“I need you.” Mirage’s voice came over the phone, Bryce’s voice in the background. I was clearly on speaker because I could hear him speaking.
“What’s wrong?” I got up and left my group session without a backward glance. I knew everyone had their own thing going on this evening. Church had talked about skipping, so I had no clue what was happening.
“It’s Sirena. She’s having some trouble. I need help getting into the damn house.”
“What are you talking about?” I broke into a run and headed in the direction of the house. “Fuck. I can take her back to my dorm, but I think I just need to get her warmed up.”
“Bryce, try the back door. Sometimes Stitches forgets to lock it after he smokes,” I said, running as fast as I could get my feet to carry me. “Is she OK?”
“She’s. . . out. I don’t know. Fuck.”
I swallowed hard. “I’ll be there in a minute. Keep her safe.”
I cut the call off and phoned Church as I continued my run. I suddenly wished I had done more cardio because the cold air was killing my lungs.
“Sin,” Church’s gruff voice came over the line. “What’s wrong?”
“S-Sirena,” gasped out, seeing our house in the distance and making out Mirage’s figure on the front step holding a limp Sirena in his arms.
“What happened?” His voice came out tense, and I could hear him curse at someone before a flurry of movement because he was obviously running now too.
“Don’t know. Mirage called. He’s at the house with her. I’m almost there.”
“Get to her. I’ll be there in a minute.” Church hung up, and I raced up the steps to get to the door as Bryce came around the side of the house, looking worried and frustrated.
I unlocked the door and ushered them inside.
Mirage took Sirena to the couch and laid her on it.
My chest constricted as I took her in. Her eyes were open, but she’d checked out.
“Fuck, what happened?” I whispered as Mirage shifted her to remove her coat.
“I don’t know. Adam Larson pissed her off when we were at the vending machine. He was being his typical dipshit self and saying stupid shit,” Mirage said, pushing her hair gently away from her face.
I noticed his busted knuckles and the drying blood and realized Adam Larson probably had a broken nose.
“What did he say?” I demanded.
“Just being a dick,” Mirage muttered, checking out on me and focusing completely on Sirena. “Rinny? Hey. Come on. We can’t do this. Come back, OK?”
He began humming that song I’d heard so often, his hand clinging to hers.
I backed away before going to the hall closet and getting a heavy blanket for her since I knew she had to be cold. All I could think about was losing her and questioning why.
Why did this shit need to keep happening? It wasn’t fucking fair. I couldn’t lose her. Damnit, I couldn’t. My heart couldn’t handle it. I knew I needed to pull myself together, so I drew in a few calming breaths.
I came back in to find Mirage still humming and Bryce sitting on the edge of the couch, worry written all over his face.
It took me a moment to realize what I was witnessing.
Two more guys who loved her dearly. It was what love in action looked like.
There was no time to dwell on it, though, so I covered her when Bryce moved aside for me.
Admitting it killed me inside, that she’d gone blank again like she had before.
Church burst into the house with Ashes and Stitches on his heels. Bryce was shoved aside as they all gathered around her.
Bryce tensed but lurked on the edge of the group, his focus on everything going on. Instead of dwelling on that, I kept my attention on what was really important, and that was our girl.
“She’s. . . fuck,” Stitches rasped. “No, man. Not again.”
“It’s fine,” Ashes said, his voice shaking. “We’ve done this before. She came back before. She’s only. . . taking a break. She’s been under a lot of stress.”
“Right,” I murmured. “Stress.”
“What happened? Tell me everything,” Church demanded. It was Bryce who spoke because Mirage was too busy humming to her.
He quickly recounted the tale.
“Then Mirage found her and called me to come help. Now we’re here,” Bryce finished. “I really think she needs to be seen at the facility—”
Church rounded on him in an instant. “Fuck the facility.”
“What about O’Brien? The doc?” I asked, looking to Church.
He was quiet for a moment before he nodded and pulled his phone out. I knew O’Brien was one of the few good ones left here. If Church trusted him, then I trusted him. It helped that I’d seen him in action with her. He appeared to give a damn and hadn’t put out there anything which had gone down with her before after all that other shit happened.
Church turned away from us and spoke quickly but softly into the phone.
“Siren?” I called out, taking her other hand. Damn, she was ice cold. “Hey, it’s me. It’s Sinful. I know you’re in there. Come on. We need you to come back. We can talk. I-I have our notebook.”
I watched as she didn’t respond to me. With each passing second, I could feel parts of my heart begin to crack.
Please, don’t break it, baby. Please. I’m begging you.
“He’s not here,” Church proclaimed, hanging up. “He said he won’t be back until tomorrow. He had a family emergency and is traveling back as we speak. He said to keep her comfortable, and if anything changes, we need to call the wards.” The way he said that made me think he wasn’t going to follow through.
Knowing what I knew about this place, I was with him on it.
“He’s going to call me when he’s back in the morning. He wants us to bring her then if she hasn’t improved,” Church continued, his voice thick and wavering. I glanced at him to see the muscle thrumming along his jaw. He was going to lose it.
Three. . . two. . . one. . .
“I want Adam Larson,” he snarled, backing away. “I want that motherfucker on his knees, begging for his life.”
“I’ll go with you,” Stitches said, backing away, a fierce look on his face.
I was torn between ripping Adam to shreds and staying with Sirena. Sirena won easily, though, so I stayed and looked to Church.
“Make it hurt,” I said in a rough voice.
“You can count on it,” he answered before walking out the door, Stitches on his heels.
Ashes leaned over her and placed a kiss on her forehead before he backed away.
“I’m going to go with them. That pair isn’t a good combo. Take care of her,” he murmured before departing, his lighter in his hand.
Bryce took a seat at Sirena’s feet and said nothing. All he did was continue to watch her. If I had to guess, I’d say his mind was going a mile a minute. He looked like someone who was thinking. And worrying. That part was apparent as his hands trembled.
And Mirage. He kept humming to her and holding her hand.
I sat on the edge of the couch beside her, just watching. Whispering to her. Praying, the rosary she’d given me in my hand, the beads making a soft tinkling noise as I moved through my prayers.
Eventually, Mirage fell asleep and lay on the floor beside her. Bryce did the same, none of us having spoken to one another the entire time. I looked at the clock finally and saw nearly three hours had passed.
Carefully, I reached out and gently shifted Sirena so she was on my lap. Her eyes were still open, and she had no reaction at all to my touch. Her skin was colder than usual, so I covered us with the blanket once more and cradled her in my arms, whispering my entire fucking being to her.
“Please don’t go away again, siren. I need you to stay. This life is nothing without you. I don’t want it if you’re not here with me. Please. You still haven’t gotten to hold Bill. Or dance more. Or even tell the others you love them too,” I finished softly. “We need you here. You don’t even know how much you’ve saved us by coming into our lives. Don’t go. OK? Stay, siren. Please.”
I closed my eyes and continued to hold her tightly until sleep took over.
Maybe when we’d wake, she’d be back.
It was the last thing I prayed for right after Adam Larson’s death.
