Chapter Text
Kate sat near the center of the mattress, shoulders slightly hunched, her phone still clutched loosely in one hand.
She hadn’t moved since the call ended.
Food poisoning.
That was the explanation.
It fit the nausea. The weakness. The sudden exhaustion that had swept over her like a wave the night before. It explained the vomiting. The pounding headache. The way her body still felt heavy and slow.
It explained the long sleep.
The lost day.
It explained almost everything.
Kate’s thumb rubbed absently along the edge of the phone case.
What it didn’t explain, what kept circling through her mind, was the phone call with Javi.
He said he knocked.
She stared at the phone like the answer might be sitting somewhere inside it.
She would have heard that.
Wouldn’t she?
Even in a deep sleep, she wasn’t deaf. Her alarm had been loud enough to wake the entire building before. The sound usually jolted her upright within seconds.
Yet she hadn’t heard anything this morning.
No knock.
No voice through the door.
No phone calls.
Her brow tightened slightly as she scrolled through the screen again, even though she’d already checked it twice.
Still nothing.
Kate exhaled slowly and leaned back a few inches, bracing one hand against the mattress.
Okay. Think.
Maybe he’d dialed the wrong number. Though surely he has her number saved.
Maybe the signal dropped before the call connected. Service was spotty out here.
Maybe she’d cleared something by accident when she first woke up. She was fumbling.
Maybe her phone had glitched. Phones glitched all the time.
But every explanation felt thin.
None of them settled the quiet, uneasy knot twisting in her chest.
-----
A pair of headlights turned off the highway and rolled slowly into the motel parking lot.
Gravel crunched softly beneath the tires as Tyler eased the truck into a space near the base of the stairwell and shifted it into park. The engine idled for a moment before he shut it off.. The lot was mostly empty, the long two-story building casting deepening shadows across the pavement as the sun began to dip lower behind it.
For a second neither of them moved.
Boone leaned forward slightly in the passenger seat, glancing alone the rows of rooms. The exterior lights hadn’t kicked on yet, leaving the corridor dim in the fading light.
“Think she’s even here?” he asked.
Tyler’s gaze moved towards the second floor.
Kate’s room sat halfway down the walkway. From the parking lot, the door was closed and the curtains drawn tight across the window.
He couldn’t tell if there was any light on inside.
“Hard to say,” Tyler muttered.
He kept looking at the door a moment longer, something restless sitting in the back of his mind.
Boone pushed his door open, boots crunching against the gravel as he stepped out and stretched his arms overhead.
“You wanna check anyway?” he asked.
Tyler grabbed the door handle.
“Yeah,” he said, already climbing out.
He shut the door and glanced up at the second-floor walkway again.
-----
Kate shifted slightly on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping beneath her weight. Her phone still rested loosely in her hand as she stared at the dark screen, though she wasn’t really looking at it anymore.
The part that unsettled her the most wasn’t even the absence of proof.
It was the way the conversation had gone.
Every time she questioned something, Javi had an answer ready.
Knocked? You were dead to the world.
Called? It went to voicemail.
Missed calls? Maybe your phone died.
TV? Maybe it was the room next door.
Woke up sick? Maybe it's food poisoning.
Kate’s fingers tightened slightly around the phone.
Each concern she’d raised had seemed to dissolve the moment she voiced it. He had always tried to comfort and ease her anxiety in college, there was nothing new about that, that's just how he was. But the explanations had come too easily. Too quickly. Like he’d already thought about them.
Like he’d anticipated the questions.
That detail lingered in her mind more than anything else.
She shifted again, drawing one leg up onto the bed and wrapping her free arm loosely around it.
The quiet in the room felt heavier now.
It made her chest tighten in a way she didn’t like.
Not proof of anything.
Not evidence.
Just… discomfort and a lingering sense of fatigue.
=====
Outside, Tyler and Boone climbed the metal stairwell to the second floor. The steps gave a hollow clang beneath their boots, the sound carrying faintly across the quiet motel lot.
