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I hovered over Gabriel. I didn’t know what to do for him. His face looked peaceful now, at least. His hair was messed up and sticking up in the back. Part of me wanted to find a comb somewhere and fix it for him. He wouldn’t like it out of place.
Dr. Green stood by me, watching Gabriel. After a few moments, he collected himself out of his own deep thoughts. “Okay, Sang. Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Downstairs. We’re going to try the apple pie in this hospital.”
“We can’t leave him.”
“Of course we can. He’s fine. He’s asleep.”
“But we can’t ...” I wanted to say I couldn’t leave him but I didn’t want to admit to that.
“Come get something to eat really quickly. I want to see you eat something before I leave.” Dr. Green reached for my hand, pulling me away from the bedside. “He’s not going anywhere.”
I tried to glance back at Gabriel, but I was tugged along too quickly.
The cafeteria was smaller than the one at the Academy hospital, and they didn’t have apple pie. Dr. Green settled for chocolate chip cookies instead. I nibbled at a sandwich while he ate.
“Stop thinking so much, “ Dr. Green said. “I want to see you eat.”
I took a big bite out of my sandwich. When I swallowed it back, I really didn’t feel like eating more, so I went for talking, hoping to distract him. “Have you heard from the others?”
“Not a peep. Probably means they’re busy.” He picked a chocolate chip out of his cookie and popped it into his mouth. “But don’t worry about that. If there was a problem, they’d call. Phone calls are what you should worry about. Not silence.”
“How is it you still have your phone on?” I asked.
“Someone’s told you I’m a doctor, right? I need my phone. I can’t turn it off.”
“Victor had one, too,” I said, recalling. Now that the feeling of immediate danger had mostly worn off, swarms of questions buzzed in my head, only I was on my last battery and even that was dying. I wanted to connect the dots, but questions piled up on each other. “And he was supposed to be at home. If he had been when North called, he couldn’t have made it to this side of town so soon.”
Dr. Green’s eyes lit up. “You’re too clever for your own good.”
“Did you know?”
“I didn’t know until you told me he was in the school. Then I understood.”
My head swam, trying to catch up. “What do you mean?”
Dr. Green glanced around the cafeteria, as if trying to pinpoint if anyone was listening in. He leaned over the table a little, lowering his voice. “Didn’t you tell me on our last little date that you’d asked Victor let you be bait? You wanted to try to lure this masked guy out?”
I blinked at him. “I guess I did.”
“I believe he was doing that. He was doing what you asked.”
My eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Victor went home to talk to the guards and see if they caught footage on the security cameras of anyone following them. My guess is he figured out the new phones had been hacked already somehow. So he left those phones at home. He didn’t take his car, either, which has a traceable GPS unit inside.”
I ran with his idea. “He told the maid to tell people he was home, but he wouldn’t answer the phone. It’s why she wouldn’t pass the phone over even when Kota called.”
“So I bet you he made sure whoever was following him still thought he was at home. He slipped out, somehow.”
“He scaled the wall?”
Dr. Green grinned. “And he made sure to keep out of sight. He stayed out of contact so no one could listen in and figure it out. He followed you. He made the masked guy more interested in following you around. Since your stalker wasn’t limited to school grounds, he had to broaden his approach. He followed you to figure out who had your tail.”
“And he didn’t tell you guys?”
“He might not have been able to get a message across to us without giving away his position. I bet the phone he had on him was bought brand new and never even got turned on to keep his position low key. You can load those apps without a SIM card that would give your position away. I don’t know the details. I’m still just guessing, but I know how he likes to work.”
I sighed, settling back into the chair and gazing at the window. Part of me wondered if I was being photographed right now. “Mr. Blackbourne knew. Or maybe he suspected. He wanted me to act like nothing was wrong. He must have talked to him at some point. North didn’t know. And Mr. Blackbourne didn’t want me to go with him after North. It might have been okay then until I messed up.”
“Hey, hey,” Dr. Green said, drawing himself up. “No one knew those bozos were upstairs. You probably saved Gabriel’s life by following him.”
I bit my lip, unsure. It’d been my fault he was up there alone in the first place.
Dr. Green’s mouth tightened. “Sang, you can’t blame yourself.” He reached out, capturing my hand in his, and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t give me that face. Do I need to take you to go see babies again?”
I shook my head stiffly. I messed up more than I realized. I couldn’t even be normal when Victor needed me to be.
Dr. Green sighed. “Someone needs a nap.” He stood, leaving our dishes this time. He circled the table, guiding me out of the chair. “Come on.”
. I hadn’t realized until I stood how badly I was fading. I was nearly numb. Dr. Green practically carried me to the elevator and down the hall. When we were in Gabriel’s room again, he closed the door behind us.
“Get in the bed,” he told me.
I looked at Gabriel, dead asleep, his beautiful lips moving to a song I couldn’t hear. “I can’t.”
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“He’d want you to,” Dr. Green said softly. “He needs you. You need him right now. It’s what we do. This is our family.”
I sighed, too weak to argue. I let Dr. Green nudge me to the bed. This bed was smaller than the Academy hospital's. Dr. Green tugged Gabriel to one side to give me enough room.
“Shouldn’t I be ...” I said, sure I was supposed to do something. Didn’t I need to go back to school? Didn’t I have to find Victor? Didn’t I have to tell North something?
“You’re supposed to stay here and babysit Gabriel,” he said. He reached out his hand, brushing my eyelashes gently until my lids closed. “That’s your job right now. Stay with him. Don’t leave until he wakes up and we come to get you.”
“Then I can’t sleep ...”
“Shh,” he said in a quiet voice. “You’re not sleeping. You’re looking after your patient.”
I sighed, and willed my eyes to open, but the muscles had given up.
I never heard Dr. Green leaving.
VOLTO
It was dark when I felt the need to turn over. I’d slept so deeply that my hand had fallen asleep underneath me.
When my arm hit a body, I dismissed it. Kota. Nathan. Someone.
When my other arm hit a hard metal object, ringing out, my eyes flew open.
I'd forgotten where I was. The hospital room was dimly lit from the light shining out the bathroom’s open door. The window let in light from signs and parking overhead lights at the shopping center across the street. Rain tapped the window in a gentle sheet.
Gabriel flopped over. His eyes were little slits. “Sang,” he said in a gruff voice, like he needed to clear it from sleep.
“Gabriel,” I said, my voice almost nonexistent.
