Chapter 6
Xander fell silent. Under Phoebe's hopeful gaze, he finally let her go, leaving her on the cold, hard floor.
As she watched Xander walk away with Alena, that last shred of ridiculous hope in Phoebe's heart was completely crushed.
When Phoebe woke up, she found herself back in that all-too-familiar hospital room. Her leg throbbed with even more pain than before.
It felt like her leg was rotting away, bit by bit.
"Useless idiots. How could you not fix this?" Xander shouted.
Then came the sound of glass shattering on the floor. Xander walked into the room, and when he saw Phoebe awake, he froze for a second.
Xander quickly hid whatever emotion flickered in his eyes. "Phoebe..."
She turned her head away, avoiding his reaching hand.
Xander gave a bitter, awkward laugh and then tried to sound casual.
"Your leg still isn't healing. We'll run some more tests this afternoon," he said.
Phoebe's heart skipped a beat. 'No way am I letting them check me out.' she thought.
Her mind spun as she instinctively reached for the pendant around her neck.
But her fingers found nothing, and Phoebe's face drained of color.
"Xander, where's my pendant?" she asked.
It was the only thing she'd managed to take with her when she ran away from home.
It was the last thing tying her to her family, and now it was gone.
Xander took a long moment to remember and then shrugged, as if it was nothing. "Alena said she liked it, so I just gave it to her."
Phoebe felt her blood rush to her head, and everything else faded away. She couldn't hear a word Xander said after that.
There was only one thought in her mind, 'How dare he give away something that belongs to me?'
Phoebe, nearly losing her mind, scrambled off the hospital bed.
"Where's Alena? I'm going to find her," she demanded.
Xander held her down, but the IV needle in her wrist got knocked out, leaving an ugly bruise. He winced at the sight, feeling a pang in his chest.
"Phoebe, calm down," he said.
"So, you were looking for me?" Alena said.
Phoebe looked up, her eyes bloodshot with fury.
Alena stood in front of her, acting like she had nothing to do with any of this, an innocent smile plastered on her face.
She dangled the tiny pendant from her finger, twirling it carelessly.
"Is this what you're looking for?" Alena taunted.
As she spoke, Alena suddenly let go, letting the pendant drop, and then snatched it back before it hit the floor.
Phoebe's heart skipped a beat, her eyes blazing with fury.
"You wouldn't dare!" Phoebe shouted.
Alena turned to Xander, putting on a pitiful face.
"See? She's being so aggressive. It's scaring me. I just remembered your mom recently gave me a plaque as a wedding gift, but honestly, I didn't really like the design," Alena said.
Xander rubbed his tired brow.
"If you don't like it, just don't wear it. That pendant in your hand belongs to Phoebe. Her mom gave it to her," he said.
"Of course I know," Alena replied, flashing her trademark sugary smile. "But I can't exactly get mad at my future mother-in-law, so I have to take it out on her instead. Otherwise, how am I supposed to get it out of my system?"
Then, she turned her sweet, smiling gaze on Phoebe.
"Alright, since it's just something for a mutt, why don't you give me a couple of barks? Do that, and maybe I'll hand it over," Alena taunted.
Phoebe turned to Xander, tears streaming down her face, but all she got was that icy, detached look, like he couldn't care less about any of it.
Right then, a hazy memory of her mother flickered in her mind, tugging at her heart.
Without that pendant, she might never have a way back to her mom.
Phoebe's heart felt like it was being ripped apart. With a sense of utter defeat, she closed her eyes and surrendered. "I'll do it."
Alena bent down, her face smug as ever, leaning in close to taunt her. "Phoebe."
Phoebe clenched her jaw so hard it felt like her teeth might break, and from between her teeth, she forced out that humiliating bark. "Woof."
"Phoebe." Alena called out again.
"Woof..." Phoebe choked out.
"Phoebe the mutt." Alena jeered.
"Woof, woof, woof..." Phoebe kept barking.
Finally bored with her little game, Alena straightened up, a mocking smirk tugging at her lips.
"Whatever, you can have it back," Alena said.
Phoebe reached out, and Alena looked like she was about to drop it into her palm, but then, as if remembering something, she paused.
Instead, Alena just threw it away. The pendant arced through the air and smashed hard onto the floor.
With a sharp crack, it broke clean in two.
Alena covered her mouth in exaggerated surprise, acting like she was genuinely shocked.
"I gave it back to you, but you couldn't even catch it. Too bad—guess that's your fault," she sneered.
Phoebe stared at the broken pendant, her eyes stinging and blurring with tears she refused to let fall.
Alena had already linked arms with Xander, casually discussing which restaurant they should go to for dinner tonight, as if nothing had happened.
Phoebe didn't even know where the strength came from. She suddenly rushed forward and grabbed Alena's hair, yanking it hard.
Without thinking, Phoebe landed a brutal slap right across Alena's face.
Things happened so fast, Xander was the only one who reacted in time.
He shoved Phoebe away, and her back hit the edge of the table, sending a wave of pain through her.
"Phoebe, what the hell are you doing?" Xander shouted.
"What am I doing?" Phoebe shot back, meeting Xander's gaze head-on. "Didn't you see her break my pendant? A slap is already letting her off easy."
Before she could finish, Xander slapped her across the face—ten times harder than she'd slapped Alena.