“Shh. I’m here.” I kneel at the side of the bed and rest my hand gently on top of hers, careful not to disturb the tubing. “You’re safe.”
She relaxes back against her pillow, her breathing evening out. “It’s easier to remind myself that when you’re with me.” Turning her head slightly, she fixes me with a curious stare. “Howdidyou manage to get me to the hospital, by the way?”
My breath freezes in my lungs. “Why do you ask?”
Her shoulders rise in a small shrug. “It’s just the one thing I can’t remember.” She lets out a huff of air. “I guess it doesn’t matter, does it?”
I roll my lips, suddenly unable to meet her eye. “I heard a car approaching, so I ran into the road and flagged them down. For some reason, they helped.” Not a lie, but not the full truth, either.
“Someone stopped to help?” Her eyes widen, and she shifts like she’s going to attempt to sit up. “Are they here? I’d like to thank them.”
“No! I mean… they left already.”
“Oh.” She frowns, deflating. “Did you catch their name?”
“I think it was Richard something? I was too preoccupied to really pay attention.” Now, I’m outright lying to her—but it’s for her own good. At least, that’s what I convince myself. “Are you sure you want to talk about this now? You must be exhausted.”
“I can’tnottalk about it.” She drops her gaze to where her thumbnail is digging into her cuticle. “Because I can’t stop thinking about it.”
I lean in closer, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “Do you know the person who did it?”
She nods, taking her lip between her teeth as a fresh round of tears wells in her eyes. “Gregory Wright. We’d been out on a date once before, and everything was fine, so I agreed to meet him a second time. Dinner and a movie—that’s what he said. But at some point, I guess someone told him what I do for a living and… he thought I deserved this.” She gestures to her bandaged face. “On the way to the restaurant, he pulled over and threatened me with a knife—saying I deserved what I was getting because I work at the Orchid Lounge.”
Her lip curls in disgust as she recalls the memory. “I got the bastard good, though—nearly bit his nasty dick clean off. When he realized I was going down fighting, he stabbed me, cut me up, and left me in the bushes to die.” She lets out a shaky breath disguised as a laugh. “I guess he was in a hurry to get his dick fixed, so he didn’t bother searching me for my phone. It was the only thing that kept me alive.”
Before Saffron can continue, a sullen-faced nurse enters the room with a small cart filled with medication. “How is the pain,Ms. Barker?” she asks, standing at the side of her bed and pulling out a clipboard. “Any changes since last time?”
“It’s a little worse,” Saffron admits with a wince. “Actually, a lot worse…”
The nurse nods, reaching into her cart and pulling out a clear glass vial and syringe. She fills it with the substance and injects it into one of the IV ports, her movements quick and efficient. “That should help. You’ll probably feel sleepy in a few minutes—it’s all normal.”
“Thank you,” Saffron whispers.
The nurse checks Saffron’s vitals, seemingly satisfied with the results. As she packs her equipment away, she turns to me with sympathetic eyes. “Visiting hours are almost over, dear. You’ll need to head out soon.”
My heart squeezes. I don’t want to leave her. “Can’t you make an exception? She might need me…”
She shakes her head, her expression leaving no room for argument. “You can come back in the morning. Plus…” She gestures to Saffron, her eyelids half closed as sleep pulls her under. “With the dose I gave her, she’ll sleep straight through the night. Your friend is safe here. You don’t have to worry.”
“Okay.” I give Saffron’s hand one last gentle squeeze before standing. “I’ll be back in the morning, babe.”
“Shnfuthuwurr.”
“Um…” I gaze at the nurse with alarm, but she waves me off.
“It’s the meds. She’ll be fast asleep in a few moments.”
Sure enough, when I turn my attention back to Saffron, she’s snoring softly, her features relaxed in slumber. Though I don’t want to, I heed the nurse’s orders and leave, my steps heavy as I make my way outside the hospital.
As soon as the chill night air hits me, I’m struck with a wave of emotion, one too heavy for me to carry with all the other shitthat’s been going on. With a shiver, I wrap my arms around my torso, fingers pinching the soft cotton shirt Red 7 gifted me.
“Shit.” I gaze out into the shadowed streets surrounding the hospital. There’s no way I’m walking home alone at this hour, so I’ll have to suck it up and wait the thirty minutes it takes for a cab to get here.
I wish Red 7 were around.
Jolting, I shake off that last thought, horrified that I would even think something so vile. Red 7 is not my savior. He’s a psychopathic killer in a bloodred mask who wants to break me. I need to remember that.
With a sigh, I pull out my phone and put in the request for a car. Surprisingly, I only have to wait twenty minutes before someone accepts the ride—far less than I was expecting. The stranger drives me to my apartment in silence, with his only words being “thank you” and “have a nice night,” when I add a tip in the app.
