Chapter 13: Fury

I pushed Abel off me with both hands.

He went without a word and sat on the edge of the bed with his head down.

I dragged the quilt up over my chest.

Nobody had ever been surprised.

"Get out," I said.

"Beth," Eli said.

"Out. All four of you. Now."

They went.

Lyle went last, hopping on one foot to get his jeans up, and he stopped in the doorway.

"For the record," he said, "you were incredible."

"Lyle."

"Going."

I shut the door so hard the glass on the nightstand jumped.

Then I sat on the floor with my back against the bed and shook.

Every whisper had been for my benefit.

Every "she's out cold" and "she must be dreaming" had been said by men who could hear me breathing in fours.

They had taken turns letting me think I was clever.

I had been so pleased with myself.

I got up and pulled my duffel from under the bed.

I threw in scrubs, jeans, my phone charger, the hospital badge I had not needed in nine days.

I left Clint's letter in my jeans pocket, and I left the ribbons on the dresser.

I went down the back stairs in my socks with my boots in my hand.

The yard was white under the pole light.

My car stood nose-in at the barn door where someone had moved it, and Eli was sitting on the hood in his undershirt and bare feet.

He had both hands wrapped around a thermos lid, and they were not steady.

"You can't drive on no sleep," he said. "You work nights, you know that."

"Get off my car."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Four Men Crept Into My Childhood Room, So I Kept My Eyes Shut from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.