Austin’s POV

I hadn’t slept a wink last night. All I could do was worry about Kynder and think of the mistakes I had made. She was out there, in the cold wind and downpour. Was she scared or alone?

I had been stupid, a food, and an idiot! I took the only trust she had for someone and smashed it to pieces! I was just as bad as Miles! If I could, I would go back to his house and do to that man what he did to the sweet girl.

So at six in the morning, I lay awake with these troubling thoughts in my head. The others were probably all asleep still.

I was a screw up of a human being. If I looked up idiot in the dictionary, my face would be plastered by the name. The greatest love of my life was given to me and I hurt her. What was worse than that? I SOLD her right after because I was too ashamed of my actions to face what I had done! I wasn’t man enough to face what I destroyed! I wasn’t MAN ENOUGH to try to fix it!

All I did was make my mistakes disappear.

Now I had sent her away, no, I made her run away. She was going to die, all because of me. Her injuries would end her in a few days. If she didn’t get help soon, then she would be dead on the side of the road.

Alan told me she didn’t eat anything. Now she had no food.

Alan said her back was troubling her. She could barely stand. Now she was sprinting for her life.

Alan told me she had lost a lot of blood and was dizzy. Now she can’t do anything about it.

We had discussed it late last night. Tino pointed out that Kynder was much too smart to leave immediately. There were too many reasons that she could stay around. Kyn would want to find food, maybe get some more clothes, find the pain relief pills, and wait for us until we finally lost hope of searching for her.

Ronnie was staying with us. He said that today and tomorrow we should be circling out from the house and waiting there. She would be somewhere within a mile of the house, if what Tino said was true.

The thought of searching for her and finding her lifted my heart an inch off the ground. All I wanted to do right now was hold her in my arms and tell her how screwed up I was. I wanted to beg for her forgiveness, although I would know she wouldn’t want to forgive me.

Soft footsteps padded down the hall.

I held still and focused on the sound. The footsteps stopped and turned around, going back down the main hallway. Was it Ronnie up already?

Softly pushing back the covers, I pressed my ear against the door. The footsteps were only heard if I held my breath and closed my eyes. It took all my concentration to listen to it.

I heard a familiar jingle of metal against metal.

I waited until the sound disappeared down the hall before I opened the door. It creaked as I winced. The entire house fell into a fragile silence. I wondered if the others had heard the familiar footsteps.

As I peered around the corner, I saw the back of a long, blonde haired girl. Blood was staining her shirt and her foot was held in ready. The door was open, her quick escape. She hadn’t spotted me yet. The silver metal collar that I never had taken off glittered in the dim light.

She held her spot for the moment before sprinting out of the house, leaping down the steps and taking off down the driveway. I ran after her, giving a shout for the others.

It was obvious that she was in pain. Her left ankle was placed at an awkward angle as she ran. Her pace was much slower than yesterday, but still incredibly fast. I could hear her breathing was heavy and labored, even from twenty feet away. I kept sprinting to keep after her, but we stayed at the same distance between each other.

Out of the blue, she stopped and bent over, coughing up blood. I kept sprinting to catch up. Kyn was worn out. The boys came running behind me. We had barely made it a quarter mile down the road.

When she was done with her fit of pain, she stood back up and started running up the hills to the left of the road, like she did before. I stopped there, knowing I was wearing down and so was she. From my little dirt road, I witnessed her stop three more time in fits of pain, and then keep going.

The five other caught up to me, watching her figure fade.

“She’s going to be back.” Alan told me. It was true. She had left empty handed. Kynder was a determined girl. She would be back soon enough to claim what she needed. As we walked back, I gave a quick explanation of what had happened twenty minutes earlier.

“She’s dying, I hope you know.” Ronnie murmured to me, gently touching my arm. I looked up at him. Every minute since the accident, I told myself I was letting her die. The thing was, I didn’t believe it. There was part of me that wanted to look at how bad the injuries were and it told me she was being killed slowly inside.

But there was a far greater part that always disproved the facts. As much as I told myself she is dying, I shooed the thoughts away with what I wanted to believe.

“What?” I asked him again, staring to my friend. The rest of the group stopped, dumbfounded.

“When was the last time she ate anything?” Ronnie asked us softly. We all took seats on the porch, staring out to the distance. I could only imagine Kynder sitting on one of the hills, just out of our reach.

“A week ago.” Alan confessed. Ronnie shook his head.

“How deep was the chest wound?” Ronnie asked the ginger. I almost couldn’t bare this conversation. Instead, I had to edure it.

“A couple of inches.” Alan responded. The raven haired boy sighed and fumbled with his fingers nervously. Alan must’ve filled in my friend with what had happened to Kynder yesterday.

“In that case, it would’ve punctured part of the stomach. I don’t think it went all the way through, but burned a chunk of it. The acid in the stomach won’t wear away the lining all at once, but over the next week or so, it might burn through. By not eating or keeping up with her health, the lining of the stomach won’t regenerate and protect her.” Ronnie explained to us. A distant look glazed his eyes. I shook in desperation.

“No, she’ll be fine. She’s tough. She can get through this.” My voice wavered. She really might die. There was confirmation of this now. Ronnie put a hand on my shoulder.

“Austin, she might be strong, but her body is still combating the burn. Her body can’t take any food in the stomach because it causes too much pain. That’s why she throws up anything she puts down. Since she’s also puking up some of the stomach acid, it burns the back of her throat, making her bleed. Her body is now trying to force out all the blood in her stomach. This is only wearing down her body’s natural healing process.” Ronnie told me. I let out a strangle breath. No, this couldn’t be.

“Ronnie, why do you know so much about this?” Aaron asked suspiciously.

“I had a medical degree before all of this. I work as a doctor for all the owners in the nearby areas. I go as far as Utah, depending on the case. I’ve seen some pretty nasty stuff.” My friend explained. All I could think about was the body of my darling girl abandoned on the side of the road.

“That’s why I asked him to take Kynder instead of Jack or Alex. That way, she could get some medical attention as well.” I recollected myself, but the confirmation of her death was still on my mind.

“Oh, I get it now. No wonder you didn’t want me to call Jack or Alex about buying her.” Aaron spoke softly. I nodded in response. There were no words for it.

“So she will die?” Phil asked forlornly. A sullen state had fallen over the house. Our time to save her was ticking. Maybe it was already gone.

“Yes, if she doesn’t get help soon. Her chances of surviving are fading by the day. At the end of the week…well, I just don’t know.” Ronnie added softly.

“We can do the best we can. Should we start getting into our little search circles?” Tino asked me. I shook my head. There was one last way we could attempt to use.

“If she want’s what she needs badly enough, she’ll have to come to our doorstep to get it.” I responded. Over in the distance, I saw a figure stand up, and then walk away.

Notes

Oh no, Kynder is going to die and it's all Austin's fault!!! >:(

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