41. Artemis
41 ARTEMIS
I gave in.
I climbed up into bed with Reese, weariness pulling at me, and I think I fell asleep.
I must’ve, because getting comfortable is the last thing I remember, and now a nurse is shaking me awake.
“Sorry,” I mumble to her.
It’s midday. Not an acceptable time to sleep.
She apologizes, then explains about needing to take him for another test. A scan that will take a while.
She holds out a voucher for the cafeteria, which I accept carefully.
I tuck the piece of paper into my front pocket and hop off the bed.
While she and another orderly prepare Reese to move, I duck into the bathroom.
I brush my teeth and hair—well, I try to for the latter one, although it’s so tangled and in need of a wash that I settle for good enough .
I braid it, then change my clothes.
Kade gave me one of his sweatshirts.
A pair of jeans from my closet at the Bow & Arrow apartment, fresh underwear, and a soft t-shirt.
I clutch them to my chest, because only Antonio would’ve gone in and picked out these clothes.
He knows me best, after all.
Once changed, I unplug my phone from the charger and call him.
“Hey, kiddo,” Antonio answers.
“How are you holding up?”
I release a slow breath.
“Managing the guilt.”
He tsks.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Feels like it is.” I stand at the window.
“I’m to blame for Gabriel.”
“Saint said you’re on shift,” Antonio says.
“When one of them relieves you, come to my house. Vittoria and I will take care of that guilt.”
My eyes burn.
I blink rapidly, trying not to fucking cry like a baby, but all the other telltale signs tumble after each other.
My throat closes, my chest tightens.
Tears fill my eyes.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“I’ve got to go.”
I wipe the tears away and hang up.
The room is a lot emptier without Reese’s bed—and the man, himself—in it.
It’s unsettling.
Maybe I should try to eat something…
“Hey.” Kade pops his head into the room.
His brows furrow. “Where’s Reese?”
“A scan.” I push myself out of the chair.
“I’m heading to the cafeteria, if you want to join me.”
He moves out of my way, allowing me to exit first, and follows me down the hall.
I glance over my shoulder at him.
“Thought I told you to watch Saint.”
“He said something about sleeping,” Kade answers.
“And I figured it might be hard being here all alone.”
That’s true.
The vibe in the cafeteria is…
depressing. We glance around, and my panic climbs.
There are people here, all eating in fucking silence.
It’s more like a funeral home than a hospital down here, and it doesn’t help that the cafeteria is located in the basement.
I use the voucher to get two sandwiches—one for him, one for me—and two bottled drinks.
Instead of choosing a seat, though, Kade tips his head toward the door.
“Let’s eat outside on one of the benches.”
“Sure,” I agree.
He picks one. I don’t even care, really.
Now that I have food in my hand, I realize how hungry I am.
I dig into one of the sandwiches, and we eat in silence.
Kade exhales. “I don’t think they’re going to be able to wake him up.”
I frown.
“What?”
“I think he’s too smart for that.”
“What are you saying, Kade?”
He glances at me.
He’s barely touched his sandwich.
It sits beside him on the bench.
“I think Gabriel wouldn’t allow him to just wake up.”
I scoff.
“He’s not God.”
“No, he’s not,” he agrees.
A vehicle turns down the street, trundling toward us, and I draw my legs up to my chest. Not that I particularly care about strangers witnessing the hot mess that is me right now, I just…
well, okay, fine. Even though I feel relatively put together with the fresh clothes, I’m still exhausted.
That nap on Reese’s bed only seemed to make me more tired.
But curling up next to him…
Why is Kade being negative all of a sudden?
The doctors said Reese will wake up as soon as whatever he was injected with gets out of his system.
Their drugs reacted negatively, but they said brain activity was okay.
“Artemis.”
I meet Kade’s gaze.
He holds out his hand, and I automatically put mine in it.
His whole hand engulfs mine, warm and dry and calloused.
I smile at him, trying to reassure him without words that things will be okay.
“I’m sorry.”
“For being negative?”
He frowns.
“For choosing Reese.”
My gaze drops to the syringe in his free hand.
With mine caught in his grip, he quickly tugs me forward and stabs it into my upper arm.
Straight through the sweatshirt—his sweatshirt—and t-shirt, into my muscle.
“What the fuck?” I jerk back and kick out.
My heel connects with his thigh.
The movement puts me off-balance, and I topple off the bench.
Fuck.
Ouch.
Little rocks bite into my palms. I push myself up and glare at him.
“Seriously, Kade, what the fuck?”
For choosing Reese ?
What does that even mean?
Why would he feel the need to pick?
I didn’t know there was such a choice to be made.
Him or me. Who knew?
Kade rises and advances.
“Just take it easy. You’re going to feel light-headed in a second.”
I scowl.
“Fuck off.”
I turn and head back to the hospital.
But it only takes a few steps for my feet to be numb.
Somehow, I retain my balance, stay upright, until I lose more feeling.
My head swims.
He catches me from behind and scoops me into his arms. “I’m sorry.”
I blink at him, but even that is slow.
I lose seconds while my eyes are shut, and suddenly I’m being put into the backseat of a car.
“I’m sorry,” he says again.
“It’ll all be over soon.”
The door slams.
“A little something to make her more compliant,” a long-dead woman whispers in my ear.
Flashes of vulnerability swarm my memory.
As much as I try to think of anything else, everything comes back around to Terror.
And my helplessness.
Finally, that light-headedness overtakes me.
I close my eyes, and they stay closed.
I don’t know who’s driving the car, if it’s Kade or someone else—and I don’t want to know. Not like this.