Chapter 32 #2
The slow creak of the hinges resonated around us, my heart beating wildly. Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go in. Not knowing what waited for me inside that room was eating away my courage little by little. The grim looks on Onyx’s and Granite’s faces didn’t help either. I was scared.
And in that moment, I sought a little encouragement, and without thinking, I turned to look at Granite, searching for my strength in his face, his eyes. And when our gazes locked, I could see he didn’t want me to go in there either. He didn’t want me to do this. Then why was he allowing it?
Onyx tugged at my hand, urging me to walk, so I turned away from Granite, my eyes downcast as I took one step in front of the other. My feet stopped at the entrance, and I hesitated for a second.
Whatever you think you’re about to see, it’s far worse.
A shudder moved from my shoulders down my spine. But I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath in a bid to prepare me for what I was about to see.
As I stepped into the room and opened my eyes, I saw Ink standing beside a bed with the frame of someone tucked underneath the sheets, back turned toward me.
A man I didn’t recognize stood to the side, wearing a stethoscope around his neck, busy arranging medical equipment on a tray. He looked up at me, his expression as grim as the rest.
The sharp smell of surgical antiseptic assaulted my senses, and the familiar sound of a beeping heart monitor resounded in the room. It was every bit like a hospital, but it wasn’t.
Ink bent down, whispering something, and the sheets moved. I held my breath as I slowly followed Onyx, rounding the bed.
I glanced up at Granite, who was now standing in the door, worried eyes set on me. A part of me wanted him to stand beside me. I wanted him to be the one to hold my hand, to carry me through whatever this was. But he kept his distance while he never took his eyes off me.
Ink stood to the side, making way for me, and when I glanced down, I saw her.
Neon.
“Oh, my God.” It was her. It was really her. It was really, really her.
“Neon?” I moved closer, but dear God, Onyx was right. I couldn’t have pictured the sight in front of me.
I gasped. “Neon?” The part of her face that wasn’t wrapped with bandages was a grotesque blue-black frame of bruises. Round, open sores with what looked like burnt flesh covered her cheek, all the way down her neck. “Jesus. Neon?”
Her one eye opened, swollen and bruised, while the other was covered with bandages. “Hey, Swan Lake.” Her voice was soft, like she was exhausted.
I placed my hand in front of my mouth. “Neon?”
“Yeah. I don’t look exactly myself, do I?”
“Oh, my God.” It was all I could say before I rushed to her side, my hands hovering over her, shaking, wanting to touch her, but not sure where. “It’s really you?”
“Yup.” She moved, then cringed, and the movement of her hand caught my eye. Bandages stained with blood were wrapped around her fingers, and it was obvious one was missing.
“Jesus.” I snapped my gaze to Granite. “What the hell did they do to her?”
He didn’t say a word. All he did was stand there, watching me while I soaked up the horror of the sight in front of me.
Neon’s small frame was covered in white sheets, and I hardly recognized her. A catheter bag hung from the side of the bed, halfway filled with urine. Suddenly, I wanted to search every part of her body to see every wound. I wanted to know exactly what the hell happened to her.
“Neon, what did they do to you?”
She tried to move but groaned, and Ink almost knocked me out of the way to help her. Gently, he removed the sheet as he helped her ease up a bit on her pillow. Her right arm was wrapped in a cast from shoulder to wrist, bent at the elbow.
“Jesus Christ. Neon?”
“It’s okay, Swan Lake. They didn’t do anything I couldn’t handle.” Her voice quivered, and I knew she was trying to be brave, but failed miserably.
She groaned out in pain as Ink tried to help her move.
I rushed around the bed to the other side. “She needs to lay on her back with that arm in a cast.” I reached out to help when Ink grabbed my hand.
“Stop.”
“What? I want to help.”
His pained expression almost slammed me to the ground. “She can’t lie on her back, Alyx.”
“What? Why?” I glanced down at her, and that was when I saw the bandages on her back. “What is this?”
Onyx stepped in next to me. “She has third-degree burns on her back, Alyx.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“They burned—”
“Onyx, no,” Neon snapped, her voice soft yet stern. “Shut the fuck up, would you?”
I cut my gaze from Onyx to Ink. “Will someone tell me what the fuck those monsters did to her?”
“Swan Lake, stop.” Neon’s voice was almost a whisper. “It’s not important.”
I rounded the bed again, wanting to see her face. “What do you mean, it’s not important? Jesus, Neon.”
Her eye closed for a few seconds and opened again. “I’m fine. Doc, here, is working his magic. The shit he’s giving me ain’t making me feel a thing. I’m okay.”
“No,” I shook my head, “you’re not okay. You’re far from okay.”
