At Home

Chapter Twenty Three

A minute goes by, and when AJ says nothing, I decide to speak up. "What's going on in the handsome head of yours?" I say, trying to lighten the mood. AJ clears his throat, and stands up, dropping my hand. "It wasn't Ryan." He states as a fact. I'm a little surprised, I wasn't expecting him to say that so firmly. I figured he would deny it for a second, struggle to accept it, but never thought he would say it wasn't him so definitively. He walks towards the window and stares out at the parking lot.

"At, I know this is hard. I know he's your friend. But, it was him. I know it was." I say, sympathy in my tone. He turns back, and looks at me. His face is like stone, but then it softens some when our eyes meet. He walks back to my side and sits down. "Car, you've been through a lot the past couple days. You went through a trauma, it makes sense your memory is mixed up. But, it wasn't Ryan." He's rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. What the fuck? I pull my hand from his grasp, "My memory is not mixed up!" I shout, feeling water pool in my eyes. How can he not believe me?? It's then that I remember the license in my pants pocket.

"Look in my pants pocket, I have proof!" I say, looking for my clothes. I spot them folded in the window sill. I point them out, "Look! You'll see!" I say frantically. "Car.." AJ begins to say something and I cut him off. "LOOK." I say loudly and sternly. AJ walks over to the window sill and grabs my pants. He begins to check the pockets, and moments later pulls out the small plastic card. "See????" I say. There is no way he can deny it now. AJ turns back to me, staring down at Ryan's license. He looks genuinely confused.

I stare at him, waiting for him to say something. His brow furrows, and I can tell he's thinking hard about something. He's probably trying to process that his friend is a kidnapper. Maya walks back in with Blue a minute later. Blue jumps up on the bed, not waiting for permission. I chuckle and pet his head. Good boy. "What's the face for?" I hear Maya say. I look up and notice it's directed towards her cousin. "Nothing." AJ says, sliding the license into his pocket. "Oh.. kay?" Maya says. Normally she would push it, but she turns her focus back to me. "Did you really put a butcher knife next to the bed?" She chuckles. I can't help but laugh myself. I love that about my best friend, she always tries to lighten the mood. Even if I just got kidnapped. "Yeah.... Yeah I did" I say, my laugh bubbling out. "Wow Car, you're really bad at this. What if he had used it to kill me? Your prints would have been on the knife too. I take it all back, you would make a terrible murderer. You would get caught immediately." She says. We both burst out into laughter. I've missed my best friend.

We're laughing so hard, tears are coming from our eyes. Our laughter is interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. I notice the doctor and Natalie have come back in the room. Natalie has a soft smile on her face, and the doctor smile is lifted into a half smile. "Glad to see you're in better spirits." He says. "So, good news. Your tests all came back good, and you'll be released to go home soon. We just want to give you fluids a little bit longer." I smile, happy to know I'll be going home soon. "Oh, and an officer wants to come in and ask you a few questions too. Is it ok if I send him up when he gets here?" He says, his eyebrow raised. I nod my head. "Yes that would be fine. Thank you" I say, as Natalie hooks me up to a new IV drip. The doctor nods in acknowledgement. Moments later Natalie is leaving the room, stopping to say "If you need anything, let me know!" before turning and walking out.

My stomach rumbles loudly. How long has it been since I've eaten? "You hungry Carter?" I hear AJ say. Maya speaks before I can answer, "I'll go ask the doc if she can have food." She walks out of the room and I immediately turn my attention to AJ. He's still thinking, I can tell. "I'm really sorry about Ryan At" I say softly. He rubs his hand down his face before he responds. "Carter, it wasn't Ryan." He says shortly. "Then how do you explain his license? The kidnapper dropped that. RYAN dropped that!" I say, frustration bubbling up inside me again. "It wasn't Ryan, Carter!" AJ says, his voice slightly raised. I sit there, too stunned to speak. What the fuck is happening right now? The tears begin spilling out of my eyes caused by a mix of frustration and sadness. My heart aches in my chest. I close my eyes tightly, trying to calm my racing thoughts and rising anxiety.

I feel his lips on my forehead a moment later. "I don't know how the asshole who did this to you got Ryan's license, but it wasn't him. It couldn't have been him. He was with me the night you snuck out Carter. There is no way it could have been him." He says softly, placing his forehead against mine. That doesn't make any sense. "Were you separated at all? He kept leaving the house, he could have been meeting up with you, and then coming back to me. How do you know he was actually helping his mom? It could just be a cover" I ramble out. AJ stands and runs his hand over his face again, shaking his head back and fourth. That's when we hear a voice.

"Uhm, hi. Is this a bad time?" I turn and see Ryan, flowers in hand. I'm frozen, looking from the vase of flowers, back to his face. He kidnaps me and then brings me fucking flowers? PSYCHO. Neither AJ or I say anything, but AJ waves him in. I watch him as he walks toward the window sill, and places the flowers down. "These are for you Carter. I hope you're not allergic." He says, awkwardly per usual. "Thanks." I say flatly. He gives AJ one of those one armed hugs bros give each other at the bar. "They come in and question her yet?" I hear him say to Ryan. Of course you would want to know. Kidnapper. I let out of a scoff and then immediately panic a little. Ryan turns to me, "Shit. Sorry. I should have just asked you. I'm sorry Carter." He says, his apology almost sounding genuine. "Not yet, but the officer should be here soon." AJ replies "I wonder who they're sending..." Why is he being so nice to him?? What other fucking proof does he need that it was Ryan?