Boone followed a step behind as Tyler turned onto the narrow walkway. The concrete still held some warmth from the day, but the evening air was just beginning to settle in.
A few doors down, Tyler slowed.
Kate’s room. The curtains were drawn tight across the window. No light showed through the fabric.
Boone glanced at the door, then back at Tyler.
“You think she’s asleep?” he asked quietly.
Tyler didn’t answer right away. Something about the stillness of the room made a faint unease settle in his chest.
He stepped forward and knocked.
The sound was firm but not aggressive; three solid raps against the door.
Inside the room, the noise cut cleanly through the quiet.
Kate’s head lifted slightly.
For a moment she didn’t move, her brain lagging behind the sudden sound.
Another knock followed a few seconds later.
Kate blinked and pushed herself upright on the bed, her pulse quickening.
“Sapulpa?” Tyler’s voice carried faintly through the door.
She froze.
Tyler?
For a second she just sat there, confused. Her eyes flicked toward the door across the small room as if confirming the voice had actually come from there.
“Kate?” he called again, a little louder this time.
Boone shifted beside him on the walkway.
“You think she’s even in there?” he murmured. "Seems real quiet."
Inside the room, Kate pushed herself off the bed. The floor felt strangely unsteady beneath her feet as she stood. Her stomach rolled faintly, the lingering nausea still sitting heavy in her system.
She crossed the room slowly, one hand brushing the wall for balance as she reached the door and leaned forward to look through the peephole.
Tyler stood directly outside, shoulders squared toward the door. Boone hovered a step behind him in the narrow walkway.
Relief flickered through her chest before something else followed close behind it.
Guilt.
Her hand rested on the door handle, but she hesitated.
Not long ago she’d been angry at Tyler, furious even, for the way he’d accused Javi after the bar. For the way he’d stepped in like he knew better. Now the anger had shifted. It wasn’t really aimed at him anymore. It sat heavier than that. Because part of her knew he’d seen something she hadn’t.
And she hadn’t listened.
Kate exhaled quietly and turned the lock. The door opened a few inches.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice tired more than anything.
Tyler opened his mouth to answer, but Boone spoke first.
“Tyler had a bad feeling.”
Tyler shot him a sharp glare over his shoulder.
Boone lifted his hands slightly in mock innocence.
“What?” he said.
Kate’s eyes drifted from Tyler to Boone as he spoke, studying his expression for a moment. Then they slid back to Tyler again. Something in her face softened just slightly.
She stepped backward into the room, pulling the door open wider. “That makes two of us.”
She didn’t look directly at either of them as she said it. Instead, she motioned faintly with her hand toward the room.
“Come in.”
Tyler and Boone stepped inside as Kate turned away from the door, leaving it open behind them.
She didn’t look back to see if they were following.
Instead she walked slowly across the small room and lowered herself onto the edge of the bed again, like simply standing had taken more out of her than she expected.
Behind her, Tyler and Boone paused just inside the doorway. They exchanged a quick glance.
Something was off.
Kate moved like her body was heavy, her steps slow and slightly unsteady. Her shoulders sagged forward as she sat, her gaze drifting down toward the floor instead of toward them.
Boone reached back and quietly pushed the door closed. The soft click of the latch sounded louder than it should have in the still room.
Tyler stepped a little closer. “Everything okay, Sapulpa?”
The nickname landed gently between them.
Kate didn’t answer right away.
Her fingers shifted slightly around the phone, turning it over once in her hands like she’d forgotten she was holding it. For several seconds she just sat there, staring down at nothing in particular.
Tyler studied her face.
Pale. Tired in a way that went deeper than just missing a night of sleep.
Her eyes finally lifted toward him.
There was something distant in them. Not quite unfocused, just… somewhere else. Like part of her was still trying to work through something in her head.
“I...” she started, then stopped.
