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Leo paused. “I sort of thought you might argue about it.”
“No. Hospitals have blood. I’ve lost a lot of that.” I held up my red hand to prove it to him. “I’d like to get some back, even if it’s not mine. I’m not picky.”
Too many words. Woozy.
I closed my eyes, and he slapped me again. “I’m not an expert or anything, but I think if you go to sleep, there’s a chance you’ll die.”
“Tired.”
“Yeah, well, no offense, but that’s not the kind of sleep you should be having right about now. Do you think you can put your hand on this?” He took hold of my hand and pressed it against my ribs.
I made a small whimpering noise but pushed down, keeping the wound closed as best I could. Leo lifted my head and wrapped his arm behind my shoulders, then hooked his other arm underneath my knees. Without so much as a grunt of effort, he picked me up easily from the floor.
“Fuck.” I buried my face in the crook of his arm, cursing a string of never-before-heard swears. If I thought holding the wound was bad, it was nothing compared to the pain of being hoisted up with a huge hole between your ribs.
“Sorry.” He even sounded a bit contrite. “Just please don’t die, okay? I’m pretty sure if my dad is who you say he is, he’ll kill me for it.”
Shows what he knew.
I passed out before we hit the main floor, regaining consciousness only briefly in little snippets, enough to see streetlights passing through a car window, and then the bright fluorescent bulbs that indicated a sterile space.
If this was what the afterlife looked like, I think I preferred the version in my dream.
Chapter Twenty-Three
When I came to, I was freezing.
I blinked against the harsh light from the overhead bulbs but found no reprieve when I rolled onto my side. Sunlight was blazing through a nearby window. Tubes and needles I hadn’t noticed before tugged at my arm when I moved. Guiltily I returned to my original position.
A machine next to me sounded out a steady rhythm: beep, beep, beep, you’re alive. I raised my arm to cover my eyes from the brightness, and the tubes made the small motion an effort. Grabbing a fistful of the plastic lines, I started yanking them only to have my desperate action abruptly stopped.
Strong hands eased my fingers off the medical equipment, and a lovely, deep, familiar voice said, “Nope.”
I turned my face and let out a small gasp of relief, tears springing to my eyes unexpectedly.
“Cade,” I breathed.
He released my hands and settled back into the chair next to my bed. I took a quick account of the room, confirming I was in a hospital. The area around me was Spartan and clean. I wore a flimsy hospital gown, and a thin blanket was tucked in around me, providing very little in the way of warmth.
I had apparently warranted my own private room, however, because I was alone with Cade. No sign of Leo.
I took hold of his hand back before he could hide it from me, squeezing it tight as if to confirm for myself he was really here. The pain in my ribs should have been enough to prove this was real and not a dream, but I wanted to feel the rough skin of his palm under my fingertips.
He looked exhausted, with purple circles under his eyes and several days’ worth of stubble darkening his cheeks. But with his eyes on me, his gloom seemed to be held at bay, because when he smiled, even the slight gesture held real warmth.
“How about you don’t do that again, deal?” he whispered, squeezing my hand.
He rested his other hand on my thigh, absently stroking up and down.
“Which part?” My eyes fluttered shut briefly, and I pretended we weren’t in this room and I’d never left that motel in Shreveport. Things would be so different if I hadn’t made the choices I’d made that night.
Gods, had that only been yesterday? I’d lived a thousand lives since then.
“The part where you make deals with Hecate. Or where you get stabbed.” When I opened my eyes, he was staring at me. “The part where you leave me.”
“Okay. Deal.”
Cade freed his hand from mine, and I let it go but mourned its absence. He stroked my hair back from my face, tucking loose strands behind my ears and smoothing my bangs off my forehead. “I mean, I wasn’t really worried. I know you’re tough. But Fenrir wouldn’t believe a word I said. That runt has trust issues.”
