A Bad Boy's Brother (Book #2)

18. Lacey

Corey's P.O.V.

I stroked the back of Ryder's hand quietly. She hadn't woken up once in four days, and the doctor just kept telling me that I needed to wait until her body thought she was ready to be awake, and that it was better that she slept because it meant she wouldn't feel the pain. There was a knock at the door, and I looked up at the woman entering the room.

She had brown hair and small, dark eyes. "Is this...Ryder's room?"

"Yes."

The woman let herself in, closing the door behind her, and taking a seat on the other side of Ryder. Her dark hair was dull and messy, and kind of greasy looking, and there were hints of grey in it. Her eyes looked almost dead, except for the slight interest and sadness flickering in their depths. I couldn't even tell what color they were. She had scars scattered across her arms, mostly in places that needles would have been inserted, and she looked unhealthily skinny. All in all, she looked very sickly, and somewhat similar to a drug addict. That's what she looked like: a drug addict. Her skin was pale, almost a little green, and her eyes were hollow. But none of this meant anything to me at the moment.

I looked at her without much interest. "Who are you?"

"My name is Lacey."

I was too tired to push further for answers.

"Are...you her boyfriend?"

"Actually...that's complicated," I muttered. "Technically she's my brother's girlfriend, but the bastard hasn't visited her once since she got here. She was my girlfriend before that. And I still love her more than anything else in life."

Lacey nodded slowly. "I think I understand."

We sat quietly for a moment.

"What's your name?" she asked suddenly.

"Corey. My brother is--"

"I didn't ask who he was. I have no interest in someone like him."

This caught me off guard. She really didn't want to know anything about him. Not even his name. Why not?

"Someone that could just abandon someone like Ryder is just..." she sighed quietly as she answered my unspoken question. "I don't want to hear anything about someone like that. You on the other hand, I'm interested in."

There was another knock at the door, and Lacey stood up immediately. She swiftly pressed her lips to Ryder's forehead, whispered something to her, and moved to the door. As she passed Kelsey, I couldn't help but notice that Kelsey looked at her as if she had two heads. Like she wasn't human or something, rather something she'd never seen.

Kelsey walked to me, seeming dazed.

"What's wrong with you?" I muttered.

"That...was Ryder's mother," she said slowly, still clearly dazed.

I stared at the door where Lacey had just disappeared.

That was Ryder's mother? The woman with empty eyes and clammy skin and heroine scars was the same woman that gave birth to the most amazing person to have ever walked the earth?

Now that I thought about it, if Lacey took a shower, washed her hair, and put on enough weight to make her look healthy, she might look a lot like Ryder did. I couldn't tear my gaze away from the door that she had walked through.

Could that have been how Ryder ended up someday if she hadn't been forced down a better path?

* * * * *

When I woke up--and I hadn't realized I fell asleep--Cain was standing over Ryder's bed. Finally the moron decided to show up.

"She asked for you," he said weakly.

"She woke up?" I demanded, straightening up suddenly and searching her for a sign of movement.

A small smile tugged at his lips. "That's the funny thing. She didn't wake up."

"Then..."

Cain walked over to me, looking at me in consideration. "I'm going to Georgia, Corey."

"What?"

"There's a job opportunity that I can't miss. I've been trying to bring it up with Ryder, to tell her about it, but..." his eyes wandered to her, "the opportunity has never been right. Between her confessing that she loves you, and the fireworks...I just..."

"You're leaving."

"Yes."

"Twins really are the same person," I said bitterly.

"Yet we're vastly different."

"Not different enough to make a difference."

He didn't say anything, but put his hand on my shoulder.

We stayed like that for a moment.

Then, he looked at me in the eye. "Take care of her, Corey. I'm entrusting her to you."

"I thought you wanted her--"

"I do love her," he said quietly. "But she loves you. And I can accept that. For her sake."

I didn't reply.

So, Cain left.

And I had no idea if I would ever see him again.

Sorry to do this guys but this story isn't going to be finished. I don't remember where I was going with the story, its simply been too long since I wrote it. Sorry, thanks for reading <3