Her gaze drifted briefly toward Boone before settling back on Tyler again. For a moment she seemed to search for the right words. Then she exhaled softly.
“I think,” she said slowly, “something’s wrong.”
For a moment the room went very still.
Tyler stepped a little closer and crouched in front of her, his voice gentler now.
“What’s going on?”
Kate looked down at her hands again, her fingers tightening slightly around the phone.
“I woke up around three,” she said quietly. “I slept all day.”
Boone shifted slightly where he stood near the door, his arms folding loosely across his chest as he listened.
“All day?” he repeated.
Kate nodded faintly. “I just woke up, maybe an hour ago. And I...I haven’t felt right.”
Tyle’s jaw tightened, his attention fixed on her. “What do you mean?”
Kate swallowed.
“Nauseous. Dizzy. My head feels…” She paused, searching for the word. “Foggy.”
Her gaze drifted down again.
“I thought it was food poisoning.” She nodded towards the take-out containers on the table.
Boone pushed himself off the doorframe slightly, his eyes drifting towards the table.
“Could be,” he said carefully.
Kate shook her head, though the motion was small.
“Maybe,” she murmured.
But the uncertainty in her voice lingered in the air.
Tyler noticed it.
“What’s making you second guess it?” he asked gently.
Kate hesitated. Her thumb moved slowly along the edge of her phone case. Her gaze fixed on the floor for a moment before she spoke.
“I don’t remember falling asleep.”
She motioned faintly to where she was sitting on the edge of the mattress.
“I didn’t even make it into bed.”
Her voice grew quieter.
“I woke up right here, like…” She paused, swallowing hard. “Like I’d passed out.”
Boone shifted slightly near the door, the movement subtle but noticeable in the quiet room.
Tyler was quiet for a second, his mind already working through the possibilities.
“Where’d the food come from?” he asked.
Kate’s fingers stilled on the phone case. For a moment she didn’t answer. Her shoulders drew in slightly, like she was bracing for something she already expected to hear.
Boone glanced between the two of them, sensing the hesitation.
When she still didn’t respond, Tyler leaned forward and tilted his head slightly, trying to catch her eyes.
Kate refused to look up. Her gaze stayed fixed on the floor.
The silence stretched just long enough to make the answer obvious.
Tyler’s voice softened. “Kate.”
Her jaw tightened faintly. “...Javi brought it over.”
The words came out quiet and reluctant, like she hated admitting them out loud.
Tyler didn’t say I told you so. But the shift in his expression was impossible to miss.
Behind him, Boone straightened slightly.
“Wait,” Boone said, looking between them. “Javi as in...”
Tyler held up a hand slightly without taking his eyes off Kate.
Boone stopped talking.
Kate finally glanced up, but only briefly, her expression tight with embarrassment and shame.
“I remember we watched a movie last night,” she said, licking her lips nervously. “At some point I fell asleep and when I woke up…”
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, forcing the words out.
“I felt like I’d been touched.”
The words landed hard in the small room.
Boone straightened near the door, the shift subtle but immediate. His arms, which had been loosely folded, dropped to his sides as his expression sharpened.
Tyler’s nostrils flared. His jaw tightened.
“Where?” he asked.
Kate didn’t answer.
Her gaze dropped back to the floor, shoulders curling inward like if she made herself small enough the memory might shrink with her.
Boone glanced toward Tyler, then back to Kate, realization slowly settling over his face.
Tyler leaned closer. His hand lifted instinctively, fingers flexing like he was going to tilt her face up, make her look at him.
He stopped himself.
Instead, he planted his palm on the mattress beside her thigh, close enough that she could feel the warmth of him, but not touching her.
“Kate,” he said again, quieter this time. Steadier. “Where?”
Tears slipped down her cheeks. She swallowed hard.
“My thigh,” she whispered, her hand instinctively moving to grip the scar.
Her fingers pressed against the dark, jagged line running from the top of her knee and up her thigh, disappearing beneath the hem of her shorts.
