Locked in the Room During an Allergy Attack Because I Couldn’t Speak Chapter 08

Locked in the Room During an Allergy Attack Because I Couldn’t Speak Chapter 08

The next day, Tansy posted a long statement.

She said she just had no filter.

She said I was her dearest bestie.

She said I’d been emotionally unstable since the surgery. That I kept misunderstanding her and

Slade.

She posted a photo of me from behind.

I was in a hospital gown, sitting outside the rehab room, looking down at my phone.

The caption read: [She can actually talk now. She just won’t forgive us yet.]

The comments piled up fast.

Someone said I was milking the voiceless act for sympathy.

Someone said I’d turned my boyfriend and best friend into villains.

Someone recognized the hospital. That afternoon, during rehab, a few people showed up in the

hallway holding up their phones.

“Can you really not talk?”

“Are you faking it to guilt your boyfriend into giving in?”

“That bestie of yours seems pretty pitiful too.”

The nurse stepped in front of me.

My breathing stuttered. My throat started to tighten.

That’s when Slade walked out of the elevator.

He cast his phone to the hospital screen.

The full security footage played,

There he was. Pushing me into the break room.

The door locking.

Me pounding on the door. Sending messages. Sliding down against it.

Next clip. Tansy standing beside the snack cart. Picking up a bag of nuts. Saying something with a

smile.

Next clip. She was standing outside the door, asking.

“Is she at it again?”

By the time Tansy showed up, her face was sheet–white.

She rushed to shut the screen off. Slade blocked her. “Don’t.”

He looked at her. His voice was cold.

“You love explaining things for her, don’t you?”

“So explain.”

Tears spilled down Tansy’s face immediately.

“Slade. Do you really have to do this to me?”

He didn’t move.

She turned to me.

“Tierney. Are you happy now?”

“Now everyone feels sorry for you.”

“I just liked him a little more. What did I do wrong?”

I braced myself against the wall and stood up straight.

The nurse moved to help me. I gently stepped away.

Tansy laughed. Her eyes were red and raw.

“You really thought I wanted to be your friend because I liked you?”

Slade’s face went hard. “Tansy.”

She looked like she was done pretending.

“The first time I saw you two, I knew it wasn’t fair.”

“Why did he remember everything about you when you didn’t even try? Your allergies. Your throat. All of it.”

“I wanted to get close to him. But he only had eyes for you.”

“So I had to get close to you first.”

She stared at me. Tears kept falling.

“You were so easy to fool.”

“I said I envied you. Said I wanted to be your family. You just pulled me right into your life.”

“You told me why you two fought. Told me what you were scared of. Gave me every weakness you had.”

“After that, he asked me about your gifts. Came to me after your fights. I talked him down for you. Smoothed things over.”

She laughed again. Uglier this time.

“You handed me to him yourself.”

Slade’s hands curled into fists.

Tansy kept going.

“I loved it most when you lost your voice.”

“You couldn’t speak. So I could speak for you.”

“You couldn’t explain. So.I could explain for you.”

“You got upset. I called you sensitive.”

“You felt hurt. I called you dramatic.”

“As long as I spoke first, everyone believed me.”

She looked at me. Wounded and vindicated all at once.

“Tierney. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”

The only sound in the hallway was the beeping of machines,

When Slade spoke, his voice was wrecked.

“So from the very beginning. You were never her friend.”

Tansy spun toward him.

“So what?”

“You believed me too. Every single time.”

Those last words landed.

All the color drained from Slade’s face.

I looked at them.

My throat was burning.

The doctor said I shouldn’t push it today.

But I took a slow breath.

“Tansy.”

Her eyes snapped to me.

“I can speak now.”

“So you can shut up.”

Her face went pale, little by little.

People around us still had their phones up.

Slade turned around and blocked the cameras one by one.

“Stop filming her.”

He pulled off his jacket and held it in front of me.

Before, a gesture like that would’ve softened something in me.

Now I just stepped back,

way from his jacket.

1 said to the nurse. “Let’s go.”

Behind me. Tansy broke down sobbing

Slade didn’t go comfort her

I didn’t look back.