Page 20 of Falling With You
“She’s fine. At least physically. But she’s not talking about what happened, and then she ran away from the bar. Yeah, we were all watching her, but it was a little out of the blue. We just want to make sure she’s fine. And since you were the last one to really talk with her, it might be helpful if you told us what you talked about.”
“So you’re blaming this on me? You don’t have to. I already do enough of it on my own. Maybe if I’d actually remembered my damn phone and hadn’t left her, she wouldn’t have been attacked at all. So, yeah, it’s my fucking fault she’s hurt. But I’m not the one who forced her to run out of the bar last night. So, don’t put that on me.”
Cameron held up his hands. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m not blaming you for any of that. Sienna doesn’t blame you for the fact that she was attacked. We blame those stupid idiots that came at her. The ones that held her down.”
“Don’t fucking tell me what happened to her in the alleyway. I don’t want to relive it again. Because I saw it. You weren’t there.”
I hadn’t been either.
But I didn’t say that.
“What the hell is the matter with you? Sienna is physically fine. Your hand is going to heal. But there’s something wrong with her. She needs to talk about it, and she’s not. I was just wondering if she actually talked about it with you. But if you’re going to act like an asshole, maybe I won’t talk to you at all.”
“Fine. Just fucking leave. It’s what you’re good at.”
“That’s uncalled for. I thought we were over that. But if you’re going to throw that in my face, I’ll just go. And leave you to deal with whatever the fuck is going on in your head.”
Anger rushed through me, and I fisted my hand at my side before reaching out to the first thing I could grab before I threw it at the wall.” Glass shattered, and Cameron just looked at me, his eyes narrowed, his jaw tense.
I looked down and saw the photo of when Cameron, Brendon, and I were teenagers, glass all over the floor around the broken frame.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.
“You need to work out whatever’s going on in your head. Because you’re going to hurt yourself. If you don’t figure out how to deal with your anger, deal with whatever guilt you have going on, something’s going to happen. And we already lost Allison. I’m not going to lose you, too. So, get your head out of your ass and talk to one of us. Figure it out. While you’re there, help us with Sienna. Because she’s hurting, and Violet is worried. And if Violet is worried, then I’m worried. But I’m worried about you, too, Aiden. You’re my brother. So, you’re going to have to fucking deal with me. No matter what.”
Cameron walked away, leaving me with the broken glass, and the rest of my mess.
I was an asshole. I was a fucking guilty asshole who didn’t know how to deal with anything. I was just so pissed off at the world.
Because Allison was dead. Sienna had gotten hurt. And I couldn’t do what I needed to.
It was all my damn fault.
Everything was my fault.
And I hated it all.
Chapter Five
Now I have guilt!
-Sienna, age 5, thanks to endless viewings ofToy Story.
Sienna
It wasnice to get into the swing of things again, even if sometimes my job wasn’t the easiest thing in the world.
“You have to keep up with your treatments, Rocko,” I said, shaking my head. I folded my hands over my chest and tried my best to look stern. But it was really hard to look that way when a man who had to be at least over a foot taller than me rocked back on his heels and looked like a little kid rather than a forty-something-year-old former football player.
“I know, it’s just…sometimes it’s really hard. You know?”
“I do. But we have the plan in place. And you’re doing great things now. You’re able to sit in a chair longer than you used to. And even go walking. But your back needs help. And that’s what I’m here for.”
“I know, Miss Knight. It’s just hard. You know?”
I nodded, knowing we were going in circles again. But Rocko kept going on, and then we went through our checklist before he left for the day.
I was a physical therapist and worked at a clinic that focused on sports injuries. Ninety percent of my clients were former athletes. Not that you could really be a former athlete once you’d put your entire body and mindset into becoming one. But ones who were no longer at the peak of their careers and no longer worked professionally came to me. Their sports teams and other agencies would pay for the bigger-name clinics. But when they no longer had those options or wanted something a little smaller, they came to my clinic.