Tyler’s eyes followed the movement.
He stilled.
The scar caught the dim motel light now that her hand rested over it; long and unmistakable against her skin.
Across the room, Boone noticed it a second later. His brow furrowed slightly as his gaze dropped to where her hand clutched her leg, the shape of the scar becoming clear.
The words settled into the silence, heavy and irreversible.
Boone exhaled slowly under his breath, his jaw tightening as he looked away toward the wall for a second, like he was forcing himself to stay calm.
For a moment, no one moved.
Tyler’s hand pressed harder into the mattress, knuckles whitening against the fabric. His jaw flexed once, breath slow but strained, like he was forcing himself to stay exactly where he was; not closer, not angrier, not anything that would make this about him instead of her.
“Okay,” he said quietly.
It wasn’t dismissal. It wasn’t disbelief. It was him holding himself together.
Kate wiped at her cheeks with the heel of her palm, embarrassed by the tears.
She swallowed.
“I don’t know if that’s real or if I dreamed it,” she said, her voice trembling. “I don’t know if I’m losing my mind.”
“You’re not,” Tyler said immediately.
Not sharp. Not angry.
Certain.
Boone nodded once from where he stood, his voice quieter now but just as firm. “You’re not.”
Kate glanced at him briefly, then back down again as tears continued to slip down her cheeks. She wiped at them angrily.
“I don’t want to accuse him of something if I’m wrong,” she said. “I don’t want to be that person. But I don’t feel right, Tyler. I don’t. It felt…”
Tyler waited, his heart pounding hard against his ribs.
Across the room, Boone had gone very still again.
Kate’s fingers dug harder into her thigh.
“It felt deliberate,” she finished, her voice barely above a whisper. “Like he was testing if I was awake.”
The quiet that followed was heavier than anything that had come before it.
Tyler let the silence sit for another second.
Not because he didn’t know what to say but because he was choosing the words carefully. Kate’s fingers were still curled against her thigh, gripping the fabric of her shorts like she was trying to anchor herself.
Tyler drew a slow breath.
“Okay,” he said again, quieter this time.
Kate’s shoulders lifted slightly, like she was bracing for the next question. The next doubt. Instead, Tyler shifted a little closer, his voice steady.
“We’re taking you to the hospital.”
Kate blinked, the words catching her off guard.
“What?” she murmured.
Behind him, Boone straightened slightly, already reading where this was going.
Tyler didn’t look away from her.
“You said you blacked out,” he said calmly. “You slept most of the day, you’re still dizzy, you’ve been throwing up,”
Kate opened her mouth, but he continued before she could argue.
“And you said you felt like you were touched.”
His tone softened slightly.
“That’s more than enough reason.”
Kate hesitated, uncertainty flickering across her face. Her gaze drifted briefly toward the small table where the take-out containers still sat.
“Tyler, I don’t know if...”
“We’re not accusing him of anything,” he said gently, cutting in before the thought could spiral. “We’re just making sure you’re okay.”
“Doctors can run tests,” Boone nodded once from the door. “Make sure nothing weird’s going on.”
Kate looked between the two of them, the resolve in their faces leaving very little room for argument.
Her shoulders sagged slightly.
“I feel stupid,” she admitted quietly.
Tyler’s brow tightened. “You’re not stupid.”
Kate wiped at her eyes again, though the tears had slowed now.
“I should’ve listened to you,” she muttered.
Tyler didn’t respond immediately.
For a moment he just looked at her, jaw tight, like he was swallowing down a dozen things he wanted to say.
Finally he shook his head.
“This isn’t on you,” he said quietly.
Kate’s fingers loosened slightly in her lap.
“You trusted someone. That’s not something you’re supposed to have to question.”
Kate looked up at him, uncertainty still lingering in her eyes.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then Tyler stood.
Behind him, Boone was already opening the door. “Truck’s out front."
Tyler offered Kate his hand.
“Come on.”