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“She should have it checked in another six months,” he noted firmly, his mouth drawn into a thin line. “That battery shouldn’t have died yet; it wasn’t that old. It’s certainly something to keep an eye on.”
“Of course.” But I couldn’t think about six months from now. I could barely think about tomorrow. “Can I go see her now?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “She’ll be out of it for a bit, though. Be patient.”
If he had anything else to say, I didn’t hear it, stepping back into the guest room. Someone had left a chair next to the bed, and I sat down, reaching over to take Iris’s slender hand in mine.
I’m sorry,Iris,I thought miserably, watching her peaceful face.I’m sorry.
13
IRIS
Remus’ Ranch House
Travis County, Texas
Oh.
My eyes fluttered open and I realized I was staring up at a white ceiling. I reached up to touch my chest slowly, frowning.Is that a bandage?I slid my fingers further up my throat, only to find that despite my irritated skin, there was only the dressing. No collar.
This isn’t the facility…but where…?
I didn’t remember falling asleep.Wait. Did I even fall asleep?Lately, I’d simply been passing out when the exhaustion became too much. It took everything I had to stay awake when the doctors or guards were present, and everything else, well…I kept telling myself I had to conserve my energy, and that was all I could do.
I moved slowly, and the first thing I realized was how much everythinghurt. My chest felt like it was pulsing slowly, but it wasn’t a sharp pain. More like a dull ache…but more importantly than that, my heart was still beating. Everything hurt, but I didn’t feel quite as woozy as I had before.
As I lay there, staring up, memories slowly started filtering back to me. Escaping the facility. Running from the guards. Bella’s mother, Bella, the cabin, the woods…
Bella!
I sucked in a sharp breath as a sudden shot of adrenaline surged through me. I struggled to move. Each and every muscle complained, but I tried to push myself upright, suddenly aware that Bella wasn’t here. It barely registered to me that even though the ceiling was white, I wasn’t lying on a tile floor. There were blankets arranged around me gently. My wolf was calm — exhausted, but peaceful — and as I started to hoist myself up, I realized I couldn’t move my hand.
I stopped struggling for a moment, turning my head and expecting the worst. But it wasn’t a manacle or anything of the sort.It was Eli holding my hand.
“Oh,” I croaked, sinking back against the pillow. “It’s you.”
That’s right. Eli had appeared in the woods like a vision. I almost hadn’t been sure he was real, but the relief had been so instant and so powerful, my knees had given out. That comfort had extinguished the last flame of spite powering me forward, and I must have blacked out.
My vision went blurry as Eli lifted his head, a slow smile spreading over his face as he saw me looking at him.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” he said softly. For some reason, just the sound of his voice made my heart feel like it was going to shatter into a thousand tiny pieces. I sniffed and blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision before I started to cry.
“You’re okay now. Don’t worry.”
But the tears continued rolling down my cheeks. “Where’s Bella?” I whispered, wincing at how hoarse my voice sounded.
Eli tipped his head to one side. “The little girl?” I nodded. “She’s okay, too. She’s sleeping in Remus and Luna’s room. She didn’t want to be alone.”
“Oh,” I said, blinking again.Right. I had recognized the woods as being near Remus’ house. We must have made it. “Is she okay?”
Eli nodded again, his thumb still stroking my hand gently. “She’s been rattled pretty badly, but the doctor said she wasn’t hurt at all. The blood was someone else’s.” His expression softened a little as he looked me over. “He also said your pacemaker wasn’t working right.”
I grimaced, reaching up with my free hand to touch my chest. To my surprise, I found bandages over my pacemaker. “What…?”
Eli grimaced. “He said the battery was totally fried, and it shouldn’t have been. He replaced it. Said you should be okay, but he wants you to have it checked out in six months.”
“Oh…” I blinked, rubbing at the skin near the bandage before dropping my hand again.That makes sense, I guess. There was that shock right after they caught me.And then again when we got out of the building.I’d been worried about that the whole time. It shouldn’t have surprised me that the battery had given up the ghost after that. The shock had been so powerful, I’d almost passed out right there.
