AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirty-Six
Coop
I awoke covered in warm blankets. I blinked, sleepily. The nurse at my bedside explained I was in Brazil and had just come from surgery. I hadn’t remembered going in. Last thing I remembered was falling asleep next to my beautiful Zee. I must’ve gone to Brazil to have the surgery as planned. Maybe some of the memories hadn’t quite made it past the surgery, but my memories of Zee were all there in perfect clarity. Thank fuck. Now I just had to get back to her.
* * * *
The next time I awoke I was in a private room. Leo was in a chair next to me. “Well, look who finally woke up.”
Groggily I asked, “Do I still have a brain or did they take it all?”
“You’re able to talk, aren’t you?” Leo said with a grunt before flashing me a smile.
“Any idiot can talk.”
“Good to have you back, brother.”
“Did they get everything? Where’s Zee?”
“Zee’s—”
“Never mind, I know,” I muttered. The nurse had said I was in Brazil, which meant Zee was in Marakata. “I need a phone. I need to call her.”
“She’s in the middle of something. You gave us quite a scare.”
“It’s what I do best,” I joked, then coughed. I pushed up, repositioning myself, then grabbed the ice water next to my bed. I couldn’t believe how good I felt. “How long have I been out?”
“A couple of days.”
Before Leo could say more, the door to the room opened and Zee came in. Tears filled her eyes as she rushed to my side. “You’re awake! I wanted to be here when you opened your eyes. I wanted to be the first person you saw.”
I wrapped her in my arms, hoisting her closer until she was in my lap. “You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”
“Your being alive is all that matters.”
Ignoring me, Leo asked Zee tentatively, “So, everything okay?”
Sniffing, she nodded. “Everything’s okay.”
“With my surgery? I feel great.” I lifted my hand to my head, but there were no bandages. “What did the doctor say? Did he get the whole tumor?”
Zee stiffened. “The doctor didn’t get anything. But you’re fine. You’re perfect. I’ll explain in a minute. Leo, the jet’s ready for us. We’re just waiting for Thea to be done with the Ibogaine. If you could let Wolfe and Vivi know.”
“Wolfe and Vivi?” Shit, maybe I’d lost more time than I’d thought. I looked around the room and realized I wasn’t hooked up to any machines.
“I’ll let you all talk.” With a curvy grin, Leo slipped out of the room, calling, “Glad you’re alive, brother!”
Zee brought me up to speed on my passing out on the island and the whole operating room standoff while I listened in disbelief. But instead of reveling in the fact that I was fine and had no tumor, I asked, “You shot my surgeon?”
“He wasn’t a surgeon. He was an organ harvester. He stood there with me going over your tumor and the surgery while I cried. He knew you didn’t have anything wrong with you. He knew you wouldn’t ever wake up. He knew it was murder. There’s no coming back from that in my book. I’m telling you, this Seraphina Westin witch is bad news. She’s moved to number one on my shitlist.”
“Mine too. Well, right after Hayes, apparently.”
“Yeah…Hayes… About him—” Zee started to say before I cut her off.
“And how the hell did you get Alvarez to back down?”
“Actually, Hayes has something to do with that. Might as well cross him off your shitlist.”
