Isolation: Book 2 of The Quarantine Series Read online

  “Shit, Rave!” Reid yells as he turns from the door to rush towards my body, which is lying motionless on the floor.

  There’s a stark pain in my ass and legs. I can’t move. Did I fall?

  I hear a commotion. Fluttering my eyes open, I see Milo running down the stairs. Reid tightens the bedsheet around me and collects me into his arms. I feel myself being lifted up.

  “Fuck, Rave!” I hear Milo’s panicked voice and a hand stroking my hair. My head is throbbing. “Here, let me carry her.”

  “Back. Off.” Reid says through clenched teeth.

  “Reid, I do not have time for your shit right now. This is your fucking fault. If you hadn’t thrown a tantrum, she wouldn’t have run after you. If anything happens to her, I will put your face through the wall.”

  “Enough!” Uncle Reese’s normally calm voice is gone.

  What is going on? I am so confused.

  “Reid, take my daughter to her room,” I hear my mother speak. “Mia, go with him and put some clothes on Raven. Tessa, show me where your towels are. We probably need a few.”

  My father’s unmistakable voice is next. “Milo, go to the guest room and grab my medical bag. Bring it to Raven’s room. I am going to wash my hands and meet you there.”

  “Shouldn’t we take her to the hospital?” Milo sounds incredulous.

  “No. Most of the hospitals are currently overrun. There are two doctors in this house. We have enough medical supplies. We will observe her first.”

  Shit. It sounds like there are actual adults in our lives who are taking charge. Too little, too late. Where were these people when we were children? Reid and Milo seem so small all of a sudden. They always seemed larger than life without our parents around.

  I feel myself being jostled around. After a few moments, I am being pushed down on a soft surface. I think someone is putting clothes on me as I am yanked and moved. I try to open my eyes, but I am having a really hard time. Suddenly, I feel nauseous.

  “It’s okay, Rave. I’m here.” I feel comforting strokes on my hair and Reid’s distinct smell. “I promise I’m not angry. None of that matters anymore. Nothing matters as long as you’re okay. Please be okay, Raven. For fuck’s sake, why isn’t she responding?”

  I try to open my mouth to respond, but I can’t find the strength. I can’t focus, but that smell is so comforting. It reminds me of home.

  “She might have a mild concussion,” a man’s voice speaks.

  “I spoke to someone from Sinai. I got her a private room at the hospital and just put the deposit down. I’m taking Raven to the hospital.” Is that Milo’s voice?

  “I don’t need you to throw around your money or your connections. She is staying here, and I will do a thorough assessment. I know what’s best for her. She’s my daughter.” I assume that’s my father who is speaking so sternly.

  “Yet I am the one who took care of her longer than you ever did. For God’s sake, Raven fell down a flight of stairs. Why the hell are you guys acting so calm? She is not responding. She definitely has a concussion. I don’t give a shit if you are both doctors. I am not going to compromise her health so you can feel like bigger men.”

  “Milo, son. Just let John and I do a quick assessment. I promise to give you my professional opinion. If she really needs to go to the hospital, then we won’t stop you.”

  I don’t hear any more words spoken after that. I feel Reid’s comforting smell and the stroking of my hair vanish.

  “Sweetie, can you look at this light. Try to follow it with your eyes.”

  What the hell. Someone just blinds me with a light, flashing it right into my eyeballs.

  Rude! I can’t focus as more directions are thrown my way. I try my best to listen to them. But I feel myself slipping away and consumed by a dark hole.

  -----------

  I can barely open my eyes. There is a throbbing in my head, and my vision is a bit blurry. I feel confused. Disoriented. Lying slightly on my side, I try to move my hand to my head, but everything only moves in slow motion. As I try to sit up, two hands grab my shoulders.

  “Hey,” someone says softly and tries to nudge me back to the soft pillow right as I manage to lift my body. “Don’t try to move. You need to rest.”

  “Wha… Milo?”

  “Yeah, baby, I am right here.”

  My heartbeat increases at the confirmation that he is here in person. How? My heart is about to burst out of my ribcage. “What? H-how are you…Was...whaat’s… goin on?”

  Something worse than Milo’s presence dawns on me. I can tell from my own slurred sentences that I am not okay. Something isn’t right. Why can’t I speak properly? How come I can barely move? Maybe I am drunk. I don’t feel drunk. Am I dreaming?

  I have to know what’s going on. Milo is quiet, but I urge him. “Please, tell… me,” I sob.

  “You fell. Dad thinks that you have a concussion. You just need a lot of rest for the next few days. Come back to bed.”

  None of it makes any sense. Even if it is Milo, I am still relieved to see a familiar face.

  “Do you want some water?” he asks.

  I nod, but my eyes start to close again. “It hurts,” I whine when I try to move my head.

