Page 111 of Save Me

Vox shoves the bag of whatever it is he brought back at me. I stare at it. Is that…hair dye?

Holy fudge, he brought hair dye! I dig through the bag, finding bleach, gloves, and other supplies. Gloves? Are those the same kind of gloves he used to clean up Arthur with? For a second, my thoughts stutter, then I focus on the hair dye. Blue. How did he know? My chest warms. Who cares how the silent body snatcher gets his information? He’s nice. He seems to have his life together, which is not something I’d usually say about a body snatcher. Vox went through that night too, and he seems unbothered.

“Hey, maybe you can give me some advice.”

Vox ignores me.

I grab the bottle of bleach. “You don’t have to say anything, I’m just…I’m doing everything I can to take care of my…” Oops, I told his friend we were married. “Husband.” Saying that feels so nice. “But he doesn’t feel better. What we did…I don’t know how to help him.” I start applying the bleach, staring in the long mirror on the wall. I don’t know what I’m doing; I’ve never done my own hair just Princess’.

Speaking of, Princess is currently flirting with Vox, fluffing his tail up and curling it around Vox’s hand.

“I don’t even feel great, and that dude wasn’t even my ex.”

Silence. I know Vox doesn’t talk, but surely he likes being treated like everyone else. I won’t treat him differently just because he doesn’t speak. Plus, saying these things to someone else is making me feel better.

“I don’t know how you deal with it. Like, there has to be some sort of trick.”

Minky starts chewing on the box that the bleach came in. I shoo him away. When I come back to the mirror, Vox has turned, and he’s holding his hand out for the bleach. I blink, then give it to him.

He applies it to a dry spot on the back of my head, making my entire head feel wet, then goes back to Princess.

“Thanks.”

Vox gives no advice, just helps me where I need it with my hair. Once the blue is in, he silently gives the animals more pets before stalking out of the room, shutting the door silently.

I stare after him.

That was…weird. And yet, somehow I feel better. He didn’t answer any of my questions. At least, not verbally. He was just…there.

Kinda like I need to be for Maddox.

I suck in a breath. I’m doing the right thing. I can’t fix things; I just need to be there for what Maddox needs, which is currently a house.

So I hop on my phone, where I’ve listed my townhouse for sale, and I already have a couple who are interested. Yes, I did bleach the crap out of the floors and walls, but no, I’m not giving them the someone-died-here-it’s-totally-haunted discount.

Every place I’ve shown Mads, he seems blah about. He seems super fidgety about the animal stuff. I’ve been looking at animal sanctuaries online, but he doesn’t seem to trust them. So I’ll have to find a way to ease his mind. Because there’s this perfect farmhouse in our budget and I’ve already booked a tour–not that he knows that–but I have to make it right.

So, I pick up my phone.

Me: Anyone know a good lawyer?

Ronan: Cool! What did you do now?

Dakota: Nothing, you did nothing. Don’t admit that over text.

Me: Nothing this time! I want to know the legalities of an animal sanctuary.

Ronan: Fuck yeah, that’s cool!

Dakota: Factory reset, all of us. Thanks, Micah!

Me: What did I say??

Logan: If I give you her number, will you delete our numbers?

Me: If I say no, will that make you feel better?

Logan: Her name is Cass. Don’t piss her off.