“I’m alive. So that means I’m okay.”
I looked back up at the door, but Granite was gone. He left, and I had no clue when.
The doctor injected something into her IV which stood on the other side of the bed, and in that moment it was like all the grief and pain I’d felt ever since I was told she was dead came rushing back, and I closed my eyes as tears rushed down my cheeks.
“Don’t cry, Swan Lake. I’ll be fit as fuck in no time.”
A laugh mixed through my sobs. It was typical Neon, trying to play down the seriousness of what had happened to her.
“I’m so sorry, Neon. I’m so sorry they did this to you.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“But it is. It is my fault. It’s because of me that they hurt you.”
“No.” She tried to shake her head but cringed instead. “It’s not your fault.”
I started to sob, the skin on my cheeks feeling raw from wiping it with the back of my hand. “If Granite had just given me—”
“Stop, Alyx.”
Her using my real name made me swallow my words.
“Stop, would you? It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault.”
I bit into my lip so hard I tasted the blood. “If he had just given me up—”
“It wouldn’t have changed a thing.”
“How can you say that? If he wasn’t such a selfish bastard—”
“Stop!” Neon coughed and winced from the pain.
Ink stepped up. “That’s enough. She needs to rest.” He grabbed my shoulders to get me to move, but I pushed back.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Yeah, you are. You’re upsetting her.”
I noticed the tattoos covering his entire neck. Red roses with thorns stretched along his throat, and two crosses ran down the edges of his face where the sides of his beard should have been. Clearly, this man had no problem with needles. His glare burned holes in my forehead.
“Please,” I begged.
“Leave.” His grip on my shoulders tightened, and then from out of nowhere, Granite came storming into the room, his heavy footsteps echoing around us.
“Let go of her.”
Ink didn’t look his way. “She needs to leave.”
“I said let go of her.” Granite grabbed Ink’s hands and ripped them away from my shoulders, forcing his way between me and Ink. “Touch her again, and I will end you.”
The dark atmosphere was palpable as Granite and Ink continued to glare at each other.
Ink didn’t back down, not even an inch. And neither did Granite.
It was like two gods standing tall, ready to obliterate each other.
Menace oozed from Granite’s pores, while Ink made it obvious he wouldn’t stop protecting what was his. And, clearly, Neon was his.
“Ink, back down, would ya?” Neon murmured. “Wait at least until I’m able to watch you kill each other with both eyes.”
Ink’s shoulders remained squared. “Your girl is upsetting mine,” he said to Granite, and Neon snorted.
“What-fucking-ever, man. I’m not your girl.”
“Neon, we spoke about this.”
“Bullshit. You spoke about it. I’m not your girl.”
Ink cut his gaze from Granite down to her. “Stop fighting it, Neon. Just admit you’ve wanted me ever since you first laid eyes on me.”
“Fuck you. I wouldn’t want your dick even if it was the last one on Earth.”
“You’re not fooling anyone, Neon.” Ink turned to face her. “I’ve featured in every wet dream you’ve ever had.”
Neon attempted to laugh and closed her eye. “Sorry, dude. I’ve never had a wet dream about a walking STD.”
Onyx was first to laugh before everyone else erupted in laughter. Even me. It was truly her. Not even pain and torture could stop her sense of humor. But as I laughed, tears joined, and my laughter slowly turned into soft cries.
“Ink, move your ass back so Swan Lake can move up.”
Ink glanced from her, to me, to Granite—then back to her as he slowly stepped back. “There you go.” Neon smiled. “Now, sit in the corner like the good little watchdog you are.”
Ink shot her a cocky grin. “The only dog you’ll get from me is with you bent forward, sweet cheeks.”
“Gross.”
I let out another chuckle and moved closer. “Neon—”
“It’s okay, Swan Lake. I’m fine. You, on the other hand,” she took a breath and closed her eye briefly, “you look like shit.” Her words came out with shallow breaths. She was exhausted. “Let me guess, you’re on another hunger strike?”
I didn’t say anything. I simply stood there, still trying to accept the fact that she was alive and breathing. It was really her.
“Do me a favor, would ya? Don’t hate the boss man.”
“What do you mean?”
She closed her eye and took a breath. “I made Granite promise me he wouldn’t tell you.”
“What? Why?” I leaned with my elbow on the bed, lightly touching her arm with my fingers.
She smiled half-heartedly. “You’re too fragile for this world, Swan Lake. You were already tearing at the seams. I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
“Neon—”
“I’m serious, Alyx. Believe me, if I had my way, you wouldn’t be here right now. But these assholes overruled me.” She rolled her eyes. “Plus, Onyx told me you weren’t eating, so I figured I’d let Granite off the hook and tell you.”