What She Left Behind ✔️

chapter fifteen

A/N: Song for the chapter is "Lovely" by Billie Eilish & Khalid.

Isn't is lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone
Tear me to pieces, skin to bone
Hello, welcome home

Blearily, I open my eyes. I fetch my vibrating cell phone off the table and hold it to my ear without checking the caller ID. It's late—two-thirty in the morning, according to my alarm clock—and I have work in five and a half hours.

"Hello?" I answer, irritated and groggy from sleep.

"Gemma, it's me," my mom's familiar voice says. "We're at the hospital."

I jump out of bed, all traces of exhaustion gone after hearing the word "hospital." The last time I received a call like this, it was when my dad told me that Raelyn died. Actually, Bowie was the one who made the heartbreaking announcement, but Dad was the one who ordered me to leave work

"Gemma, are you still there?" my mom asks.

"Yes." Pressing the phone between my cheek and shoulder, I turn on the light and grab my shoes off the floor. "What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone's fine, sweetheart," she replies. "Evangeline snuck out of bed to get a glass of water. She slipped and hit her face on the corner of the counter. She's getting stitches now."

"Oh, my god. Is she okay?" My heart is racing. It feels like the organ is going to burst out of my chest. "I'll be right there, okay? I'm on my way."

"I was actually calling to see if you could stop by the house and grab Evangeline's teddy bear? Your dad and I have to stay here and talk to the social worker, and Evangeline won't let Bowie leave her side."

"Of course. I'm heading out now."

Once my shoes are on, I grab my purse and stumble out of my bedroom. Levi's door creaks open. Wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, he ambles into the kitchen, his eyes half-shut and hair sticking up in every direction.

"What's going on?" he mumbles.

"My mom called. Evangeline got hurt. She's at the ER getting stitches as we speak," I inform him.

"Here, I'll drive you," he offers, snatching my keys out of my hand.

"Levi," I say, "you're not wearing pants."

He looks down at his mostly naked body. "Right. I'll be back."

He disappears into his room but returns moments later wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, and his favorite pair of Nike's. We race to my car—he still insists on driving—and I instruct him to stop at the house first.

"Why?" he questions me.

"Mom wanted me to get Evangeline's bear," I answer.

"Do you need help finding it?"

"It should be in her room."

"Alright, I'll wait here for you."

I rush inside and turn on the hallway light. I glide into the kitchen and find a pool of blood next to the counter. The red liquid has seeped into the grout, making the room look like a scene from Law and Order.

Evangeline is so small. How could she lose this much blood and still be alive?

Snapping back to reality, I run upstairs and find Evangeline's battered teddy bear on her bed. I hug it to my chest and hurry back to the car. Within five minutes, we're pulling into the hospital's parking garage.