Read Collaborate (Save Me #4) for Free Online Page B

Sliding back on the couch, I settle into the corner and she drops down beside me, tucking herself under my arm. Neither of us say anything but every now and then she reaches up to wipe her red puffy eyes. 
    “You didn’t go to work,” she states the obvious quietly.
    “You didn’t go to school.”
    “Sorry,” she mutters.
    Her eyes, just like mine, are fixed to the photos on the mantle. Instead of just sitting there letting them taunt her like I have, Izzy jumps up and flips over all the ones that have Abby in them. It leaves just the one of the four of us that Abby had taken a few months back. I don’t want to think about it, but I can’t help but wonder if that’s how the rest of our photos will look. Always lacking something because she’s not there to be in them.
    “Feel better?” I ask as she stands there looking at what she just did.
    “No. She has you, and Sophia, and Zander… and me,” her voice cracks. “How can a place give her something we can’t?”
    I swallow hard around the lump that’s formed in my throat. As much as I want to break down and scream, fight, and break shit because of what’s going on, I can’t. I have three kids that need me more than ever right now, two of which have no clue what is going on. I love Abby, I wouldn’t have married her if I didn’t. I don’t love her any less because of what’s going on, but I have to put the needs of the three of them above her.
    “How are we supposed to go to this thing tomorrow and act like everything is fine?”
    “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I don’t want you to think you do.”
    Turning around, she levels me with a glare that leaves me with little doubt that she’ll be able to take care of herself when she’s older.
    “Or go. It’s up to you.”
    “That’s my family too. A lot of them have been there since my dad was alive and they tell me stories. The videos he made are great, but hearing stories about him from other people is better. I won’t let anything ruin that for me!” She finally takes a breath, trying to calm herself down. “You shouldn’t either.”
    “You’re so friggin’ smart, kid.”
    I shove off the couch and rush out to the studio barefoot. Thankfully it hasn’t snowed much this year, but the ground is still pretty fucking cold. Izzy yells at me from the porch but I don’t stop. As soon as I’m inside I rifle through the box that Alex left me.
    I continue shifting through the disks and envelopes until I find the one I’m looking for. I flip open the note and reread the words that are attached to the video I never thought I would have to use.
    At some point, she’s going to break. She’ll act like she doesn’t need you guys because she’s strong, but that’s when you know she needs you the most. She’ll push you away because she doesn’t want to admit she’s falling apart and needs help. If nothing you do works and you still need some help, give her this. ~Alex. 
    “What are you doing?”
    Stepping up next to Izzy, I pull her into a hug. “Trying to fix our family.”

Abby
    “This is a fucking disaster,” I mumble to myself. 
    I’m not sure if I’m talking about the files in front of me that I’m trying to put back together because Tuesday decided to make it rain with them, or my life. How did I let things get so bad? I’m supposed to be the stable one, the one that everyone else runs to.  
    Tuesday was right earlier when she told me that work should never come before family. That was my rule that she threw back in my face and damn if that doesn’t hurt.
    “Sure is,” Jameson’s sad voice rumbles from the door.
    I didn’t even hear it open and have no clue how long he’s been standing there. He’s a mess just like she said he was. His hair is a disaster and his eyes look like he hasn’t slept in weeks. I’m afraid to move, afraid to breathe, because I’m scared if I do, he’ll vanish. So, I just sit here looking like an idiot while he stares at