Indigo: The Saving Bailey Trilogy #2 Read Online Free PDF Page B

tent for her. “ She’d better ,” I say under my breath.
    I throw my shirt off and pounce on the bed, sending Bailey into the air. “Come here, you crazy girl,” I say, grabbing her by her hips and pulling her into my lap. I tickle her until she’s in stitches, her laughter filling every corner of the room and all the empty space of my heart.
    “It hurts, it hurts!”
    “In a good way?”
    “In the best possible way.”
    I pick her up, and throw her onto the bed. Free-falling backward, I land next to her. “There is no sound more beautiful than your laughter.”
    “Yes, there is,” she says, a smile still shining on her face, laughter playing on her lips. “Your voice.”
    “ Your laughter makes me sing , your smile makes my heart pounddd! ” I serenade. Someone knuckles the door. “Go away, Mother!”
    Ignoring my request, Mom opens the door. “What are you two doing?” she asks, then looks at Bailey smiling and changes her mind about kicking her out of my room. “Go to sleep soon, okay? Don’t stay up to late and…”
    “We won’t do anything, Mom, promise.”
    She hesitates to close the door.
    “Goodnight, B.B.” Bailey pipes up.
    “Goodnight.” The sweetness of her voice wins Mom over and she finally shuts the door.
    I turn my lamp off and pull the covers over Bailey and I. She curls up with her hands against my chest and her head buried beneath the comforter.
    Her breath warms my chest and melts the ice around my heart. “Can you breathe okay, under there?”
    “Yes,” she says, her voice made quiet by the comforter.
    “Let me see your face.”
    She moves her hands from my chest, and kicks the comforter off. Her hair sticks up, and she smiles at me like a kid who has gotten into the cookie jar. I run my finger across her belly, and her heart races; her eyes electric in the dark. “Does this feel good?”
    She closes her eyes and nods.
    “Lie on your stomach,” I say. She flips over and I roll her shirt up. I knead my hands into her back and write words on it with my fingertips.
    “Love… Goodwill,” she mumbles. “ Take off your bra .”
    Her back tenses beneath my hands, I bite my lower lip. She lifts up and I move away.
    “Don’t look,” she says. I hear a snap, and then she is lying back on her stomach, her head turned sideways on the pillow. “Okay, continue.”
    I massage her shoulders and glide my fingers over the bumps of her spine.
    “Bailey?”
    She doesn’t answer.
    I roll off her back, my head spinning because I want to go further.
    I press my head against my pillow and stare up at the ceiling. The hole where my fan used to be chips away at me, until all I can think about is that one moment in time when things seemed so helpless that the only way out was to take my life.
    She is going to be fine ; I wish I could have told myself then, could have shown myself how she is sleeping soundly next to me.
    Suicide is permanent, but the circumstances surrounding it are usually fleeting. I’m glad I didn’t have to kill myself to figure that out, and I sure am glad Dad did a piss-poor job of connecting the fan to the ceiling.
    I put my arm around Bailey and pull her close to me. I fall asleep with an everlasting smile on my face and electricity in my heart.
    •••
    When I wake up, it is late morning. Bright sunlight reflects off my dresser mirror, blinding me. I squint at Sarah, who is standing by the door, her mouth hanging open. “Did you guys…” she says, motioning toward Bailey.
    “What?” I look over at Bailey, sleeping dreamily. “Oh.”
    Her shirt has rolled halfway up her stomach, exposing the blue lacey band of her panties. I smile to myself. “In my dreams,” I say.
    “Good,” Sarah says with relief. “Mom wanted me to tell you that breakfast is almost done.” She leaves the room, shutting the door behind her.
    Bailey stretches her arms over her head and opens her eyes.
    “Morning, beautiful,” I say.
    “Morninggg,” she purrs.
    “Breakfast is