Page 52 of The Ashes of Summer

“It'll hold,” I whisper. “It’s got to fucking hold.” The words sound strange in the silence, but hearing them out loud changes something.

For the first time since the helicopter landed, my thoughts stop circling helplessly and begin moving in a straight line.

A plan.

Jackson and Donnie are both a lot bigger than me. They’re stronger, too. But they’re arrogant, and arrogant men make mistakes because they never believe someone like me is capable of hurting someone like them.

I tighten my grip.

Wrap.

Pull.

Lean back.

Don't stop.

Chapter 16

Wake Up, Motherfucker

The ghost in the bed keeps drifting in and out of consciousness like a fucking corpse refusing to decide whether it’s dead.

His eyes crack open every few minutes, unfocused and glassy beneath the fluorescent lighting, before rolling shut again almost immediately. His lips move sometimes, barely twitching around sounds that don’t quite become words, and every second of it is scraping my nerves raw because I don’t have fucking time for this.

Summer doesn’t have time for this.

I shove a hand through my hair and pace the length of the room again before looking back toward Tamara. “I thought this shit was meant to speed things up.”

She barely glances up from the monitor beside him. “I never made any promises, Sheriff. It counteracts one of the drugs in his system, not all of them.”

I let out a rough breath through my nose.

Translation?

Wait.

My favorite fucking thing.

The walls feel closer than they did an hour ago, the ceiling lower, the stale hospital air pressing against my lungs every time I drag in a breath that never feels deep enough. Heat clings to my skin beneath my shirt despite the relentless hum of the air conditioning, sweat gathering between my shoulder blades until the fabric sticks uncomfortably to my back.

What’s he doing to her right now?

A sudden commotion out in the corridor drags my attention away from the room. Voices bleed through the door, overlapping with one another until one rises above the rest, cutting cleanly through the muffled chaos. I don't catch the words at first, but I recognize the voice long before my brain processes what she's actually saying.

"Listen," she says, with the kind of confidence that makes me pity whoever's standing in her way, "I appreciate what you do, and I have no doubt you are an amazing security guard, but if you don't let me past, sir, I will kick you directly in the balls."

Yeah.

That’s definitely Constance.

Despite everything sitting like concrete on my chest, the corner of my mouth threatens to lift. Only Constance could start a fight with hospital security while the rest of the world is falling apart. I push away from the wall and make for the door just as the guard's patience finally gives out.

"Ma'am, you can't just⁠—"

I pull the door open before he has the chance to finish.

"Let them pass."