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"How did she knohat?"
"How did she know youropened, Carmine? Because it’s my house, and I didn’t know!"
Carmine turned back to theOh, shit "Where is she?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes"
His father stared at him hard "Why?"
Cars, Dad, butChrist, this? I didn’t think you were this fucked up!"
Vincent’s eyes narrowed "Do you have so her back"
Vincent’s cale anything! She’s still gone!"
Those words broke sorip with sanity He grabbed his gun and aimed at Carmine’s head
"You won’t shoot me," Carmine said "I look tooit "Stay away froirl"
He meant it as a threat, but Carmine only felt relief It meant that Haven was still there, so his distance from her
Time went by torturously slow for Haven as she held her position in the dark bedroo the tension She cried until exhaustion took hold, sleep whisking her away
A noise startled her awake later, the pain explosive thein the shadows, her brow furrohen she reen eyes Car his fingertips across the duct tape covering her azza, I’m sorry this happened to you"
She studied him, her head tilted as if it would help her understand
"It’s the anniversary of, uhfuck! Why can’t I say it? It’s the dayher confused None of them spoke of Carmine’s mao, but he’d kill me No, he’d kill you He told me not to come near you, but I had to know you were okay But, Christ, look at you! What’s wrong with hiers grazing over the duct tape once , tesoro I’ll never let anything like this happen again"
"Are you awake?"
Haven’s eyes opened at the sound of Dr DeMarco’s voice the next , his tone not as callous as it had been yesterday Squatting down in front of her, he peeled up the corner of the duct tape and ripped it off She winced, her lips throbbing like the beat of a drum
Dr DeMarco freed her fro wrists She sat there after he left with her head slu her nose on her shirt as she flexed her liet the cramps out
After a few lass of water He knelt beside her "You should drink this"
She took the water and tried to s hurt
Carmine held out a small yellow pill "Take this The kids at school would eat this shit like candy if they could It’ll take away the pain"
She took the pill and sed it, her voice gritty as she whispered, "Thank you"
"You’re welcoet up?"
Carmine held his hand out to her and pulled her to her feet, but the ave out He cursed and snatched her before she hit the floor, his grip firm as he pulled her into his arms
His face softened as he carried her to his room and placed her on his bed Confused, she lay as still as possible as Car with his arms full of first-aid supplies He dropped it all on the bed beside her and sat down, a washcloth in his hand "I need to fix you up You don’t want any of this getting infected"
Carainst her skin He brushed it across her entle, and washed the dried blood fro her attention on his face, strained with concentration
The pain receded as the drug kicked in "You’re good at this"
He s my whole life"
9
Carmine paused beside the bed and stared down at Haven, her face nuzzled into his pillow He sht of her as he sat down "Do you wanna talk about what happened?"
"There’s nothing to talk about," she whispered "I survived That’s what I do I’ll keep surviving until I don’t survive any you’re a survivor?"
Her cheeks flushed "Yeah, that didn’t sound smart I think I need a thes--uh, one of those books ords"
He laughed "A thesaurus?"
"Yes"
"I’ll get you one if you pronition flickered across her face as her sh I can’t read"
"Truthfully?"
She hesitated "I can a little bit People taughtwhen uess you can say I watched some television, too"
He shook his head "I still don’t understand why it uy"
"Because smart people try to escape," she replied "They think they canare easier to control, and they needed to control aped at her, surprised by her sudden seriousness "Okay"
Haven laughed, her carefree expression returning "Is that an, ‘Okay, I get your point, Haven,’ or is it an, ‘Okay, I’ree with you, because I don’t knohat else to say?’"