Storm by Aria Ray

Chapter Twenty-Two

Zoe

Ididn’t have time to think about Storm now, and for that, I was grateful. The only thing I needed to focus on was my family.

I arrived at the hospital and found Mom lingering in the hallway outside Alison’s room.

“She doesn’t want to see me, Zoe. I don’t know what to do,” Mom said with a sigh. I glanced at one of the Dark Slayers men who was standing guard at Alison’s door. Mom looked at him too.

“Who is this man? There was someone else here earlier. They keep saying they’re responsible for Ali’s safety, but I don’t even know who they are. I don’t understand.”

Mom’s voice was shaky, and I had to throw an arm around her to steady her.

“Stop worrying, Mom, please. Alison is back. She is safe and getting the medical attention she needs. That’s the important part, right? And these guys are the ones I’ve been working with. They helped me find Alison.”

“They helped you find her? Zoe, honey, I hope you know what you’re talking about because they don’t exactly look…reliable.”

I smiled at her. She had no idea this was exactly the kind of man Killian was too! She hadn’t seen this side of him.

“I’m sure I can trust them, Mom.”

She sighed and shook her head.

“What are we going to do about Ali? Every time I try to go into her room, she turns away from me or whispers to the nurse or to one of these guys that she wants me gone. I want to help her. I want to take care of her.”

“But maybe that is not what she needs from us right now.”

Mom tried to speak again but I interrupted her.

“Why don’t you check yourself into a nearby hotel and you can try to talk with her again tomorrow? Let’s just give her some rest today,” I suggested.

Mom was hesitant to leave but after a bit more insistence, she finally agreed.

I knocked on Alison’s door before entering. It made me feel safer knowing that one of Storm’s men would be watching over her at all times.

My sister was lying on her side on the bed, with her face turned away from me.

“Hi, Ali, it’s me,” I said softly but she didn’t move. I could see that her eyes were open, but she was staring blankly at the wall, refusing to turn and look at me.

Hot tears rolled from the corners of my eyes. I hated seeing her like this. I had no idea the extent of what she had been through in those traumatic days. She did not want to talk about it. She needed some space. I understood that.

I pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. I didn’t even reach out to touch her.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you fast enough, Ali. I promise I tried my best to find you. I promise I was thinking about you every second you weren’t with us. You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to, but maybe you’d like to hear a story?”

My sister didn’t move a muscle and continued staring at the wall.

I continued with my story, hoping she would respond in some way.

∞∞∞

Three days went by, and I wasn’t even sure if Alison was making any real progress. The doctors and nurses checked on her from time to time. They claimed she was getting stronger physically, but it was her mental health I was worried about.

She hadn’t said a word in three days. Mom was just as worried as I was.

The only person Alison could tolerate having in the room with her was me. She screamed or flapped her arms wildly if Mom entered or even if the doctors or nurses came to check on her. It seemed like she just wanted to be left alone.

When I sat with her, I told her the story of how I found her. The things I had done, the people I met and worked with to get to her. Storm’s part in finding her. I wasn’t sure if I could tell this story to anyone else, especially my mother. Alison was the only person I could speak to about it. She deserved to know what was happening behind the scenes while she had been trapped and waited to be rescued.

“But really, none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for Storm. If he didn’t go and check out that trash can again and discover the cameras at the airport,” I continued. I was staring longingly at the back of Alison’s head while she stared at the wall.

Most of the times I wasn’t even sure if she could hear me, or if she was interested, but I continued with the story anyway.

“I will always be grateful to him for helping me find you,” I added with a sigh.

Storm and I hadn’t seen much of each other in the past three days. I spent most of my time at the hospital, sitting on this chair beside Alison. Sometimes Grit came over and he would force me to return to the motel and take a shower or catch up on some sleep. Storm was rarely there. It seemed like he was busy trying to track down Daniel and the kidnapper who had escaped. Things had turned cold between us since the last time we spoke.

I didn’t want to interfere with his work. He had kept his end of the bargain of helping me find Alison. So technically, our working relationship had come to an end.

“But I guess I won’t be seeing much of him anymore, once we’re back in Griffinsford,” I said. Most of the times, I was speaking in a kind of daze to Alison. I was speaking more to myself than to her, just voicing my thoughts out loud because I didn’t expect her to be listening.

“But you’re in love with him.”

Alison’s voice broke through my thoughts and sounded husky and deep, because she hadn’t spoken in so long. Her words were very clear to me.

I moved closer to the bed.

“What did you just say?” I asked, not yet believing that she had actually spoken.

Slowly, she turned towards me and blinked rapidly.

“I said that you’re in love with him.”

Her words sounded ludicrous. I couldn’t admit to my feelings for him. The very fact that she had spoken was enough, though, to put a smile on my face.

When I reached for her hand, she didn’t pull away.

“It’s so nice to hear your voice, Ali,” I said, beaming at her.

Alison sighed, like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“I’ve been listening to every word you’ve said,” she continued, still in that croaky voice.

“I’m very happy to hear that. I just want you to feel better.”

“But you do love him, right?”

She was searching my eyes for an answer, and my cheeks were burning hot.

“I’m just grateful to him for all the ways in which he’s helped me. I couldn’t have found you without him,” I replied.

Alison glared at me, raising her eyebrows high up on her forehead.

“I know you, Zoe. I want you to be honest with yourself. You have feelings for this guy.”

I drew my hands away from her and clasped them together in my lap.

“I don’t think you understand what our relationship is about, but Ali, you don’t have to think about all that. Are you feeling better? I just want you to feel better.”

Finally, for the first time since I found her battered and broken in that warehouse, a glimmer of a smile lit up her face. My heart quickened at the sight of it. So many feelings swept through me in that moment, which I couldn’t describe, but most of all, I was relieved. Finally, I had hope that she might make it.

“I’ll feel better once you can admit the truth to yourself. This guy means something to you, even if he is nothing like the man you always imagined yourself with.”

“There is no future for us, Ali. We belong to two completely different worlds. He doesn’t want me in his life. I don’t fit in it.”

Alison appeared to be thinking, and then she nodded.

“Tell me more about him. Describe him to me, I want to know everything,” she said.

My fingers trembled in my lap. I hadn’t spoken about Storm out loud like this before. By describing him to Alison, I would be coming face-to-face with what I actually thought of him.

However, now that she was talking again, I was willing to talk about anything she wanted.

“He is nothing like any man I have ever met before,” I began.