THIRTY THREE
T he drugs in her system took hold of her still foggy mind, and in the quietness of the hospital room, Poison drifted off to sleep.
From the darkness, she fell into a sprint within her dream, heart hammering against her ribcage as fear fueled her every step. Behind her, two daunting figures closed in, their presence ominous in the desolate expanse of the abandoned factory.
With dread pulsing through her veins, she refused to glance back, the sheer force of her anxiety propelling her forward. The decrepit surroundings blurred past her
as she raced through rusting rails and crumbling concrete, the echo of her frantic footfalls mingling with the thunderous rhythm of her pounding heart.
She vaulted over a railing, landing on the lower floor with a thud, when one of her pursuers leaped from a balcony, swiftly meeting with her on the ground. Meanwhile, the other took a different route, separated only by a wall of shattered windows.
Through the broken glass, Poison locked eyes with her chaser for the first time, a surge of recognition and dread flooding her senses. It was Scorpion, his gaze brimming with animosity and determination as he closed the distance between them with relentless speed. With each step he took, her terror intensified, knowing that escape was dwindling with every passing moment.
Through the windowless panes, she glimpsed Scorpion’s path, leading to a dead end. Relief fluttered within her for a fleeting moment, only to be shattered when he defied the confines of the room. With determination etched across his features, he propelled himself through the glass, shards scattering like malevolent confetti.
In a blink of an eye, he landed before her, a sinister grin curling his lips. A tremor of fear rippled through her as she instinctively recoiled, her heart pounding against her ribs like a caged beast. Evading his reach, she darted through the nearest door, the other pursuer on her heels.
Adrenaline surged through her veins as she navigated the narrow corridor, the thunderous echo of footsteps reverberating behind her. Panic clawed at her chest, tightening its grip. The hallway narrowed to a single door, her last hope of escape.
With trembling hands, she seized the doorknob, her breath hitching in her throat as she prayed for rescue. To her immense relief, the door yielded, swinging open to reveal a dangerous drop beyond, jagged rocks looming below. A gasp escaped her lips as she staggered backward, her stomach lurching with dread.
Her sanctuary shattered, she spun around to find her pursuers emerging onto the balcony, their menacing presence casting a shadow over her deteriorating hope for escape.
Shock replaced fear momentarily as her vision blurred, two figures merging into one haunting mirage. Two Scorpions loomed before her, their presence suffocating her senses.
As they halted a breath’s distance away, she scrutinized them with growing unease. The one on the right, slightly shorter but no less imposing, bore a military buzz cut, a stark departure from the familiar tousled locks of the Scorpion she knew.
Recognition dawned like a thunderclap in Her mind.
Rex.
The realization struck her with the force of a sledgehammer, stealing her breath. Before she could comprehend the situation fully, Scorpion advanced, his hands seizing her shoulders with a vice-like grip. A surge of panic flooded her as she teetered on the edge of oblivion.
In the fleeting moments before she plummeted, Poison’s gaze locked with Rex’s, confusion mingling with disbelief. With an outstretched hand, he tried to catch her before she tumbled over the edge.
Why would he reach out to her now as she hurtled toward the abyss? Why chase her just to try and save her from going over the edge? The questions swirled through her mind, unanswered, as darkness enveloped her, and she woke up with a jolt.
Cold sweat beaded her brows as she tried to force her sore body to sit upright. Confusion enveloped her, and she blinked rapidly to force her eyes to focus, disoriented by her surroundings. Blinking against the dim light, she found herself engulfed in a sea of darkness. Was this the afterlife, the void she’d plummeted into?
Slowly, reality seeped back in, dispelling the remnants of her dream. The sterile whiteness of the hospital room replaced the haunting expanse of her nightmare. With a shuddering breath, she realized that the factory scene had been nothing more than a figment of her imagination, a twisted illusion conjured by her subconscious.
