Chapter 46
THE CREATURE
Idid not pay attention to the nurse at the front desk as I flung the front doors open.
“Sir!” she shouted, but I was already halfway up the stairs.
I shoved open the doors one by one, letting them slap on their hinges and wail on the returning swing.
Phoebe and Edith were huddled by a bed, quietly bickering with each other. I did not bother to listen, as this was no time for chatter.
As I got closer, the image before me truly sickened me. A trembling returned to my hands, similar to the time I witnessed her seizure—except this time it was true horror. An uncontrollable, knee-jerk reaction. It shook me, and I wouldn’t pretend it didn’t.
Alina was too pale, almost ashen in complexion.
There was barely any pink left in her lips and cheeks, and a subtle redness around her eyes.
Her hand was wrapped up in gauze, but blood was already peeking through.
Similarly, her calf was wrapped in fabric, and small bits of red were staining the flimsy patient cottons.
“Are you both going to be so useless? These bandages need changing. She will get an infection if you keep being so neglectful!” I snapped at them.
Edith and Phoebe both looked horrified when they saw me.
It may have been because I yelled at them or because they told Luka not to tell me that they found her.
What did they think would happen? That I wouldn’t notice that she wasn’t home?
She told me she would return and neglected to do so.
I had hunted her for two years; another day was light work.
“Alina?” I slid a stool over to her bedside.
“She has been sleeping for the past five hours.” Edith gulped, picking at her nails in distraction.
“What happened?”
“A corrupted attack. She fended him off with half a glass bottle,” Phoebe said. “Edith found her.”
“You didn’t think to tell me?”
“You would overreact, as you are now. We already risked enough attention bringing her in. It was closer than the tenement.”
“Grab fresh bandages.” I snapped my fingers at Edith and pointed toward the cabinets.
“You need to calm down.”
“Did you check for frostbite? Concussion?”
“Silas.”
“When was the last time she had water? She looks dehydrated.”
“Silas!” Phoebe shouted. “Stop nagging me, you useless fool! Your carelessness will nearly kill her a second time!”
She reached over the hospital bed to crack a hard slap across my face, nearly giving my neck a good lash.
I clenched my jaw and slowly looked back at her.
“Calm. Down.” Phoebe spoke in warning.
“How can I be calm? How are you calm?” I scoffed.
“She is going to be fine.” Phoebe pulled a seat up to sit next to Alina on the opposite side. “You are angry at the wrong thing.”
I glared at her before picking up Alina’s hand. The coldness of her fingertips was one of my favorite sensations, but not like this. It was like I was holding plain ice. The blood was turning the gauze red with a halo of pink staining at the edges as it crawled through the fibers.
Phoebe was right; I was angry at the wrong thing. I needed to focus on cutting down every hand that touched her. I didn’t care if Alina hated me for intervening on her behalf, but I couldn’t allow things like this to continue happening.
“Luka thinks there is a colony of Vipera outside Buffalo causing this,” Phoebe said. “Alina was planning to pay a visit.”
“She’s not going.”
“She will find a way to go if you don’t let her.”
“Fine, then I will go with her.”
She opened her mouth to say something else, but for her sake, I was glad she didn’t. The muscle in my jaw twitched from how hard I was clenching my teeth together. The hospital was making my skin crawl. Everything was so white and sterile. The windows barely kept out any of the chill.
“This is no place for her. Where are her clothes?” I huffed, standing and looking under the bed and around the vicinity, slapping the curtain away.
Edith returned finally with the gauze and extra linens. “It isn’t a good idea to move her—”
“I do not care; she is coming home. She needs more blankets and rest, and food that doesn’t look like rations.” I gave up on finding her clothes and took off my trench coat, wrapping it around her and buttoning the front over the hospital gown.
“Silas, you are acting irrationally,” Phoebe started.
I didn’t care to hear the rest. I scooped Alina carefully into my arms, cradling her against my chest as I made for the door.
It appeared no one was competent enough to at least check on her. It was about time I took over anyway. She wasn’t leaving my sight. Ever.