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“I promise,” I say finally. He already would’ve told me if it was anything really bad. At least I hope so.
I look over at him, watching as he takes in all of the damage to my body, his jaw ticking as his brow furrows. He doesn’t speak again until I shut the water off. He steps toward me, towel in hand, and wraps me up. He grabs a second one and wraps it around my hair before pulling me back into his chest. “I thought I’d lost you again.”
The words are almost inaudible, but he’s holding me so tight I hear them loud and clear. I don’t fight him, letting him take the solace before leading me back to the main room. “There’s a robe here for you, or you can put my hoodie back on. It somehow doesn’t have any blood on it and it comes down to your knees, so you’ll be covered at least.”
“Hoodie, please,” I say, and he passes it to me. It doesn’t take me long to dry off and slip it over my head before he helps me back onto the bed. “Now stop stalling and tell me about East.”
He wipes a hand down his face and sits on the bed with me. “He’s in the hospital. This hospital, down the hall actually. He’s okay, all things considered. He was shot, but he had surgery, and he’s going to be fine. He just needs a few months of rehab and recovery.”
My eyes go wide. “Rehab and recovery? Where was he shot? What sort of rehab?” My mind races through the possibilities, but he’s saved from answering as Smithy bursts through the door.
“Oh, Miss Octavia, thank goodness you’re okay. I was worried out of my goddamn mind!” I chuckle a little because I don’t think I’ve ever heard him curse before, but lean into the hug he wraps me in. He smells like home and I swear I could cry. He pulls back, looking me over. “I brought clothes for you as requested, along with a few comforts. I’ve only been allowed back in the house today.” He glares at Lincoln for a second, which makes me smirk, before looking back to me. “I hope everything is to your liking. Now, are you really okay? What on earth happened?”
“I’m fine, Smithy. Thank you for the clothes. I’ll explain everything shortly, but can I get dressed first?”
“Oh, yes! Of course,” he says, flustered. “I’ll just step outside. I need to make sure Matthew found his way to your room, I just kind of bolted from the car as he pulled up to the doors.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Matthew?”
“Get dressed, Miss Octavia. We’ll speak in a moment,” is all he says before dropping the bag in his hand on the bed and leaving the room. I look at Lincoln who is checking his phone. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine. The others are on their way here now.”
“Do I want to know what’s happening with Panda?” I ask, and the grim set of his lips tells me I don’t. “Okay, I’m just going to get dressed.” I point to the bathroom and he rolls his eyes.
“Octavia, I just watched you shower, you can get dressed in front of me.”
I’m glad to see that Lincoln is still in there under this softer version of him that’s been here since we arrived at the hospital. I open the bag Smithy placed on the bed and pull out a pair of fuzzy socks, some soft leggings, a pair of comfortable undies, and a long sleeved t-shirt. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: that man is a godsend.
I wiggle into the underwear and leggings, pulling the socks onto my battered feet before shrugging out of the hoodie to put on the long-sleeved shirt. The hoodie goes back over my head before he can get any ideas about changing his mind and taking it back.
“Better?” he asks. I nod as I snuggle into the neck of the hoodie. “Good, I’ll go get the doctor.”
“Then I can see East?” I ask, biting my lip. “I just need to see he’s okay with my own eyes.” Guilt runs through my veins like ice. I need to see him.
“Then we can go and see East,” he says, seeming to understand that I need to focus on that rather than how shitty I feel, or anything else that’s going on. Once I’ve seen him and I know he’s okay, then I’ll probably crumble. Until then, I cling to it like it’s my last tether to reality.
He steps outside the door and returns with the doctor on his heels. I suffer through the blood tests and another IV being attached to me. I try not to freak out and Linc takes my shaking hands in his, holding my gaze until the doctor is done. She asks me a ton of questions that I answer as best I can. She puts a salve on my burns and cleans and wraps the other cuts on my body. It all passes in a sort of blur.
When she’s finished, she turns to Linc. “She needs to rest. She’s malnourished, dehydrated, and she’s been tortured and drugged. She needs to sleep.”
“I need to see East,” I say, leaning back against the pillow and murmuring as exhaustion slams into me now that I’m warm and comfortable.
“I’ve given her a sedative to help her relax. I’m a little worried about her blood pressure, but once she’s slept and has some fluids, I’m hopeful it’ll right itself. I’d like to keep an eye on her for at least twenty-four hours.”
“Understood,” Linc responds, as my eyes flutter closed. I hear the door close, and the bed shifts as he climbs in beside me and moves me so I’m lying more on him than the bed. “Sleep, V. I’ve got you now.”
He strokes my hair, and as much as I want to be pissed about the sedative, the beat of his heart under my ear is like a lullaby.
Just this once, I’ll forgive him for letting her sedate me.
He saved me. Again. I still don’t know what it cost him, but as sleep pulls me under, I promise myself that he won’t suffer anymore because of me.
* * *
I wake up to the sound of hospital machines beeping and I panic for a split second, thinking that me getting out was just a dream, that I’m back in that basement hooked up to the machines Panda had in there.
But then the smell of Lincoln filters into my senses and I feel him wrapped around me. I relax again. The pain drifts around the edges of my consciousness and I groan at the aches in my body.
