Page 83 of Relapse

Chapter twenty

No Taking it Back

NOAH

Iturned the corner of the sterile hospital hallway, spotting Damian sitting in a stiff vinyl chair outside one of the ICU rooms. The steady pulse of monitor tones slipped through the partially closed door.

I had been looking to find my mom before I had found him. I was afraid of what Jace might have told them, worried for both myself and…as pissed as I still was…worried for Silas too.

I needed to apologize for missing my birthday. I needed to try and fix how much of an asshole I was being to everyone in my life who cared about me.

I pivoted on my heel, hoping I could head back toward the elevators without Damian noticing me.

“Noah.”

It was worth a shot.

“Yeah?” I walked back and lowered myself into the chair beside him. The plastic creaked and a cart rattled somewhere down the hall.

Damian would probably lecture me again about the Thornes. I was sure Silas’s uncle had made a phone call. Why wouldn’t he?

“Father is awake now,” Damian said quietly, glancing at the door.

My eyes widened. That wasn’t what I’d expected. Through the narrow window, I could see the faint outline of a body in the bed, machines blinking steadily around him. In a strange way, I was relieved Damian hadn’t been cornered by our sworn enemies.

“So?” I asked, picking at the edge of the hospital VISITOR wristband still wrapped around my arm. They weren’t mandatory anywhere else in the hospital, just the ICU sections.

“He wants to speak with you.”

I was starstruck. At that moment, someone could have told me hell had frozen over and I would have believed it over this comment my brother made. Damian’s eyes locked onto mine, studying me, observing my shock.

“You don’t have to talk to him if you don’t want to,” he said, sympathy threading through his voice.

His pity made my skin crawl. If you only knew, a small voice inside me added.

And…if he did know?

I stared at the pale hospital wall across from us, still debating whether to tell him everything that had happened to me. What would he do? Help me? Refuse to believe me?

I shook it away. I couldn’t go down that rabbit hole again.

As it was, the disgust simmering in my chest tangled with a stubborn curiosity. A massive part of me wanted to know what David had to say to me.

Damian’s brow furrowed. “What is it, Noah?”

“Nothing,” I mumbled. “I’ll go speak to him.”

I stood, my shoes squeaking against the polished floor, and looked toward the door adjacent to Damian’s chair. “Only one visitor at a time” the sign above the room read. I swallowed nervously. I imagined David lying in that private room, surrounded by pale sheets and blinking screens instead of heavy curtains and dark wood floors.

I shivered. I hadn’t stood at his bedside in ten years.

Damian rose quickly. “You don’t have to go in there. I can tell him you stepped out, or that the doctors needed you for something.”

I stopped.

“It’s alright,” he insisted.

“What are you talking about?” I said with a thin laugh. “I’m fine, Damian.”