Adam remained in his room the rest of the evening. Cassie said her goodnights and went to bed with the promise of a bedtime story from Zach. It was just Taylor, Amanda and me sitting around the large sofa. I needed to get home but how? I had no car and Adam had my phone.

"Um, Taylor?" I finally spoke up. "I really need to get home. Do you think-"

"Oh! Right. I'm your ride. Sure. Let's go." She hopped up, pecked Amanda on the cheek and grabbed her bag from the corner near the door.

"Thanks for...well, everything." I told Amanda.

"See you tomorrow?" She asked and I nodded.

"I'll be here late tomorrow. I have a therapy appointment at the hospital after school." I grabbed my gear and decided to just let Adam keep the damn phone.

The following day, school was its usual torturous experience. I saw Belinda in the Girls' Restroom and she turned and left rather than say a word to me. I locked myself in a stall and cried for most of my math class. Maddie arranged for my car to be towed and I now had a loaner, a little Smart Car that was actually kind of cute. As soon as school ended, I jogged for it and fifteen minutes later, was parking at the hospital.

"Hey, look who's here!" Ranger's voice welcomed me. "Likin' the hair.""

"Hi, Ranger." I smiled. "Adam's sister cut it for me."

"Adam's sister, huh? So you and Ollie are a couple now?"

I shrugged. "I don't know what we are. Amanda gave me a job."

"A job? That's great. Have a seat on the table. Be right back."

I hopped onto the low padded table on the wall opposite the tubs. It was double-wide and used for massage, stretching, or re-bandaging. I drew the curtain around it, tugged off my top and started rolling the pressure bandages off one arm. My bra was my only upper body covering and I shifted, abruptly uncomfortable, like someone was watching me. I whirled, checked the curtain, found it was completely drawn. I started working the second dressing off when Ranger's angry voice stopped me.

"Mark. I'd appreciate if you'd remain seated until I get back to you."

Mark. I didn't know any Marks. Whoever Mark was, Ranger startled him and my curtain billowed. There was a muttered "Sorry." I tugged my t-shirt back on and stretched out on the table... the opposite side from where the creepy Mark sat.

Shoes squeaked on the linoleum. Crocs. Those belonged to Nancy, the nurse Adam had terrorized on the day I met him. "Okay, Mark. Let's start with the ball. Squeeze and release.... Great."

The ball. Must be a hand burn. I'd done some of those exercises. I heard the rumble of a deep voice and distinctly heard my name but not the rest of his words. The strange text from last night... what if this Mark person sent it? He was right beside me with nothing but a plastic curtain separating us. He... he could be a psycho axe murderer and-

The curtain shrieked as it was pulled open and I jolted like I'd been electrocuted.

"Easy, sugar." Ranger grinned down at me. A moment later, his grin disappeared. "Eden. What's wrong? You in pain?"

I shook my head but glanced at the corner where the curtain had billowed. "Is he gone?" I whispered.

Ranger's jaw clenched. He stepped out and called to someone. "Nancy. Could you rebandage Mark's hand and take him back to his room?"

"I haven't-"

"I know. Just take him back."

Ranger moved next to me, circled his hands and I flipped onto my stomach. "What's this about, Eden?" He rubbed some ointment into my scars and began deep tissue massage.

My face heated. God, this was so embarrassing. "Um. Just weirded out, I guess."

"Mark's just a fan. You have a lot of those."

I groaned. I guess I did. But this was different. "Ranger, I'm by myself. I don't have security or even my manager here to do crowd control like they would at a runway show." I jerked a thumb toward the curtain. ""That guy watched me undress and yesterday-"

Crap. Now, I sounded like a diva.

"Yesterday, what?" He prodded.

"Well, I got this text message from a number I don't know. It was totally creepy. Whoever sent it said he missed me at the burn treatment center and waited for me."

Ranger leaped to his feet and strode out of my curtain. Five minutes or so elapsed and he was back. "A security guard's coming up. He'll walk you all the way to your car when we're done.""

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "Cool. Thanks."

