Return & Redemption

Part 10

"Hey, Meera!" I called through the front door. When no one answered, I gestured at the siblings to get out my car and follow me into the house. I walked through the silence until I got to the kitchen where Meera had left a note: Isha has a sleepover at the Sinclair's so I went to Eric's for the night. I jumped when I heard the phone ringing. I reached over, noticing Max lounging on a chair near the breakfast table and Billy inspecting Meera's family photos. "Patel residence," I mumbled into the mouthpiece.

"Sanya!" I heard a familiar voice shout into my ear. "Steve said he's been calling your home since one o'clock and no one answered!"

"Hey, Nancy, I was just going to call all of you," I sighed, quickly explaining the situation.

"Billy did what?" she asked disbelievingly.

"He protected us," I repeated, reciting the events that had occurred at the Hargrove residence.

"We're coming over," she stated, hanging up before I could even answer. I shrugged, hanging up and filling up two cups with water to give them to Billy and Max.

"Here you go, you two," I smiled, handing them to each of them.

"Thanks," Max took it, placing it on the table. "Where's the bathroom?" I could tell she was near tears, so I quickly ushered her towards the powder room to give her some privacy. I grabbed some stuff from the kitchen cabinet before returning to Billy. He had finished his water and was sitting, staring stoically at the wall. He stood up when he saw me.

"Thank you for the water, Sanya," he said sweetly

"Sure," I nodded. "I have some bandages for your hand," I held up gauze and tape.

"Oh," he agreed, sitting back down and holding out his right arm. "Thank you."

I sat down next to him. I went to work at his knuckles, cleaning the wounds and dressing it, but I kept fumbling with the task as I could see him watching me from the corner of my eye. I refocused, taping the bandages down and finally looking up, meeting his eyes. "All done," I said easily, about to get up to discard the bloody gauze. He took my hand gently, pulling me back down. I confusedly sat back down, and he pushed a lock of my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. My breath hitched as his hand made its way to my neck. My brows furrowed in confusion and I watched fearfully. But he just grabbed the necklace that was draped there.

"What's this?" he muttered. I could feel the exhale from his breath as he leaned forward, examining the amethyst.

"My, uh, my—my m—mother gave it to me...before she died," I stuttered.

"Huh," he hummed. "When did your mother pass?" he ran his thumb over the pendant.

"Um, six years ago," I said, overly aware of the pressure of his unharmed hand laying on my chest as he held the necklace.

"You were young," he mused. I nodded. The movement seemed to stir him out of his trance, and he pulled his hand back as he looked up to meet my eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Sanya?" Steve's loud voice and harsh knocks penetrated through the door and around the house, so I jumped up to let him in.

"Coming!"