Page 102 of Don't Leave Me Behind
Her eyes are free of tears today, something lighter in the way she’s carrying herself, too. I guess I feel that myself. Having Leni conscious, knowing she still wants me, makes all the difference in the world.
Chapter 34
You’re on Narcotics
Leni
Three excruciatingly long weeks later,I’m finally discharged. Miya practically lived at the hospital with Clay and I. He never left. He bought a few changes of clothes and showered in the room.
When I asked him about work, he told me it didn’t matter. My gut says it definitely does matter, but I couldn’t get myself to ask him to leave. From the moment I woke up, he was the only person I needed to see. The one I needed to tell me that everything was going to be okay.
He’s the steady hand I need when I try to stand. The one I want washing my hair or changing my clothes because I can’t do it myself yet. I never felt like I’d left home behind, because the ranch is just a place without him. Now that I’ve had a taste of life with him, I don’t know how I could ever go back to life without him.
Today we’re heading to the airport. Adler, of all people, surprised me by telling me he would charter a plane when I was released, so I wouldn’t have to ride all the way home in the car. I tried to tell him it was ridiculous, but he insisted.
I didn’t even know Benson International had private hangars, but that’s where we’re headed to board a jet and fly back to the ranch. They can’t land a plane on the ranch, so we’ll be flying into Halfor County’s airfield, but that’s only a thirty-minute drive home.
I can’t wait to get back to my little cabin. I want to soak in my tub and sit in my reading nook. I want some actual alone time with Clay where we don’t have to worry about someone walking in. He refuses to have sex with me, convinced he’s going to do more damage than good, but I’m hoping being back in our home will put that fear out of his mind. Hospitals are scary places, and I’m so ready to be out of there. Not to mention, Brooks stole Pepper and took her back to the ranch to be his nanny. I missmyPepper. Neither Clay nor I have gotten around to replacing my phone, so aside from a handful of FaceTimes with Miya, I’ve had zero contact with her since she left.
“Holy shit.” I whistle as Clay carries me up the stairs into the plane. “Damn, this is nice. How does one even charter a plane?”
“The hell if I know,” Clay grunts.
“How did Addy know how to book it?”
“He’s not an idiot,” Clay chirps into my hair as he settles me down into a seat. His tone harsher than I think he meant. “I mean, yeah, he pretends to be one. But I think there’s a lot more to Adler than we see.”
“Hmm.” I give him a suspicious look. Clay snorts and gets up to rummage through the minibar stocked with expensive-looking alcohol. “Can we afford any of that?” I whisper-shout at him.
Clay turns around, a bemused smile on his face. “You’re on narcotics, Leni. I’m not getting alcohol for you.” Looking at the bottle of water in his hands, he twists the cap offbefore handing it over. “Maybe they’ll put it on Adler’s tab. I never gave anyone my card number.”
He winks, settling down next to me.
“I still don’t understand how he knew about these planes. It’s not like he’s ever ridden in a private jet. Has he? How much money did Nana leave him?”
Clay shrugs. “I guess enough to charter a plane? I can’t believe she really left nothing to the rest of you.”
“I can.” I chuckle, my jaw cracking with a yawn. “Nana spent most of the time in the hospital with him when he was younger. Ma was needed here, so Nana was always the one with him. They were super close.”
“I wasn’t around for most of that,” he muses.
“No, he only had that one bad injury after you came around.”
“Mhm.” He threads his fingers through my hair, his nails scraping against my scalp gently.
I lean into his hand. Letting his fingers lull me toward sleep as the medicine starts to kick in.
“Uhm, Leni.” Clay tweaks my big toe, getting my attention. “You might want to rethink that wholeAdler’s-never-flown-on-a-plane-like-thisidea.”
“Why?”
He tosses me a notepad with a gold-foiled plane in the letterhead, the tagline reading, ‘Adler Aviation.’
“What the fuck?” I look at Clay, eyes wide as he shrugs his shoulders.
“I told you, more than he lets on.”
“Did you know about this?” I’m gaping at Clay now.