"No problem, sugar. Ready to stretch?"

When I lay with my back on the table, Ranger took my right arm, stretched it out to my side, straight up toward the ceiling, and then back out to the side. With my arm on the table, Ranger slowly pushed it higher until it was past shoulder level. I held my breath, felt the skin on my shoulders stretch and pull and then winced when he'd reached the limits of my tolerance.

"Come on, Eden, gimme more."

Again, he dragged my arm up....ninety degrees, a hundred. It hurt. God, it hurt. My breath came in pants but we did it. We got my arm above my head and I laughed – I actually laughed. Ranger moved to my other arm and I asked him about Sam.

"He misses you. I try to schedule his sessions around your appointments but it's not always up to me."

"Think they'll let me in to see him?" My voice cracked as Ranger pushed my arm to its peak limit.

"Sure. His mother's usually here and she knows you." He started a new cycle. "Talking about Sam reminded me about something. Have you ever heard of SOAR?"

"No."

"It stands for Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery. It's a program where people who've lived through severe burns help other patients cope with treatment. Long Island has only one SOAR hospital and I want to make it two."

My heart melted a little and I smiled. "Ranger, that's great. Can I help?"

His face split into a wide grin. "I was hoping you'd say that. I think you'd be amazing. Just look at how much you helped Sam."

"What would I have to do?"

"Meet with new patients and their families, tell your story and share the things that helped you heal. You know, give advice."

"I can do – Ow!" I gasped as Ranger hit the high end of my range of motion.

"Okay, sugar, easy." He flexed my left arm at the elbow, rotated it in a circle. "I'll give you some paperwork to take home."

Paperwork. College applications. Right. I groaned.

"Still hurts?"

"No, not that. You said paperwork and reminded me I still have to finish my college applications. I'm pretty late with them."

"Relax. Colleges will never say no to money."

Too bad I haven't got access to any of that. Maddie manages it all.

Ranger finished the range-of-motion exercises and helped me replace the pressure dressings. I zipped up my hoodie and he handed me an envelope. "Here's the SOAR information. If you can make it, there's a meeting Thursday night at eight."

"I'll be there."

I said good-bye, took a quick side trip to Sam's room to say hi, and then walked with a security escort back to my car. No sign of the creepy spy, Mark.

It was after five by the time I pulled in front of Amanda's house. My body ached, I had a mountain of homework to do and Adam was likely to be pissed off. I thought about driving home.

I killed the engine and strode up the walk.

Taylor opened the door, her face grim. "Eden. Run. Save yourself."

I heard Adam's deep voice shouting and I wasn't even in the house yet. It wasn't the words that pulled me in. It was their tone.

Pain. Bone-deep and dripping blood.

"You really expected me to be okay with this? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

Adam leaned on one crutch, raging like a bull around the family room. My throat went dry at the sight of him in shorts and a t-shirt, his hair messy and his face stubbled. Cassie was crying in Zach's arms. Amanda stood between Adam and an older woman I knew instantly must be their mother. Dark hair streaked with gray brushed her shoulders. Same dark eyes and hard mouth.

"Adam, you're in my house." Zach warned him in a quiet voice. "You need to watch your language in front of my daughter."

Dark eyes whipped to Cassie, crying into her father's neck. Adam raked the hair off his face and blew out a gusty sigh. Beside me, Taylor cleared her throat.

"Um. Company."

All eyes swung to me. Adam blurted, "Jesus Christ. What the hell do you want?"

I'd known he wouldn't be happy to see me but still, I'd hoped. The fury and derision in his tone lashed at that hope like a whip. I wanted to cry, to smash something, to hit him – but pageant training kicked in. The mega-smile flashed. "I was invited. And, you have my cell phone." My voice, calm and steady, astounded me.

Adam blinked and then rolled his eyes. He shoved a hand in his pocket and pulled out my phone. "Here. Catch. I had a word with that creep. He won't be bothering you again."

That shriveled-up thread of hope bloomed again. He tossed the phone and I caught it, barely, my arms protesting the swift motion.