  I see his figure moving. Milo grabs a bottle from the bedside table and slips something bitter in my mouth. He then holds the water bottle up to my lips. I can feel my dry, chapped lips slurping and chugging all of the water.

  “Come here.” Milo puts the empty bottle on the bedside table and collects me in his arms. My head hits his warm chest.

  I might not understand what’s going on, but I know that it will all be okay.

  -----------

  Milo

  My eyes fly open to find Tessa’s face hovering over mine. “Mom? What time is it?”

  “It’s almost six p.m. You should come downstairs for dinner.”

  Fuck. I fell asleep in a seated position against the headboard of the bed. My neck is stiff. Raven is lying sideways on a pillow, with her face tucked against my thigh.

  “I’m not hungry,” I say in my still disoriented voice.

  “Milo, you have to eat something. You haven’t left her side. You are worrying over nothing,” Tessa gently chides. “She is going to be okay. John and Reese both came to the same conclusion. It’s a mild concussion. She is a little confused and just needs to sleep it off.”

  She is right, but I still can’t leave Raven’s side. Hearing her fall down those stairs conjured up my crippling panic. I haven’t experienced it in years.

  My business partners joke that I have turned into a soulless piece of shit without humanity and empathy. The panic attacks stopped around the time this accusation took root.

  I feigned concern at their observations, but I honestly couldn’t see it as an insult. I am still a functioning member of society. I fly under the radar despite my indifference to life.

  I just live life on autopilot based on my learned habits. Work. Family. Responsibilities. Bills.

  However, Raven is apparently still able to invoke other feelings, albeit they are only applicable to her. She is the only thing that kills the mundane because she is not a learned habit.

  Which is why my paranoid mind keeps conjuring up the worst. Dad assured me she would be fine, but I need evidence of her mortality. I keep checking her pulse to ensure that.

  “She will be okay,” Tessa assures. “But, you know, we haven’t addressed the other issue.”

  “Mom, I can’t do this right now. Not when she is like this,” I motion towards Raven.

  “You told everyone that you love Raven. You must understand why we are concerned.”

  “Why are you concerned?” I ask her curiously. “We are both adults. Our dads are best friends. Our families love each other. Everyone should be happy if I want to be with Raven.”

  “Milo, you used to be her guardian. Do you know how that looks to other people?”

  “I don’t care what other people think. I have no intention of letting her go again.”

  Tessa contemplates my words for a few minutes.

  “Letting her go again?” she frowns. “M-Milo, exactly how long has this been going on? W-was there anything going on with you two when you were her guardian?”

  My silence is the only answer Tessa receives.

  She drops her voice at my lack of response. “Milo,” she warns, “please tell me you did not have sex with her while she was still underaged.”

  When I still don’t respond, realization dawns on her.

  “Jesus, Milo!” she gasps in shock. “How could you be so stupid? You are supposed to be the responsible one.”

  Tessa starts pacing the room. “John is going to kill you,” she stops abruptly to announce. “For God’s sake, he could press charges for statutory rape. What were you thinking?”

  I shrug. “I don’t care what Uncle John does.”

  Tessa stares at me with a blank look for far too long. I don’t know if she is stunned into silence or thinking about what to say.

  She finally speaks, “He loves her. You know that he does.”

  “Uncle John doesn’t get to play the doting overprotective father. He left her for years.”

  “I wasn’t talking about John,” she says quietly.

  I know what she is insinuating. It doesn’t change anything. “Reid will get over it.”

  “When Reid and Raven were young, we used to tell them that they would end up marrying each other one day. We used to plan their future wedding.” Tessa crosses her arms and stands tall in front of me. “I don’t know if Reid ever stopped believing that. We all saw the look on his face when he saw you two together. I don’t think Reid will get over this. I am his mother. I know him.”

  I stand to level with Tessa, finally displaying the irritation I feel over my sleepless nights.

  “Please don’t tell me how you know things because you are our mother. I was more of a parent to Reid than you were. As far as I am concerned, I have paid my dues. My only concern is moving forward in my life with Raven. So, you see, Reid will get over it.”

  Life might have hardened me, but it didn’t make me forget my responsibilities. I have stepped up throughout it all.

  I went to school, took care of this family, and became a success. I might not be involved in the day to day of the family anymore, but I still pay all of their bills.

  All the while, Tessa has been in and out of manic-depressive states, putting this family through hell.

  It’s pathetic for her to use the “mother” card. The only reason she is functioning now is because she started a new clinical trial.

  But it’s always the same cycle. Every time a new program works, she stops going to therapy, or the drugs are futile, or the side effects are too strong.

  No matter what, she reverts back. Still, I have dealt with her shit time and time again.

  I am not dealing with her shit where Raven is concerned. Raven belongs to me. I have barely factored in Raven’s vote. This decision stands despite how Reid or Tessa feel.

