself be held, like he'd been waiting for her to come and save him. "We can't make her leave it."

"No," I agreed. "But now we gotta find another town and find some supplies. Fuck, I hope it doesn't have fleas," I said as Vienna kept snuggling it.

"Someone left him," Vienna said as I approached, gesturing toward the empty RV parking lot. "How can you leave your pet?" she asked.

"People suck," I said, reaching toward the cat who stiffened until she cooed at it. "I just want to check him for fleas," I said, shoving my fingers into its unusually thick coat, spreading it at the roots, and looking around random spots, its ears, under the tail. "He looks good. It's a boy, by the way," I told her.

"We can't leave him," Vienna said, looking up at me with these big, round, wounded eyes. I swear I'd have given her the fucking moon if she asked for it.

"No, we will take him with us," I assured her, petting the cat's head. He clearly just barely tolerated my touch, but he was happy to be in Vienna's arms as I moved away. "We have to keep an eye out for a town, though. We need some sort of big box store, or pet store, even a feed store might have what we need for him."

"Riff," she called when I started to turn, ready to head back to the car.

"Yeah?" I asked, half turning back.

"Thank you," she said, eyes all watery.

"You don't have to thank me," I told her.

We made our way back to the car where the cat happily accepted some water from a camping cup we found in the trunk then settled on Vienna's lap while she read and absentmindedly petted him like he'd been doing it for his whole life, letting out long rumbles of purring and massaging her with his paws.

A few towns away, when we stopped for fuel, we found a feed store where we managed to get cat bowls, litter box, litter, food, toys, and even a leash and harness, so she didn't lose him if we took him out of the car at rest stops.

Everything was going fine for the next two hours after that.

Until the weather started to take a turn.

The snow started out as lazy flakes. But as we kept driving into the storm, it quickly became a whiteout, and then a full-on blizzard that had us desperately trying to find a motel to hunker down into for the night before we found ourselves stranded on the side of the road.

"It's pretty," Vienna said, her voice soft, as we made our way through a small one-lane town, mind on the little motel at the far end.

"Let's say a prayer there are openings," Raff said, pulling his jacket on before climbing out of the warm car, making a gust of snow flutter inside before he slammed it.

"Do you think it's going to be a lot of snow?" Vienna asked, her body doing a little shiver at the cold air Raff had let in.

"It's looking like it might be. Wyoming in November is weird. You could get a dusting or feet, depending on the area."

And it was cold as fuck, though I decided not to tell her that part, since she was already struggling with two sweaters and three blankets on and the heat on full tilt.

"So we'll be stuck here."

"I promise, darlin', we will keep moving as soon as the roads are clear."

"It's okay. I don't mind. But… but what if cats aren't allowed?" she asked, rubbing said cat's head.

"Then we'll sneak it in," I said, shooting her a smirk.

"Alright," Raff said, coming in, and warming his hands by the heat vents for a second. "So, they had two rooms, so I decided to take them both," he said. "Guy at the desk said they are expecting about a foot or so, but that these backroads likely won't be cleared for another day or two. The town has a general store, though, a restaurant, and, my sweet girl, a book store. That should all be open sometime tomorrow, since they will plow themselves out. We'll be alright for a few days."

"I don't want to be alone," Vienna blurted out, making Raff's brows raise, surprised, as I forced my face to be neutral.

"Okay," I agreed, voice soft. "You don't have to be. Do you want me or Raff to—"

"I want you to stay with me," she cut me off.

And, fuck, those words had no right to make my chest feel all warm. But there was no denying that's what happened.

"Then I'll stay in your room," I said, taking the key that Raff passed me.

With that, I zipped her and the cat into my coat, and rushed her into the room before going back and forth with Raff to get our shit into our rooms that were right next to each other.

"Go on, be with her," Raff said as we stood outside for a moment, watching the snow. "I'll call Slash and let him know what's going on."

"Thanks, man," I said, exhaling hard.

"What are you tensing up for?" he asked, head cocked to the side.

"I'm not," I lied.

"Really?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "Can't fucking lie to me, bro. What's the problem? She seems happy enough. Got her books, blankets, and cat. She likes the snow. She likes having you around—" he paused there, reading something in my face I didn't want to share, but there was no hiding shit from your twin. "Oh," he said, nodding.

"It's not like that," I insisted.

"Sure, sure," he said, smirking.

"It can't be like that."

"Think that's kind of up to her, not you," he said before disappearing into his own room.

He wasn't wrong.

I mean, objectively, Vienna would heal. Physically, mentally, emotionally. With some supportive people around her. With therapy.

And, yeah, one day, she might be interested in men again.

But there was no fucking reason to think I might be the man she'd want when that eventual day came.

On that thought that was more depressing than I could have anticipated, I went into the room I was going to share with her for the next few days, and closed the door.