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How did Lando explain this without revealing too much information? She could just have Diane give her the bottle and then immediately take it to the dumpster or flush them down the toilet. “Are you going to take the stitches out or are we going to have to find another doctor in two weeks?”
Violet raised an eyebrow, her cool blue eyes wide. “I can do it if you want.”
“Good. I’d rather not go back to another white coat.”
Violet looked confused, but Lando didn’t elaborate. She was glad the tension in the room seemed to have calmed down. She grabbed her fork and took another bite, putting an end to that line of conversation. Violet finally moved, finding her own dinner and pulling the computer over. Instead of sitting on her bed, she sat on Lando’s, leaning against the headboard with her legs out in front of her, laptop precariously balanced on her thighs.
Lando eyed her cautiously. It had been an apology, but she still sensed there was something else going on under everything. “You know you haven’t just been a bitch today.”
“Drop it, Lando,” Violet muttered, flicking through something on her computer screen.
Debating whether or not to listen, Lando shifted so she mimicked Violet’s position. Her arm was already aching in ways it hadn’t before, whether it was because the adrenaline from that morning was wearing off or the anesthetic was, she wasn’t sure. It pounded under the gauze the doctor had wrapped it in.
Lando ignored it and continued to shove forkfuls of food between her lips, knowing she’d need it to keep her stomach steady later when the nausea from the pain hit. Especially in the morning. Violet hissed as she stared at her computer screen, forgetting all about the food in front of her. Lando remained quiet, watching the graphs as they flashed across the screen. She caught some of the information in them, but certainly not everything, not without studying them closer.
Violet groaned and tensed. Curious, Lando tried to lean in and see just what had Violet’s attention. The door to the room opened, and Diane stepped inside, a pitying expression on her features. Lando’s stomach churned. She did not want pity—ever. She’d grown up with pity at every turn, and she was done with it.
“Here.” Diane sat on the edge of the bed running her hand up and down Lando’s leg. “Does it hurt much?”
Lando clenched her jaw. “Not at all.”
“She’s lying,” Violet murmured.
Diane and Violet shared a look, and Lando cursed her inability to read it. She wished she knew them better, because what she’d known of Violet seemed far off the mark if the last forty-eight hours was anything to go by.
“Does it hurt, Lando?” That pitying tone was back in Diane’s voice.
“Not much.” Lando ignored the food next to her, hoping they could move on to a different conversation. She focused on the computer still sitting on Violet’s lap. “What did you find in the data?”
Violet frowned, eyed Lando carefully, before giving in. “It was a small tornado. You were lucky. Any bigger and both of us probably would have been damaged by it.”
That was it, wasn’t it? Lando was damaged. She had been since the day she was born, since her mother’s death, then her father’s. She’d always been damaged goods to everyone. She wished she could take a shower, a bath, anything to get the dirty feel off her, but she also suspected Diane wasn’t going to let her get up from the bed any time soon.
“I’ll get you some water for your pills.” Diane stood.
Lando panicked. She hadn’t anticipated they would try to make her take them in front of them. She glanced at Violet who eyed her curiously before she shifted to sit and stand up. She’d take them with her into the bathroom and flush them. Diane popped a bottle of water into Lando’s hand and the pills in the other.
“Don’t want you to be hurting tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Lando muttered. She walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Staring at herself in the mirror, Lando blinked back tears as they threatened to overtake her. What was she supposed to do with herself? She was too much of a mess to be doing this.
The pills in her hand were warm, small, and white. Just like she remembered them being. As if on cue, the pain in her arm radiated into her chest, tightening all her muscles. It took more effort than she dared to admit to turn to the toilet and drop them into the bowl. Hitting the handle, Lando watched them spin down the drain and disappear. She’d have to do that with the rest of them later, when Diane and Violet weren’t watching her like a hawk. Drinking the water, Lando squared her shoulders and walked back out to the bedroom.
Diane still had that pitying expression on her face, her lips pouted slightly, her eyes trailing all over Lando’s body. Violet couldn’t even be bothered to look up. If she wasn’t still sitting on Lando’s bed, Lando would turn over on her side and go to sleep. The tension in the room was clear as she sat down and tried to look as though she wasn’t hurting as much as she was. It was going to be the longest night of her life.
CHAPTER6
Violet stayedon the bed with Lando until Diane stopped fawning all over the poor girl and left. As soon as Diane was out of the room, Lando seemed to relax and settle. It had taken her another thirty minutes to shift everything to her own bed, and by the time an hour had passed, Lando was asleep. Violet left her alone.
It wasn’t every day they experienced a near-death situation before eight in the morning. She was sure Lando was exhausted. Violet reveled in the quiet. Diane sent her a few text messages, but she ignored them as she worked through the data on her computer and followed a few small storms nearby. Unless there was a good one coming, they’d stay in for the rest of the day.
By morning, Violet ached in places she hadn’t since the last chasing season. Climbing the fence so quickly to get to Lando and pull her back had not been ideal. Her thighs hurt the most, then her back. Sleeping on a hard-as-rock hotel bed wasn’t helping her any either. Groaning, Violet turned onto her back and stretched each one of her muscles as she went. She missed her morning yoga, but there was no space or time for it in the middle of the season.
Sun streamed in from outside, lighting Lando’s delicate features. She was so damn young. Violet had to keep reminding herself of that. Wet around the ears and inexperienced when it came to chasing. She should have gone with her in the first place, made sure she was safe from when she left the vehicle to when she came back. Guilt filled her belly, and she knew she was going to have to make it up to Lando somehow.
Lando groaning caught her attention. Violet shifted, lifting up on her elbow to see her former student rustling in the covers. Curious, Violet got out of the bed and stepped around to the other side. Lando had her face scrunched in pain. Violet’s heart raced, and she shook Lando’s shoulder slightly.
“Lando, wake up. I’ll get you some more pills.”
