Hunted

Chapter 22: A Mess

We went to my house to get all my stuff out while Evan wasn't there. I didn't have a ton of things but I definitely wanted my mom's furniture, my plants and books and anything that was exclusively mine. Luke came with us and between him and Rykan, my stuff was out of that house at record speeds and they insisted I stay out of it and let them handle it, so while they were loading the car I called Dr. Dubois and left a voicemail about the surgery.

After that, we went to Les's to pick up my other stuff and it didn't escape my attention how concerned Rykan was when I had to take all the pills. It was pretty clear he hadn't realized how much medication I had to be on until he stood there with me while I took all of them.

"That pill looks like it's for a horse, not for you," he said with a frown as I picked up the last one, the one I could only get from the one pharmacy.

"I know," I said, scrunching up my face. "I do not enjoy taking these. Especially this one."

"Is there not another option?" He asked.

"Not that I know of," I shrugged. "My mom tried all kinds of things when I was younger and this was the only thing that really helped me. I don't think I'd even want to try to see how I am without it because I don't want to go back to how sick I used to be."

He frowned at that but stayed silent. He'd have to get used to me taking these pills because there wasn't really a way around it.

I made Rykan back off for my girls lunch. He wasn't overly thrilled but satisfied enough we were in the same area at least. I covered up part of the bruise but I didn't get it fully covered so of course Les and Annie freaked. I had to calm them down but what made it worse was when I told them I wouldn't be staying with Les.

Telling them I was staying with Rykan would not go over well so even though I hated it, I lied. I told them I needed alone time and was going to stay in a hotel. They weren't too happy but only fought me on it so much.

On the way back to Rykan's house the doctor called and we set up Fiona's surgery for the next day. It took some organizing to get it all set up at the facility with a doctor from out of the country but we got it worked out. Thank God. I just hoped it would go well. I didn't know if my heart could take losing another mother.

Once we got back to the house, I called Fiona to tell her what was happening with the surgery and promised to be there with her the next day. Then I had no choice but to text Evan to tell him the details which Rykan was very unhappy about. He was even more unhappy when Evan started calling me repeatedly and texting when I didn't answer.

"That's it," Rykan growled, snatching my phone away.

"Rykan, don't!" I said, reaching for it.

It was annoying how easily he held me back. He answered the phone and my heart stopped.

"Listen to me, you worthless motherfucking cunt," he growled. "You will stop calling and texting Kora right now or she will press charges and we'll take it to the pres so everyone can see what a fucking twat you are, how's that for your stupid fucking image?" He spat, hanging up the phone and handing it back to me. "There," he grunted.

"I'm not going to press charges," I sighed. "That's so much drama."

"He doesn't need to know that, angel," he said, his tone softening. "He's too much of a coward to really test you."

Well, he had a point there. Especially because my phone did not ring again, not once. Rykan handling things might not be that bad after all.

I was anxious for the surgery the next day but somehow laying in Rykan's arms made sleep possible. There was something about his touch and the way he held me that made it easy to fall asleep even though I was nervous.