So, I kneel before her and begin to talk. It’s not anything of importance. I just describe what I’m doing as I do it so that she has something to anchor her to the moment.
“I’m going to take your arm now,” I say. “This is disinfectant. It might sting a bit.You’re doing really well. This will numb the pain. These act like stitches. I’m so proud of you. Drink this. It will warm you up. My T-shirt looks good on you. Let me clean your fingers.”
Inexplicably, the first response I get is. “Oh. I broke my nail.”
She’s looking down at the hand I’m cleaning with a small frown on her face.
“Well, I’m fairly certain you clawed that guy's eye out,” I bring her finger up to my lips and kiss it softly.
“You came for me.”
I look up at her. “You left.”
“You should have tried harder to keep me,” she counters stubbornly.
“This place is supposed to be impenetrable.”
“You should probably start using better encryption, then.”
This makes me jolt in surprise. “Youhacked the encryption.”
For the first time since I brought her back here, a smile spreads across her lips. “Was it supposed to be hard?”
A lot of things suddenly click into place.
“It was you?” I stutter out. “The whole time? You were the one who was blocking me from accessing the Prince’s Hand files?”
“I left an opening for you, didn’t I?”
My mind reels. “You knew we’d be there at the casino that night. To clone the network.”
“I needed you to come to me,” she sighs. “And I got a dinner date out of it.”
I gape at her.
“Why do you look so surprised? What, you didn’t think a woman could possibly know her way around a computer?”
“No,” I shake my head. “I just didn’t know you could get any more perfect.”
When she doesn’t respond, I finish tending to her arm and put the supplies away. So I almost don’t hear it when she says. “We’re fucked. Aren’t we?”
Something hard clenches in my chest. “Yes.”
“It’s not fair.”
“I know.”
“Is there…” her voice breaks a little. “Teo, tell me there’s another way. Because I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pretend you’re not…we’re not…”
I swallow hard. “Is this real?”
She takes my hand in hers and guides it to her ruined neck once more. “It’s real.”
I gently stroke across her delicate skin. “You mean everything to me.”
“Teo, please,” her eyes are glassy about this. “Can we talk about it? Can we find another way? Because this has to end one way or the other, and I can’t…I can’t lose you. Not now.”
And for the briefest moment, it’s not Isabella sat before me.
