Chapter 28 #2
“You’re fine,” he says again, a touch more firmly this time, as he unceremoniously shoves me the rest of the way in and slams the door shut behind me.
I hear him take a deep breath.
When he finally slides into the seat beside me, I glance over and mutter, “Optimism, huh?”
He doesn’t reply, only quirks a brow and turns toward the driver. “Prenez-nous à l’h?pital, s’il vous pla?t,” he says.
My head whips toward him so fast my already abused skull screams in agony. “How many languages do you speak?”
Kai flicks his gaze to me, smooth, faintly amused. “A few.”
I shift, irritation prickling at my skin despite myself. He’s infuriating—and yet a small part of me can’t help but be intrigued.
Against my better judgment, I ask, “How many?”
He leans back, settling into the leather with a kind of practiced ease, his arm draped casually against the door. He doesn’t even look at me when he answers. “Five. Not including English.”
My jaw actually drops. Five. Five languages. That’s ridiculous. And impressive. But mostly ridiculous.
“Which ones?” I ask before I can stop myself.
He doesn’t answer immediately. For a few seconds, he just stares out the window. Then, finally, he turns to me. Slowly.
“You really want to know?”
I internally scoff. Not if he’s going to respond like that.
He watches me for another beat, probably waiting for me to admit that I’m actually dying to know. I don’t give him the satisfaction.
And yet—after another stretch of silence—he finally says, “French, Russian, German, Hebrew, Latin.”
I blink.
Woah.
He just called me stupid in fifty different languages. Five, to be exact.
I don’t even say anything to that. Nothing to boost his already Everest-sized ego. Instead, I just turn back toward the front.
But when I glance at Kai again—he’s already looking at me.
“Did Naomi push you down the stairs?”
For a second, I freeze. How did he—? But then again, it’s Kai. The guy could probably walk into a crime scene and solve it before the police even arrived.
Still, the fact that he figured it out so fast makes my stomach turn.
“Yeah,” I say slowly, meeting his gaze.
Kai doesn’t look away. Doesn’t even blink. “You’re not staying there.”
I don’t answer.
He notices.
Kai tilts his head slightly, something calculating flashing in his eyes. Then he says, “You care a lot about what other people think of you, don’t you?”
I force my expression into something neutral. “So what?”
Kai doesn’t say anything for a few moments. He just leans back, getting comfortable again, propping his head in his palm that rests against the side of the car. When he finally speaks, his voice is calm. Almost lazy.
“Does that make your life yours, or theirs?”
I hate how my brain immediately latches onto the question.
I hate even more that I don’t have an answer.
***
By the time we pull up to the hospital, I’m more than ready to get this over with. But before I can even attempt to move, Kai turns to me. “Wait there.”
Then he opens the door and steps out, walking around the car at a pace so deliberate it almost feels intentional. He’s not slow, exactly—but it’s measured. So in other words… slow.
By the time he gets to my side, he opens the door, turns, and—kneels.
Again.
I blink.
That will never not be weird.
Kai doesn’t react to my hesitation. He just waits. Expectantly.
I awkwardly shift forward, this time actually making an effort to do this properly. No weird flailing. No concussing either of us. My arms loop around his shoulders, and I push off with my good leg as he pulls me up.
Okay. This isn’t awful.
Kai doesn’t comment on how much smoother that was, and I don’t thank him for making this even slightly less humiliating.
The inside of the hospital is crowded.
People in line, people in chairs, people in scrubs, people everywhere. It takes me a second to take it all in, to realize how long this is going to take.
Kai doesn’t hesitate. He sets me down in an empty chair near the entrance, his grip firm. Then he straightens, looks down at me, and—
“Stay.”
I narrow my eyes. “I’m not a dog.”
He just gives me a look. Then, without another word, he turns and heads to the front desk.
I sigh, shifting in my seat. Where exactly does he think I’d go? I can barely stand, let alone launch a great escape.
I exhale sharply, crossing my arms as I scan the room.
This is going to take forever.
With nothing else to do, I let my gaze wander to the front desk, watching as Kai speaks to the receptionist. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but his posture is relaxed, almost casual. One hand in his pocket, the other gesturing slightly as he speaks.
I tilt my head.
How have I only just realized how good he looks from behind?
I immediately shut those thoughts down.
Nope. Absolutely not.
I shift in my chair, crossing my arms tighter. I am not entertaining that train of thought.
Instead, I focus on getting comfortable, adjusting until I find a position that doesn’t make my entire body ache. My eyelids feel heavy, and I feel the exhaustion finally settling in. At least one good thing came from this.