"Now you can leave."

"Adam!" Amanda scolded him. "I invited Eden and as my husband already reminded you, this is my house."

His lips twisted into a mocking grin. "Fine." He held up his hands in surrender. "Your house. I get it. I'm outta here." He lurched into his room, slammed the door.

The woman standing in front of Amanda moved. "I'm so sorry, honey. I shouldn't have come. I knew he'd react like this."

"Mom, stop. You're always welcome here and so is he. You two have to straighten this out. Cassie doesn't understand any of it and it's not possible to shield her anymore."

Mom nodded and turned to me. She smiled, a brief lift of her lips and held out her hand. "I'm Anne. You're Eden? Amanda's told me a lot about you."

I nodded and smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice," she murmured with a shake of her head. "I don't know about that."

"Mom, stop. He's not entirely wrong and you know it. Now, fix it."

My jaw dropped at Amanda's words. It was... I don't... wow.

"Eden, would you mind taking Cassie up and getting her ready for bed?"

"I want a bath." Cassie's mutinous tone worried me. I had no experience with toddler tantrums.

"Okay. A bath." Amanda snagged the little girl from her husband's arms and handed her off to me. "Have you had dinner?"

"Um. No. I came straight here after my therapy."

Amanda slapped a hand to her forehead. "Therapy. I forgot. You must be tired and sore. I've got some pasta on the stove. I'll reheat it for you when you're done."

Wow. Bossy.

I lugged Cassie upstairs, asked her to show me where I could find towels and clean pajamas. We collected our supplies and started running the water for a bath. Cassie tossed toys into the tub. I stripped off my hoodie, tested the water temperature with my hand and wondered if my skin could accurately judge temperature anymore. Cassie stuck her hand in.

"It's good." She decided.

I helped her undress and carefully lifted her into the tub. "How does your mom wash your hair?"

"With this."

She handed me a toy bucket. I supported the back of her head and poured water over it, then shampooed and rinsed her hair. She was happily squirting water from a toy duck when her big brown eyes turned to me, full of pain. "Is Uncle Adam gonna die?"

My hand froze on Cassie's back. "No, honey, why do you think that?"

"Mommy says he can't go back to Gan-a-stan because his leg has a bad boo-boo. If he does, he's gonna get himself killed. But Uncle Adam says he has to go because that's who he is and if does get killed, so what?" Her eyes turned watery. "I don't want him to get killed. I don't want him to go away."

In Cassie's words, I heard Amanda's and Adam's voices. Both always said exactly what they were thinking. And both clearly had no idea how closely little Cassie was listening. "Cassie, I don't think the Army will let Uncle Adam go anywhere unless his leg is all better. You shouldn't worry."

"Look! My fingers are wrinkly."

"Uh oh, that means bath time is over. Come on, big girl. Let's get you dried off and tucked into bed."

To my surprise, she obeyed without a fight. I lifted her from the tub, my shoulders screaming their annoyance at the motion, and wrapped her in a towel. When she was dressed in Dora the Explorer pajamas, I asked her about her hair.

"Mommy dries it for me." She opened the door under the sink and showed me the pink hair dryer.

I plugged it in, sat on the toilet lid, arranged Cassie on my lap, and dried the dark tresses on the low setting until they shone. I helped her into her white wicker bed, tucked her in, and read Cinderella.

"Good night, Cassie. I'll send up your mommy and daddy when I get downstairs."

"Okay." She giggled and then gasped. "Wait! I forgot to kiss Uncle Adam and Taylor and Grandma good night."

Ah. Bedtime stalling. This was a familiar tactic. I smirked, picked her up and started downstairs.

It was quiet when I reached the family room. Zach, Amanda, Taylor and Anne sat around the sofa, talking quietly. Adam was nowhere to be seen.

"Okay, everyone. Cassie wants good night kisses."

One by one, Cassie kissed everyone good night. When she was done, she ran to Adam's room and opened the door without knocking. "Good night!" She sang. With my breath held, I followed her in. Adam was stuffing clothes into a duffel.

