The Secret (Boston's Best 1)

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Maddie

It's been nearly an hour since the doctor explained to Brooke what happened to her and what her injuries were, and ever since she has barely spoken to any of us. She's just on and off the phone with her managers and publicist, explaining why she has to cancel most shoots for at least three months.

She's livid to say the least, about all of the opportunities she's going to miss because of this.

The only times she's acknowledged us all has been to express her desire to find the people who did this to her and decapitate them all.

We're all just trying to back away slowly and give her space to process.

Evelyn and Felix are talking with the sweet old man, Harold, who is in the other bed of the room. He fractured his hip falling down the stairs in his house and one of his seven daughters has been in and out of the room since she got here, making calls to estate agents to get her dad moved out of his 'death trap house that no one should have to live in.' Her words.

We found enough spare chairs around the halls and everything for all of us to have a seat so I'm currently sitting in the back corner of the room half watching the news and half trying not to fall asleep.

It's been a long day.

"Hey." I hear a deep voice say from beside me.

I look up to see my boyfriend holding out a coffee towards me.

I smile and take the cup from him. "Hey. Thank you for this, it's been a long day to have next to no caffeine."

Matt sits in the chair beside me. "No problem, I figured you needed your daily dosage of coffee. Everyone knows you can't function without at least a bucket of it." He looks at me pointedly, "Every hour."

I take a gulp of the latte and shrug, "Not my fault. And if it wasn't coffee then it would be tea, but there isn't any good tea here so I have to settle for coffee all day. Not that I'm complaining though."

"If you have a heart attack don't come crying to me about the amount of this stuff you consume."

He chuckles and almost instantly his face sobers up and recognition passes through it. "Shit. Maddie, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I'm really sorry."

I shake my head, "Matt, calm down. It's fine really. It was a joke, and I thought it was funny. My dad had a heart attack and died. I grieve and I miss him, but that doesn't mean that people need to walk on eggshells around me."

He nods and reflexes into his seat and we sit in silence watching the news of today flicker through the screen.

"Give me your phone?"

I look at him, "Beg your pardon?"

"Give me your phone, please?"

I reach into my pocket and cautiously hold my phone. "What are you going to do?"

He puts his hand out, "Please, can I just have it for a second?"

I hand it to him and he unlocks it because I told him my password a few weeks ago, and he swipes on for a few minutes and even starts doing something on his at the same time.

"Matt–" I start and get cut off by him handing me my phone back.

"Today scared the shit out of me."

I'm thrown off a little by his words but mostly by the sincerity behind them and how he looks like he wants to murder me and cry at the same time.

I open my mouth to say something but he cuts me off again. "I understand how much politics and equal rights and all of this stuff means to you. But Maddie," He looks me dead in the eyes with that same intensity, "Protests can become violent in a split second, as we all saw firsthand today. And that easily could have been you and I didn't even know you were going to one in the first place."