Abigail

Chapter 24

~Not really edited, sorry~

Chapter 24

        I wake up to someone lying next to me and pulling me tightly into their embrace, crying softly in my ear. I open my eyes and look up to see who it is, frowning at James’ expression. “James, why are you crying?”

                He hugs me tighter and buries his face in my hair, trying to steady his shaky breathing. “We thought you were gone, Abby.”

                I sigh and hug him back, rubbing his back reassuringly. “I know. I’m sorry. Please don’t cry, James, you’re going to make me cry.”

                He takes a deep breath and pulls away, staring down at me in relief. I can’t even imagine how they would feel if the police actually found a body. “You don’t know how much you mean to us, Abby. We went out looking for you every night.”

                I dry his wet cheeks with my sleeve and look down at his shirt, so I don’t have to see his watery eyes. “I’m sorry. I always thought you guys would be better off without me.”

                James narrows his eyes and I can tell he wants to knock some sense into me, but he never, ever loses his temper with me. “Don’t ever think that. You mean everything to us.”

                I close my eyes tightly and rest my head on his chest, trying not to let myself believe my brothers would be that affected by my ‘suicide’. I always thought that without me, they would be stress-free. They wouldn’t have to constantly worry where I was, if I was alive or talk me out of suicide like they have so many times before. In my head it always seemed like my suicide wouldn’t just benefit me.

                “I’m going to go get us some breakfast. Zach is going to be here soon since he refuses to go to school without you. We’re all just going to hang out today. Stress free, alright?” James whispers, kissing me on the cheek before pulling away and rolling out of my bed.

                I wipe my face and nod, wrapping the blanket tighter around me. My brothers told me last night that Alex will pick up work for me from school, but I won’t have to go back for at least another week until things start to go back to normal. After everything that happened, they want me to relax and rest so that all my injuries can heal. I doubt they’re taking off all week just because I’m back, but I guess me returning from the dead is a big shock to them.

                “I love you, James,” I sniff.

                “Love you, too.” He leans down and kisses my cheek before leaving my room, softly closing the door behind him. Nick and Alex aren’t in bed, which means they’re either downstairs already or they’re not home. Nick probably went; he wasn’t exactly thrilled to see me last night.

                I throw off my blanket and scoot off the bed, trudging towards the bathroom. The mirror is still broken, except my brothers put newspaper over the broken mirror, probably so that I don’t try to hurt myself with it. I use the bathroom and wash my hands, turning on the shower to cold. I lean against the bathroom door and stare at the ground, feeling incredibly out of place since I haven’t been home in so long.

                The cold water feels good on my sensitive skin, waking me up with ease and numbing me to the core. I have to wrap my shirt around my leg so the stiches won’t get messed up, but I’m not sure if it helps. I dry off, looking at the mirror expectantly, but realizing that I can’t bully myself like I always do.

                It’s surprising that my brothers are leaving me alone for this long, considering I was kidnapped and held hostage for two, almost three weeks. Normally, they only have to protect me from myself, but now there are who-knows-how-many people out there wanting to do the same thing.