Chapter 7

My front is pressed to Bailey's back, and I place a tentative hand on her hip, gripping her with my fingers. She feels so damn good against me, and my entire body is zapped with little electric shocks the longer we stay in this position.

Bailey's breathing picks up, and I can hear the exertion. "What are you doing?" It's a mix between a gasp and a whisper, and her back immediately tenses, going ramrod straight.

"Just being here for you."

Her sniffles are loud now, and her hand comes up to wipe under her nose. She takes a deep breath, and when it shudders out, I wait. "You happy now? You watched me break?"

I frown, "I could never be happy about that." I tug on her arm gently to turn her around, then cup her face with both hands. My stomach flutters as her eyes widen, and I give her a tentative smile. I can see the fear in her eyes from a mile away. Something happened to this girl that made her distrust everyone. "You have a tough job, Bailey, but you seem to be really good at it. You seem to care about it a lot." I tell her, wiping under her eye with my thumb.

"Not as much as I should." Her bottom lip trembles. "Not as much as I used to."

"So you're going through a rough patch. It happens." I try to reassure her. "You don't have to tell me what happened to make you this way, but you can tell me how to fix it."

"You can't." Her chin raises defiantly, shoulders squared, and her green eyes are narrowed to slits. "No one can help me fix anything. I can't even put my fucking self back together."

My hands flex on her cheeks, and she cowers, so I let them relax. "Then let someone else do it for you."

"Oh, you?" She scoffs, looking me up and down with disdain, but beneath it, there's a spark of something that looks a lot like longing after something you can't have. But she can have it. I'd give it to her right now, whatever it is.

"I can't think of anyone better," I smirk, hesitantly taking another step closer and dropping my hands to my sides. "You don't even know me. You won't ever have to worry about me again."

"Why do you even care?" I freeze at that, watching her heaving chest, the way heat blankets over her cheeks. "What does it matter to you?"

"It shouldn't," I acknowledge. "But I do care, and I can't even begin to explain why."

It happened as soon as I met her. I could see a brokenness in her, shadows of unhappiness under her eyes. I don't know what has her living this way, holding her breath through it all, but no one deserves it. She doesn't just look like she needs someone's hand to hold. She looks like she needs someone to put her world back together. Something tells me it's wholly destroyed; I can sense it.

"Theo—"

"Shhhh," I whisper, my nose brushing against hers. "Just let me help you."

"How?" she whispers back.

"However you need me to."

Bailey searches my eyes, and for a split second, I think she's going to back up and leave my room. Instead, she flings herself into my arms and buries her face into my chest as her body begins to shake with her sobs. She feels dainty in my hands, like a glass figurine that could be easily broken if I handle her too roughly. The smell of roses invades my senses, and I press my nose to her hair and take a deep breath in. It settles me, and I'd like to think that she's finding some comfort in my embrace.

"It's okay," I say softly. "Let it out."

After what feels like forever but is undoubtedly only a few minutes, Bailey pulls away from my embrace and takes a step back. Her face is blotchy and red, and she wipes under her eyes roughly as she gazes at me with parted lips. She looks like she regrets it, but doesn't say anything. Instead, she nods once and disappears from the room, leaving me behind.

The door slams on her way out, and I exhale roughly, going back to bed. There's a knock at the door, and just when my body relaxes—thinking she's back—a new nurse pokes her head in.

"Are you okay?" she asks me with a frown.

I nod. "Yes, I'm fine." I gesture for her to come in. "Thank you, though."

"What happened?" I don't want to get Bailey in trouble, so instead, I get ready to take the blame.

"Sorry." I shrug. "I may have been a little mean to her." She nods slowly, like she doesn't believe me, but doesn't say anything. On her way back to the door, I stop her. "Do you know what her problem is?"

The nurse glances back at me, her eyes gleaming like she has a juicy little secret, and walks back to my bedside. "Well, I've heard things."

I nod, my curiosity a living, breathing thing. "Like what?"

"Well, rumor has it…" She stops for dramatic effect, or my reaction—who knows. "That she was running away from something."

"Who?"

"No one knows." She shrugs, and I wonder why she thinks this rumor is so good. It's only speculation, but I listen intently regardless because I'm hungry for any scraps of information on Bailey. "But I think it's probably a person."

A person.

A man, more than likely.

That would make a lot of sense.

"Thank you," I look at her badge. "Savannah."

And with that, I let her walk out of the room, curious about the little rumor that keeps floating around, yet even more concerned. I bet they don't know the first of her truth—they don't know shit. But I plan to find out from her.