He ignored me and scooped Cassie high, pressing noisy kisses to her cheek that made her giggle. "Mmm, you smell good." He kissed her again. "Sleep tight."

He put her down and she ran into my arms. I gasped as I lifted her. My shoulders had had enough for one day. Adam's head whipped around. "Eden, put her down. She can walk. Your arms must be killing you."

Another gossamer thread wound around that slim strand of hope that glitters whenever Adam shows the slightest bit of concern for me. "Where are you going?" I asked softly.

"Leaving." His jaw clenched and he went back to packing his duffel.

Bull shit. Mindful of the child in my arms, I corrected him. "No. You're retreating. Surrendering."

Again, his head snapped around, eyes flashing. "Mind your own business."

My face flushed for a moment and then I remembered Cassie's words in the bath tub. "I am minding my own business. This little girl, your niece, is now my job and you're frightening her." I waited a beat.

The mutinous set to Adam's mouth suggested a very long wait. I shook my head and brought Cassie back to her bed and tucked her in again.

"Can't I have another story?"

"No, sweetheart. It's very late and you need to go to sleep. Tomorrow, I'll read you two stories if you promise to get into bed right away."

"I promise!" She giggled. "Don't forget the night light."

I turned on the little pink lamp beside her bed and returned to the family room.

"Taylor left, said to tell you goodnight." Zach said, his arm curled around Amanda. "And there's... uh... a plate of food for you in the kitchen."

Uncomfortable, I shook my head. "I should probably go now... it's late and I still have homework to do."

"Eden, if you don't eat it, I'll have to throw it away." Amanda frowned at me.

I managed a wan smile and went to the kitchen. A plate of spaghetti and meatballs steamed on the center island and my stomach growled. I sat on the high-backed stool and wound a forkful of spaghetti. I was just about to swallow it when the sound of another stool scraping on the tile startled me.

Adam was sitting across from me, his eyes down. There was no smirk this time, no sarcasm. No blonde jokes. What did he want? Maybe he was hungry.

"Um, do you want some of this?"

He held up a hand, shook his head once but still wouldn't look up.

I swallowed the first bite. It was amazing. I ate another and still Adam hadn't looked up. I drank some of the ice tea Amanda or maybe Zach had poured for me. I ate some more. I finished the entire plate. Finally, finally, Adam spoke.

"She divorced my father when I was a baby. I don't know who he is." His mouth twisted into that trademark smirk. "I do know Harry. And after Harry, there was Don. After Don came Jacob and Ed and Bruce. And then she married Jerry. I think I was about twelve or thirteen which made Amanda about seventeen or eighteen, and Alyssa, my oldest sister, twenty-three." He stopped and then shrugged after a moment, still not looking at me. "Doesn't matter. He didn't have any problems with Amanda and Alyssa. Only me."

My heart ached but I said nothing and waited for him to continue. He reached for my iced tea glass, sipped.

"He never beat me, if that's what you're thinking. But he found other ways to hurt me. And pretty soon, so did she." A laugh, a single humorless sigh. "That hurt more than anything – even more than my burns.

"One day, I got home after dark from my after-school job. I took any work I could get. Mostly, it was helping neighbors with yard work and errands, stuff like that. I locked up my bike in the garage, went in through the back door and found Jerry and her sitting at the kitchen table. Just waiting."

He sipped, swallowed, ran the back of his hand over his mouth. Did not look up at me.

"I missed dinner. They didn't save any for me." His hand waved at my clean plate. "I headed for the refrigerator, figured I'd make a bowl of cereal. I sat down next to her, across from him. Poured. Picked up my spoon. Suddenly, Jerry swipes the bowl, the cereal, the milk, the spoon – all of it, off the table and on to the floor. I'm, you know, twelve, so I'm scared. I sit there, my mouth open, staring at Jerry but he doesn't say a word. I look at her. She's just sitting there. So I get up, get some paper towels and start mopping up the mess. He stands up, walks over to me, kicks the cereal box away. Kicks the bowl away. I start doing this crab walk away from him. He grabs me by my shirt, hauls me up and throws me back into the chair and starts questioning me like a TV cop. 'Where is it?' All quiet and intimidating."