  “You’re right,” Tessa quietly agrees. “I’m sorry. We ask a lot of you, but you never complain. You always step up to the plate, and I keep taking that for granted. Of course! It makes sense that you and Raven want to be together. Reid will understand. I’ll talk to him myself.”

  I give her a nod, having driven my point home.

  “But you have to promise me something too. You and Raven can’t tell John that you were in a relationship when she was underage.”

  “I am not going to ask her to lie for me.”

  “Milo, I’m giving you what you want. I’ll talk to Reid and Raven’s parents. But John is emotional and impulsive. What if he calls the police to file a report against you?”

  I shrug again. “I don’t care.”

  “If you don’t care about John pressing charges, do you care that Raven might not want to be with someone her parents disapprove of? John will be even angrier if he finds out that you were romantically entangled with his only daughter while you were legally her guardian.”

  I am quiet, and Tessa realizes she has finally figured me out. Raven is my kryptonite. Tessa is right. I need Uncle John to be on my side.

  “What do you suggest that I do?”

  “Nothing. Just don’t say anything—” Tessa stops short when the door creaks open.

  We both turn to find Uncle John opening the door to Raven’s room.

  Tessa tenses. “I was just leaving,” she mumbles and gives my shoulder a squeeze.

  She gives Uncle John a nod before walking out. I give Uncle John a nod as well, but he ignores me.

  I have always liked Uncle John. He has always shown me respect, but right now, he is pissed.

  Uncle John is notoriously religious and conservative. Since catching Raven and me in the act together, he won’t even look me in the eyes.

  However, Uncle John and Theressa are now living under my roof, so he has to talk to me at some point.

  Everyone was shocked to find out that Uncle John managed to convince Theressa to take him back.

  Apparently, Raven finally grew a pair and confronted her parents about why they split when she was younger, leaving her parentless and stranded. Yet, they are now back together after Raven became an adult, and they no longer have any obligations towards her.

  Theressa sent some unsavory emails (most likely under the influence of alcohol), admitting to Raven that she never wanted children. After receiving an offer for her dream job in Europe, Theressa left both of them behind, unsure how a child would fit into her new travel schedule.

  If they didn’t have kids, she would have taken Uncle John along. Over the years, Theressa considered reuniting with Uncle John but hesitated due to her need for image preservation.

  How would it look to others?

  What kind of non-divorced parents leave their child behind and live it up abroad?

  Fucking narcissistic Theressa.

  After years of him prodding her into it, Theressa finally decided to take Uncle John back, but only after Raven moved to Paris.

  As for Raven, she recently moved back to America. My guess is that Raven wanted to be closer to the Sinclair clan again after her parents doused her with the truth she secretly suspected: their cause for seperation was Raven.

  Soon after, her parents also decided to move back. They have been wracked with guilt over sending those emails to Raven and for admitting those awful things.

  Now, they are Team Raven all the way.

  Uncle John is suddenly acting like an overprotective father. Every time he comes in here to check on Raven, he seems more pissed off than before to find me with her.

  He takes Raven’s vitals and checks on her wounds. Finally, he clears his throat to address me.

  “Umm, she is dehydrated. Has she been getting fluids? Did she eat anything today?”

  “She barely woke up earlier for some water and a few spoonfuls of soup. But I stocked up on water and coconut water,” I nod towards the mini-fridge I moved into her room.

  Uncle John looks at the mini-fridge. “Good. She needs to eat more before taking the anti-inflammatory.”

  He then studies my unshaven and disheveled face, looking conflicted before finally asking, “So, how long has this been going on with you and my daughter?”

  I hesitate for a moment. “Uncle John, I’d rather that we talk about this once your daughter is awake. Raven has the right to tell you herself.”

  “Yet, she chose not to.”

  “You guys haven’t always been close over the years,” I simply point out.

  Uncle John closes his eyes. His worried face is disheartened, and I notice the dark circles under his eyes. He has been genuinely worried about her.

  All of Raven’s insecurities started with this man in front of me. He turned Raven into a cynic. Then again, I also showed Raven the ugly side of love.

  He and I are just the same.

  “I know,” he whispers. “I was not a good father. She deserved better. I failed her, but you stepped in. You did more than Theressa or I ever did. I-I just didn’t see you two in that light.”

  “I don’t know how it happened,” I speak sincerely. “But it did.”

  “But why her? You used to be her guardian. Do you know how that looks to everyone? You are both going to be mercilessly ridiculed. Milo, you are a good-looking man. You are successful and an eligible bachelor. Women chase after you. So, why does it have to be her?”

  “It has to be her,” I grit through clenched teeth. “I always wanted to be with her, but I couldn’t because—” my eyes flip up to meet his.

  “Because of me,” Uncle John finishes for me. We both awkwardly stare at the floor, following his admission. The room is silent except for the sound of Raven breathing.