Whispers of a Broken Halo by Abbi Glines

So, I didn’t respond to Rio’s threat. I believed him, and I knew he had that power. I nodded instead and fixed my gaze out on the water in front of me. I could almost pretend he wasn’t standing there and I was alone. Almost.

“It’s disappointing, you know,” he said then.

I didn’t look at him. I was afraid of what he would see in my eyes. “Wh-what is?” I asked.

“You,” he replied.

I winced, and my chest felt as if someone had slammed a heavy fist into it with one hard swing. Later, I would pride myself on standing there and not breaking down. I would be impressed with my strength and the way I’d handled it. Right now though, I wasn’t sure I could take my next breath. My throat was too tight, the pain inside too intense.

I knew the moment he walked away. I could feel him leave, and I was relieved he had said nothing more. I wasn’t sure I would have been able to stand here without crumpling if he had continued on. I had survived nightmares that most would never know, and I had come out stronger. I hadn’t let life take me down.

The boy I had once adored was gone. Once I got that through my head, I would be able to face Rio’s hatred and not feel anything. Until then, I would suffer. How could someone who had been through the depths of hell and come out on the other side still be affected by something as simple as words?

Rio March was my weakness, and I couldn’t afford a weakness in this life. Life wasn’t on my side. I had been fighting against it since birth.





Chapter Eleven

Rio

Pulling up beside Hazel’s red truck, I parked, pushed open my door, then reached over to grab the bag from Signed Sips and tray of coffees before getting out of my Jeep. I held up the items at the passenger window of Hazel’s truck.

“I brought gifts,” I said since the window was rolled down.

She leaned over and opened the door for me, so I could climb inside.

“Cup closest to you has some caramel shit you like, or so Henley said,” I told her.

She took the cup and leaned back in the seat with a sigh. I was worried about her. She had barely gone home for a good night’s sleep since Pops had been put in ICU. Gramma was the only visitor allowed in the waiting room. Thanks to Covid, we had to wait outside.

“Why don’t you go back to the house and get some sleep? You could also use a shower. I’ll stay here. I promise,” I told her.

She looked at the bag I had instead. “What’s in the bag?”

I handed it over to her, and she opened it, then pulled out a doughnut.

“God, I love Henley,” she said before taking a big bite.

“Eat the doughnut. Hell, eat everything in the bag, then go home and rest. You aren’t keeping Pops alive by sitting in the parking lot. You need some sleep,” I told her.

Hazel continued to chew. When she was done, she shifted her gaze from the massive building in front of us to me. “What if I leave and he … and he—” She stopped because I knew she couldn’t say it. I understood that.

“I will be here, and I will come get you. We can’t go inside. We would just be out here, waiting on Gramma to come out. That’s all we can do. I go home not because I don’t love him, but because there might be a time soon when we are needed. And not because of the worst. But when he gets out of there and when he is strong enough to go home, we are going to be needed. So, I get rest. I continue on with my life daily. I go to work, and I make sure things are running smoothly, so I can update Gramma. That’s what we need to be doing.”

A single tear rolled down Hazel’s face. “What if he don’t come home?” she whispered.

I had thought about that more than once since Gramma had called to tell me he had a massive heart attack last week.

“He’s still alive. He’s strong. He will come home. But if he doesn’t, we’ll lean on each other, and we’ll pull through. We’ll be there for Gramma, and we’ll be strong for her. That is what he would expect of us.”

She nodded then, and I hoped to God I was right and his still being alive a week later meant he was going to live. I knew one day, I would have to face life without him, but I wasn’t ready for that yet. Neither was Hazel. We both needed him still.

Hazel finished the doughnut, then turned to look at me. “You’re right. It’s not somethin’ that happens often, but you are right now. Thanks,” she said with a sad smile.

I shrugged. “Everyone is right eventually,” I replied.

She laughed, and I reached into the bag and pulled out a chocolate chip muffin and a slice of lemon cake, then handed her the lemon cake since it was her favorite. She took it, and we ate in silence while we stared at the brick building in front of us. The evening breeze came through the rolled-down windows, and I felt hopeful. That soon we wouldn’t be sitting here, waiting on Gramma to come out and give us an update. Soon, we would all be back at Pops and Gramma’s house, eating her fried chicken and biscuits in the kitchen while listening to Pops talk about how bad hospital food had been.

“I saw Bryn today,” Hazel said, breaking the silence with the one name I hadn’t wanted to hear.

“How?” I asked instead of just ignoring her comment.

“She was walkin’ somewhere. I waved. She waved back. That was it,” Hazel said. Then, she sighed. “Okay, that’s a lie. I waved. She recognized me, realized I was sitting in a hospital parkin’ lot, and came over to see if I was okay. I told her about Daddy. She said how sorry she was.” Hazel stopped, and I waited because I knew she wasn’t through. “Then, she left and came back with a cheeseburger and fries. She also left me her phone number if’n I needed anything and then asked me not to mention it to you, if I didn’t mind. She said you wouldn’t be happy about her being around me.”