He swallowed another gulp.

"I'm twelve – it didn't take much to intimidate me – but I have no fucking idea what he's talking about. So I say, 'Where's what?'" Adam turned the glass in his hand and that noise, that soft screech, was the only sound in the room. "He leans down, still holding me by the shirt, and starts screaming in my face that I'm a liar, a thief, an asshole, a this, a that and the whole time – the whole time – she just sits there and lets him."

His words faded but the pain that filled them hung in the space between us, alive with its own pulse. I wanted to crawl across the table and pull Adam into my arms but he wasn't done. Not yet.

"Eventually, he got to the point. Forty bucks was missing from the stash he kept in a sock and he figured I'd swiped it. I didn't. I didn't even know it was there. Later, I checked with Amanda and she says she didn't know anything about it either. That leaves... her.

"But she never owned up to it. I took the blame. And the punishment. First, he took the chain on my bike so I couldn't ride it. He took my wallet. Then, he'd take the homework assignments I'd spend hours finishing and tear them up so I'd have to start over again. Anything important, anything that mattered, he'd destroy it and she. Let. Him."

The last words he delivered with three stabs of his finger toward the family room.

"This is how we lived. Day after day. Week after week. Then, it was years. Amanda married Zach when I was like, seventeen maybe. I started doing homework here, eating here or at Alyssa's, leaving my bike anywhere but home... all to protect the stuff that was important from him. On my eighteenth birthday, I woke up, got ready for school. When I got downstairs, he was waiting for me with a suitcase in his hands. Told me to pack up, get out, and she...she."

His voice broke and I knew. He finally looked up at me, dark eyes burning with the betrayal and I leaped up, circled the island and wrapped myself around him. Adam went still for a moment and then his arms came around me and held. With his face pressed to my stomach, he continued. "She let him, Eden. She fucking let him."

He sucked in a few deep breaths but I felt the tremors in his muscles. "How could she do that? How could she raise me and then let a...a... a stranger treat me like that?"

I had no answers and continued to stroke the tightly knotted muscles in his back. I leaned forward to press a kiss into his hair. Abruptly, I was pushed away. "I'm sorry. Your shoulders must be sore. You had therapy today, right?"

I nodded and he stood, shifting his weight to his good leg, his eyes never wavering from me. I inched closer, he inched back until he hit countertop. I knew it was stupid. He'd told me often enough he wasn't into me.

"Adam. You can't leave. Cassie's afraid. She thinks you'll die. Your mother hurt you, I get that. But Cassie's important. Cassie matters." His words. "Don't let that asshole get her, too."

He made a sound much like a sob. His arms came up to clutch his head and his eyes squeezed shut. Tension coiled his entire body and I reached out, touched his cheek. His eyes opened, snapped to mine and I couldn't help myself. I moved closer, threaded my hands around his neck and kissed him... just a quiet kiss meant to soothe, to comfort, to absorb some of the pain that came off him in waves. Adam permitted it for a second or two and then, something... cracked.

Exploded.

He moaned and then I was spinning, pinned against the counter, Adam's hands clutching me like I was the last piece of driftwood after the Titanic sank. His mouth was ferocious, taking, pulling, demanding. I opened my mouth – did I have any other choice? His tongue plunged and his hands molded me, held me closer and then, closer still. He was drowning, I could feel it, gasping for air. With one hand, I smoothed his hair. With the other, I caressed his cheek. Deliberately, I slowed him down, slowed some more until the mood shifted, until he was responding instead of reacting, holding instead of clutching, giving instead of taking. His gasps slowed into deep, even breaths and when he pulled away from me, he smiled a real smile, one that showed teeth for a brief moment before it faded, before his brain kicked in again to ruin everything.

"You should go. I'm not... God! You don't belong here. Leave before it's too late."

He limped out of the kitchen, leaving me alone.

Always, alone.