I shifted on my feet anxiously as I clutched my phone in my right hand and scanned my surroundings. I'd only been downtown a handful of times, my mother had always insisted it was dangerous, that there was danger lurking around every corner. I had taken it with a grain of salt and continued on with life as if it were just a dumb warning our parents told us that didn't really mean much.

As I waited for April, I couldn't help but feel as if eyes were on me. No matter where I looked, there was nothing but concrete walls encasing me in the car garage. It was times like these I wished Gage were here; he'd know what to say and would intimidate another man enough to keep his distance.

"Get in the car and drive!" April's shrill cry nearly sent my phone and her car keys flying from my grasp. She was stalking toward me so fast I hardly had time to take in her appearance. She was in nothing but red satin underwear and a lace red bra that was very see through. She was holding a pair of black stilettos under her arm and her phone in the other. There was no doubt that she was freezing, but that appeared to be the least of her worries. "Now, Marley!"

Not taking any chances, I threw myself into the drivers seat and locked the door as soon as she was in beside me, eyes on me as I started the old beater and began to back it up. She leaned back against her seat, but it took me pulling out of the parking garage and back out on to the road to realize she was hardly moving. Once I'd hit a red light, I glanced over at her and took in her head swaying back and forth, eyes barely open. She looked as though she were barely coherent.

"April?" I reached across the console and grasped her hand. "April, can you hear me?"

"Mhm." She hummed.

I cursed quietly under my breath as the light turned green and continued driving. I was already on the edge of my seat being here, but seeing April's delirious state didn't do much to ease my anxiety. I contemplated heading back to Alyssa's-maybe she'd know what was wrong with April. It was when she completely faded out that my heart jumped into my chest and I reached over to shake her.

"April?" I said, then yelled, "April!"

She didn't flinch. Her chest heaved up and down slowly, lips slightly parted. I pried her phone from under her hand and turned it on at my next red light, my stomach plummeting when I saw the text message that she'd been about to send me.

He put something in my drink. Im getting dizzy

Tossing the phone into the cup holder, I turned the car and headed in the other direction. Out of the danger zone and straight for the hospital. I continued to reach out and touch my fingers to my friend's neck at every stop, praying that whatever her mystery man had drugged her with wasn't going to kill her. I parked her car in front of the ER and walked around it, throwing her weight on to my shoulder. It was both startling and scary how light she was, I could have probably carried her in my arms like Xavier if I had to. As soon as one of the nurses spotted us, she ran in our direction.

"What happened?"

"I think she was drugged." I handed over her phone as a few more nurses joined us. "I picked her up from a hotel and she knocked out in the car. She won't wake up."

They all started shouting codes and words I didn't have the energy to try and understand before completely tearing April from my grasp. Knowing I couldn't leave her car outside, I headed back out and climbed in, driving it around to guest parking. I tried to get out once I'd cut the engine, but I couldn't move. It felt as though my legs weighed a ton and my breath was catching in my throat, not allowing a full breath out.

I had already watched the life slip from Gage. Though April had been breathing, I couldn't help but wonder if I was going to have to relieve the trauma.

No, Mar. you need to breathe and get back inside that hospital. April doesn't have anybody. No family, no friends outside of you. She needs you in there.

My internal confliction was eased with those words floating around my head. I forced my legs out the door and stood, curling my fist around the car keys as I made my way back toward the entrance of the hospital.

***

I must have fallen asleep at some point, because I was shook awake by a sweet, petite nurse holding a tray of food in her hands.

"You've been here all night. I thought you could use something to eat." She said with a smile.

"April." I mumbled groggily. "April Howard, is she okay?"

The nurse straightened with a nod. "She's doing great. She rode out the effects of the drugs, but her system is clear. She woke up a couple hours ago but won't eat anything."

"Can I go back and see her?"

The nurse nodded and made a gesture for me to follow. "Maybe you can talk her into eating something."

I doubted that, but I'd try even if it'd be lost on April. As soon as we stepped into the room, April looked up from the spoon she was stabbing into her lime green jello, her eyes on her cell phone on her lap.

"If you need anything, just press this button right here," the nurse instructed us, showing us the red button at the top of the remote hooked up next to April's hospital bed. She then slid out of the room and pressed the door shut gently behind her.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, sitting in the chair pulled up next to her. I grasped the cold turkey sandwich and took a bite. "You kind of scared the hell out of me for a while there."

"You stayed here all night?" her voice was a strangled sob, as if she were trying her hardest not to breakdown. "Why?"

I took another bite, then chased it with a sip of water. "You're my friend, April. You called and texted me, and I was scared. So I came to get you."

"I don't remember calling you." she said, returning her attention to her phone. "I don't remember you picking me up either."

"Well, you did, and I'm glad you did." I reached out and squeezed her hand. "You were drugged. I can't even imagine what could have, would have, happened if you hadn't."

She leaned forward, and because I was so far away, I had to set my own food tray on the chair behind me and moved so I could hug her. She buried her face against my shoulder and I tightened my arms around her.

"Thank you, Marley. Seriously. I. . . I could be dead."

I pulled away and smiled, my first genuine smile in so long that it felt strange on my lips.

"But you didn't." I sat back down. "And I'm so glad you aren't."

***

"Alyssa Montgomery's Home For Wayward Girls." Alyssa joked as she set a t-shirt and pants in April's arms. "You're welcome to stay as long as you need, sweetheart. I'm sure you know where the bathroom is."

April smiled weakly and trudged down the hall, making a sharp left just before she made it to Gage's room. Once she was in the bathroom, I looked back to Alyssa. "She's been living in her car. I don't know why she was at that hotel or what she was doing there, but she doesn't have anywhere to stay."

"I don't mind having her here." Alyssa reassured me, touching a hand to my shoulder. "Nor do I mind having you here, Marley. You keep this ol' middled aged single woman company. Makes it feel less cold and empty here."

"Are you going to see him this week?" I asked with a hopeful look in her direction.

She rubbed my shoulder comfortingly and whispered. "Yes, I am. I just. . . I'm not sure he's ready to see you yet, sweetheart."

I could see it in the way that she stared down at me in concern that this had nothing to do with Gage. Odd, because everything had been about him the last couple weeks.

"You don't think I'm ready." I clarified aloud so she didn't have to say it.

"Marlene, honey, you've been through a lot. My son he. . . he isn't the boy you fell in love with, not right now. He's struggling a lot."

I touched my hand to my chest. "So am I. He was there when I needed him the most, Alyssa. He begged me to allow him take my pain away and add it onto his own emotional baggage. If he. . . if he needs me now, I want to be there. I want him to know that there's still a reason to live. I want to return the favor."