Hold My Hand (Sequel to Saved: Adopted by Brendon Urie)

Chapter 45

Abby had stopped counting the flashes.

At first, she had counted every time she turned the light on and off.

Three.

Pause.

Three.

Pause.

Three.

Then she had lost count.

The problem was that nothing happened.

The street outside remained the same.

Cars came and went. People walked past with their heads down, collars turned against the cold. A bus stopped at the shelter across the street, its red body bright beneath the streetlamp, and then pulled away again.

Nobody looked up.

Nobody stopped.

Nobody came.

Abby stood beside the window with one hand curled around the curtain.

Three flashes.

Pause.

Three flashes.

She waited.

Nothing.

Her heart sank a little.

Maybe it was stupid.

Maybe nobody could see the light through the curtains.

Maybe nobody cared.

She had been so certain when she thought of it.

The room was dark. The window was visible from the street. The light was one of the only things she could control.

It had seemed like a way out.

Not a real way out.

Just a way to say, I'm here.

She had tried it earlier, too.

The woman had noticed.

Abby knew because the woman had stood in the doorway afterward, looking at the light fixture.

"You don't need to keep turning that on and off."

Abby had said nothing.

The woman had looked at her for another moment.

Then she'd sighed.

"Probably a loose switch."

And she'd walked away.

That had been all.

No anger.

No punishment.

She hadn't understood.

That was good.

Abby had decided that was good.

She could keep doing it.

Maybe eventually someone would understand.

She pulled the curtain a fraction farther open.

The glass was cold against her fingertips.

Outside, a man came out of the pharmacy.

Abby watched him check his phone before crossing the street.

A woman pushed a stroller past the bus stop.

An older man walked a small dog.

Normal people.