A nap.
And then I see… someone.
I stiffen.
Liam?
I don’t move. I just watch.
Liam walks out of a hallway marked PCU, his head down, a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. His posture is tense, off, looking like he’s deep in thought. But before I can get a good look at his expression, he turns—walking in the opposite direction.
My stomach twists. Why would he be here?
Is he sick? Hurt? Is someone he knows unwell?
I don’t know much about hospitals, so I have no idea what a PCU even is. But something about this feels wrong. Off. I should call him. Say something. Ask.
I open my mouth—
But Kai, the wall, steps in the way right when I’m about to. Suddenly, he’s just there, standing in front of me, effectively blocking my entire view. My head jerks up, eyes still wide from what I just saw.
Kai, however, looks annoyingly unfazed. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I just saw Liam,” I blurt, still craning my neck to see around him. No luck. He’s literally a human barricade.
Kai doesn’t react at first. Just stares. “Liam?”
“Yes, Liam,” I say impatiently, trying to shift in my seat for a better look. No sign of him anymore. “He just walked out of that hallway over there, holding some piece of paper. He looked… I don’t know. Weird?”
Kai exhales, tipping his head back slightly, before he gives me a kind of forced smile. “And you’re certain of that?”
I frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re sure you saw him?”
“Yes, I—” I cut myself off, eyes narrowing. “Wait. Do you think I—”
“Maybe,” he says before I even finish the sentence.
Oh my god.
“You seriously think I hallucinated it?”
He doesn’t deny it. Which, honestly, is so on-brand for him.
“I mean,” he gestures vaguely to me, “head injury. Blood loss. It’s not the craziest theory.”
I gape. “It’s also not the correct one!”
Kai doesn’t look convinced. He just lifts a brow, arms crossing, already deciding I imagined the whole thing. “Right. Because Liam has so many reasons to be lurking around a hospital on a random Friday afternoon.”
I’m about to say something, but I shut myself up because he makes a fair point.
Maybe I actually did imagine it? It’s not entirely out of character for me.
Kai straightens, tone shifting. “Up you get. We’re getting you checked.”
I blink at him. Confused.
“Wait. How did you manage to get us a slot so quickly?”
Kai just shrugs, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I told them my name.”
I stare at him. Waiting for the rest of that sentence.
Nothing comes.
“That’s it?”
Kai finally glances at me, his lips curving into the faintest smirk. “That’s it.”
I sigh, shifting slightly as pain protrudes up my leg. “Right, I forgot who you are for a second.”
Before I can question him further, he nods toward the hallway. “Come on.”
I huff, adjusting my weight. “I swear, if you kneel again—”
Kai just raises an eyebrow and points to the wheelchair next to him like it’s the most obvious solution in the world.
Oh, I didn’t even see that.
I let out a breath. “Oh. Right.”
Without waiting for a response, Kai reaches for my arm, gripping it firmly as he helps me lower into the chair. I’m barely in my seat before he’s already grabbing the handles and pushing.
Which is slightly terrifying.
I adjust slightly, shifting my leg into a more comfortable position. “This is–”
Kai doesn’t stop walking. “Would you rather crawl?”
I scowl, crossing my arms. “I wasn’t going to complain.”
He scoffs. “Really?”
I’m about to respond, but we pass a small group of girls in the hallway. College-age, maybe. Two of them nudge each other, whispering behind barely concealed smirks.
Undoubtedly checking Kai out.
And his face is pretty much fully covered.
How is that even possible?
One of them brushes her hair over her shoulder, casually glancing back at him even after they’ve passed. Subtle.
Kai, for his part, seems utterly unbothered. Probably used to it. He doesn’t react, doesn’t glance at them, doesn’t do anything but walk—like he barely registers the attention.
I roll my eyes as we finally reach the door to the exam room.
***
The room is cold, bright, and clean.
Kai doesn’t sit beside me. He drops into a chair in the corner instead, head leant back, expression unreadable. Just watching.
I don’t know why that makes me more nervous.
A doctor—mid-forties, slightly balding, with a serious face—steps in, flipping through his clipboard.
“Can you explain what happened?” he asks, glancing up at me.
I hesitate.
Kai doesn’t.
“She was pushed down a flight of stairs,” he says.
The doctor raises his brows, looking back at me for confirmation.
I clear my throat. “Uh. Yeah.”
His lips press into a thin line, but he nods, professional. “Any loss of consciousness?”
I shake my head.
“Severe dizziness? Blurred vision?”
“A little,” I admit.
He hums, scribbling something down. “And the leg?”