Lib Novel Page 23
Rosa brings me lunch, but it’s hard for me to eat. I feel endlessly thirsty, like all the water was sucked from my body, but drinking makes me nauseous. Maisie keeps cycling through the I.V. drips, trying to hydrate me again.
“I’m here as your best friend,” Rosa says, her eyes tracking the I.V. as it snakes into my arm. “But as a biochemist, I’m very interested in the curse’s effects on your body.”
“That’s great, Rosie,” I mutter, “you know what I’m very interested in?”
“Finding the guy who cursed you,” she says, at the same time as I say, “finding the guy who cursed me.”
“Right,” she laughs, shaking her head and leaning forward. “Yeah, you may have mentioned that a time or two.”
Despite the anger and frustration rolling around inside my body, I laugh.
“Yeah,” I say, playing with my fingers. “Well, I get how you felt, now, the day Bigby came for us.”
“That sucked,” she says, nodding, “but things turned out okay. Maybe that will help you feel better about your situation?”
“I’m going to cut the guy’s fucking balls off,” I hiss, and when the monitor starts to beep, I force myself to take a few deep breaths.
“Good afternoon,” someone says, walking into the room, and we look up to see Veronica, who has a huge smile on her face. She’s been studying to become a certified paranormal doctor, which should help ease some of the stress from Maisie’s shoulders.
“Hi,” I say, “any chance you can make this all go away? So I can review the footage?”
“Oh, yeah,” she says, snapping on a pair of gloves. “No, probably not. But I saw the footage—that wig you were wearing almost made you look like me.”
“I don’t see it,” I laugh, “but that’s what Percy was saying.”
“What was I saying?” Percy asks, popping into the room, and Veronica groans, though she smiles when their eyes meet.
“I told you I’m fine,” she says, glancing down at her body. “I’m barely even showing.”
“You were puking your guts out last night,” Percy says, pointing at her, then taking a seat on the doctor’s stool. He pushes off, rolling from one end of the room to the other. “That’s not fine.”
“That’s completely normal for a pregnancy,” she mutters, but I know they’re worried. I’ve seen the looks pass between them, the knowledge that this pregnancy could kill her.
When Veronica completes her exam, she’s shaking her head.
“Maisie is right,” she says, biting her lip and gesturing for Percy to stand. He does immediately, giving her the stool and placing his hands on her shoulders. “You need to stay in bed until your blood pressure evens out. I’m guessing it’s due to the shock—I can’t find any reason why you’d be dehydrated. If it persists tomorrow, we should do a few scans and tests to ensure there’s no internal bleeding we’re unaware of.”
“Right,” I mutter, trying not to cry. The last thing I want is to still be here until tomorrow.
“Linnea said she would come bring you something for dinner,” Maisie says, coming into the room with another I.V. bag. I smile weakly, but not even the idea of her cooking improves my mood.
Linnea comes, like she said she would, bringing my favorite stew. I can only eat a few bites, and then she leaves, patting me on the head and saying she knows things will improve. An hour later, I’m still in the hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling, wishing I could just see the footage.
If I could just get a look at the guy, I’d be able to crack the thing wide open.
“Fuck it,” I mutter, when another hour ticks past. If they won’t send the footage to me, I’m going to it.
Chapter 9 – Byron
At first, I think I’m imagining the banging on the front door, then I pull a headphone away from my ear and realize it is very real, and it’s only getting louder.
Who would come to the door? Aris knows I’m awake, so he would use the pack mind link if he needed me. So would anyone else on the team. I swallow and set my controller down on the desk, pushing the chair away.
I know who it is, on the other side of the door, and my body immediately becomes a war zone; one part of me wants to throw the door open, get my hands on her, touch her, ensure she’s okay—the other part of me knowing that’s the worst thing I could do.
Doing any of that would just open us up to a relationship, and I know I can’t do it. I can’t be with her, give into what we want, because one day she will bring up having kids, and I will have to break her heart again. I’d have to live out the rest of my life knowing I’m the wrong person for her, and watching how my shortcomings hurt her every day.
“Byron!” Olivia shouts, and I jump, “open this fucking door!”