Chasing Innocence | ✓

57 | last straw

I wake in yet another hospital bed. The fluorescent lighting burns my pupils as I adjust to my surroundings.

Sof is standing over by the window, gazing outside. She's lost in thought as I take in her beaten appearance. A few cuts and scrapes line the visible parts of her arms, but my heart calms at the thought that she is safe.

"Sof," I whisper. I don't think she's heard me at first, but her head slowly turns to face me as she cups her arms to her chest.

It's when I see her swollen eyes that my heart drops again. She bites her lip, closing her eyes briefly before she walks towards me.

"Hey," she says quietly, perching on the edge of my bed. She won't meet my gaze despite my best efforts at catching it.

"How long have I been asleep?"

She picks at the comforter, pulling on a loose thread. "A few hours. They sedated you so you wouldn't feel the pain."

I sit up slowly, feeling the tug of the bandage across my thigh. "I was shot," I recounter. "Then... I passed out?"

Sof nods, turning towards the door as it opens slowly, revealing Xavier.

He enters timidly, holding a tray of coffees. My stomach dips at the way he appears just like Casey.

He seems relieved to see that I'm awake now as he smiles grimly, leaving the coffees beside my bed.

"Are you both alright?" I ask.

Sof nods instantly, her eyes drifting strangely towards Xavier as they share a knowing look. I frown, feeling as though I'm being left out on an important detail.

"Are you sure you're both okay?" I repeat.

Sof stands from the bed, clearing her throat. "I'm just—I'm gonna use the bathroom."

"Sofía—"

She walks briskly from the room before Xavier gets the chance to finish. He runs a hand through his hair, sighing deeply as he turns to stare at the tray of coffees.

"What aren't you telling me?"

For the first time, he meets my gaze. Uncertainty sits heavy in the pit of my stomach as I wait for him to speak. He never does.

"Xavier," I say sternly, gritting my teeth in annoyance. "Tell me what's going on."

He looks away, working his jaw.

My thoughts jump towards Brax as he'd held me hours before. He said something about going after the guy who'd gotten out of harms way.

"Where's Brax?" I ask, quietly.

Xavier visibly winces, crossing his arms across his chest.

"What happened after he went to find the guy who got out?"

Before I even get the chance to see if he'll respond, the door opens again. Marco enters, filling up the doorway with his domineering presence and wide set shoulders.

His eyes find mine instantly and I swear I feel my heart drop when I see the sincere expression he offers me.

In the times when I've rarely seen Marco to appear as caring, something has always gone wrong. It isn't a part of his usual character.

Pain slices up through my leg, but it's nothing compared to the nervous beat of my heart. It fills my ears and shortens the breath in my lungs.

"Someone needs to tell me what's going on now," I snap. "Why did Sof leave the room like it was on fire? Where is Brax? Where is the guy that he went after? Has he been caught?"

Again, the brothers share a knowing look. One that sends shivers up my spine as I try desperately to clamp down my rising panic.

"This isn't funny," I snap, feeling my throat clog with unshed tears.

Xavier takes a seat beside my bed, leaning his elbows against his knees as he claps them together in front of him. "Brax went after the guy that escaped. Charlie Bryor. The eldest of the cousins."

He pauses for so long that I can feel myself holding my breath, like I'm waiting for everything to fall into place. For there to be a perfectly good reason why Brax isn't here.

My eye flick between the brothers, waiting for someone to give me something. "What happened then?" I prompt.

"Brax—" Xavier clears his throat, looking towards Marco for reassurance. He nods once, looking down at the ground. "Brax didn't want him to get away this time. He knew it was the last straw."

"So did he? Did he get him?" I ask, waiting for my world to continue to rotate when I know he's safe somewhere.

"No," Marco continues. "No, Brax didn't get him."

"But he's okay, right?" I say, hearing the desperate plea in my voice. "The police will find Charlie. It's over now, right? Can I see him?"

Again, a long pause of silence. A shattering pulse of denial seeping through me.

"No," Marco whispers.

I sit up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed as I go to stand. Xavier grips me by the shoulder, pushing me back down to sit.

"No?" I snap. "No, what?! Where the fuck is he?"

"You've gotta stay calm, Rhea," Xavier whispers. "You're hurt."

I can feel the sob sitting at the base of my throat, ready to burst. "Don't tell me to relax! Where the fuck is he? Why isn't he here? He said he'd be here!"

The worst feeling in the world is knowing that you already have the bad news before it's even been told. You can see it within an expression, the pity that someone throws at you. The way they look at you like you're no more than a cracked frame of glass, about to break into tiny pieces.

"He's gone," Marco states, like he's just told me the weather. Like he's just ordered a pizza. Like he's explaining the mundane day his had.

But nothing about this situation could ever be mundane.

"Gone?" I repeat, numbly. "Gone where? To find Charlie Bryor?"

"Charlie Bryor escaped unharmed, Rhea. He—he..."

"What?" I sob, clutching an arm to my chest as I fail to stand.

Xavier grips my arm, pulling me against his chest as he holds the back of my head to him. "Charlie fatally shot Brax," he whispers in my ear, voice cracking.

Fatally.

It's strange how one single world can alter the course of your entire life. How we can be living as normally as we can, and then everything changes so suddenly.

I should be used to it by now. The world is hardly a good place, yet I always try to hold onto hope that it is.

"Brax is dead," Xavier finishes and my world turns dark.