Page 44 of Immune

His gaze drops to me, confusion swimming in his eyes. “Huh?”

“Your hand,” I say, pointing at it as though he might need a clue. “Move it.”

Slowly, he does as I demand. Of course he does it slowly, because the universe is very set on proving this guy’s manners are going to be a recurring problem for me.

Taking a deep breath, I lean in close enough to check the bandage without actually touching him. There is blood, but it’s not a catastrophic amount. The tape is still stuck down and the gauze is holding beautifully, even if a little red has seeped through, blooming across the fabric like it’s a tattling little bitch.

“You’ve pulled it,” I accuse, frowning at the blood.

His own brows furrow, and he asks, “Is it bad?”

I eye it again before shaking my head. “Nah. Not bad.”

A wash of relief crosses his face before he manages to hide it, and a niggle of interest crawls into my thoughts. It’s annoying, so I swat it away before muttering, “Don’t look so relieved. I’m still annoyed.”

“Noted,” he answers quickly.

My jaw tightens for a second before I say, “You need to stop throwing yourself off things.”

Kaito pauses. “I didn’t throw myself off anything.”

“You dropped into a basement,” I argue.

“All in the name of strategy,” he defends, and I glare at him.

“No. It was gravity but with extra steps. There’s nothing strategic about launching yourself into a basement like you’re skydiving without the parachute,” I counter, shaking my head like I can’t believe I’m having to explain this shit.

The jackass looks like he wants to smile again, and I point at him that little bit harder, growling, “Don’t even think about it.”

He inhales through his nose, visibly fighting his amusement, and says, “What? I didn’t do anything.”

“Your face did.”

“My face apologizes,” he relents, and then he looks away before I watch him lose the battle with his smile in real time.

With a shake of my head, I take the opportunity to look around. Across the park are apartment blocks that stare down at us with rows upon rows of broken windows. The world is just as gray and wet as it was this morning, crawling with things that want us dead and overrun with nature that is fighting and winning the battle to reclaim what belongs to it.

Another thunderous slam echoes from the door, metal screeching as the Runner launches itself against the barricade again. The pipe Kaito has shoved through the handles rattles, holding for now, but I know it won’t last forever. Nothing ever does. Not doors, not stitches, not the tiny scraps of calm I’m currently trying to tape and staple to my nerves.

We have to leave. I know that, my body knows that, the bugs on the ground know that. But for one steadying breath, I just stand there in the wet grass with Kaito next to me. Both of us alive only because he found me and didn’t once make me say out loud that I needed him. He didn’t make a thing of it, didn’t make me owe him one out loud. He risked his life and jumped into that hole without wanting anything in return. He got me out, asked which way we should go, turned his head when the tunnel grew too tight and my body forgot how to be normal, and respected every boundary I’ve put in place until now.

The entire thing sits under my skin like an unwanted splinter that niggles its way deeper and deeper.

Eventually, as soon as I’ve caught my breath and my heart doesn’t feel like it’s doing its best to vacate my body, I calmly tell him, “You shouldn’t have followed me.”

Kaito scans the park instead of looking down at me, but he nods. “Yeah, I know.”

I frown and turn to look up at him, struck by the way what little light beams through the dark clouds highlight his sharp features. “Wait, that’s it?”

His gaze shifts back to me, those almond eyes filled with questions, dark brown irises boring into me. “What? Did you want me to argue?”

“No,” I answer, shaking my head.

“Then yeah, that’s it,” he says, shrugging his shoulder before wincing in pain.

My eyebrows pinch. What the hell am I meant to do with this guy?

That question is left unanswered, because another slam echoes from the door, and this one actually bends the frame.