Relief washed over her like a gentle tide, grounding her once more in the realm of the living. Yet, the memory
of the fall lingered, a ghostly shadow haunting her thoughts even in the safety of her hospital bed.
Movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention to Scorpion leaning in the armchair on the other side of the room.
“Hi,” she mumbled, her voice groggy, and she swallowed against the dryness in her throat. “You should be home, sleeping. What time is it?”
“It’s about four in the morning, Beautiful,” a voice answered, but it wasn’t Scorpion’s.
Her blood ran cold as Reaper leaned forward in his seat. Ghosts of the bruises she had given him turned his skin a sickening yellowish-green color as he moved into the dim light filtering through the window.
Her head snapped to the door, and she sucked in a deep breath to call for a nurse, but the sound of a pistol’s hammer being cocked, made all the air in her lungs leave her body.
“Don’t even think about it,” Reaper hissed. “Call for anyone, and I will pull the trigger.”
“You won’t,” she countered. “It’s too public. You will get caught.”
Getting up from his seat, Reaper dug a hand into his pocket and retrieved a cylindrical object. As he moved into the light, Poison watched in horror as he screwed a suppressor onto the barrel of his pistol. She knew that even if someone were standing right outside the door, they wouldn’t blink an eye at the soft pop the pistol would make if he had to pull the trigger.
“You’d better leave,” she tried scaring him off. “Scorpion will be here any second now.”
Tilting his head, he gave a slow smile as he admired the craftsmanship of his firearm.
“Really now?” he purred. “And here I thought he said first thing in the morning? I thought I’d still have about two hours.”
“What do you want?” she spat, venom lacing every word.
“Can’t I just visit an old friend in the hospital?” he asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed, and her skin started to crawl.
“We haven’t been friends for a very long time, Rogan. So I’ll ask again, what do you want?”
She tried looking for the emergency nurse button, but it lay to her left, and the cast on her arm rendered it impossible to reach.
Reaper stood and walked over to the window, staring at the streetlamps below, his hands behind his back, the pistol pointing to the floor. He took so long to reply that she tried to reach over to the call button, but as she started to move, he spun around and charged toward her.
Slamming his palms onto the bed, the suppressor rammed into her hip, and she bit back a whimper.
“How can you stay with him after what he had done to you? Look at you! You nearly died!” he thundered, grabbing her chin in a painful grip on her injured jaw.
She spat in his face, and the unexpected act made him step back.
Putting pressure on her injured jaw, she glared at him.
“He never betrayed me!” she hissed, but he wasn’t paying attention.
With his thumb, he wiped the spit from his cheek, and she watched in horror as he sucked it from his finger.
“He did this to you,” he growled, and fear reverberated through her entire body at the monstrous anger in his eyes.
“I did it to myself,” she challenged, hating herself for showing fear. “Leave Scorpion out of this!” she nearly screamed her plea.
He opened his mouth to answer, but the door swung open, and he shoved the pistol in the back of his pants.
“Sir,” the nurse exclaimed, seeing Reaper beside her bed. “How did you get in here? You’re not allowed to be here.”
“I was just leaving,” he purred with a smile at the nurse.
With a final look that sent shivers down her spine, Reaper left the room, and it felt as if all the oxygen had escaped with him.
Reaper had left her feeling cold and numb. The nurse came in and took her vitals, holding the back of her hand to her forehead.
“How’s the pain?” she asked as she started to take her blood pressure.
“No pain,” she lied through a clenched jaw, and the nurse seemed to believe her.
She nodded and asked, “Need something to help you sleep?” Poison shook her head.
There was no way she would be able to sleep, knowing Reaper could return at any moment.
“I’m all right, thanks,” she mumbled. “What time is the doctor coming to do his rounds?”
“Should be just after six,” she said with a smile and helped her to lay down again. “Get some rest.”
But she wouldn’t fall asleep again. Her mind kept racing with a million unanswered questions. She wouldn’t rest until she knew Scorpion was safe from Reaper.
Her eyes came to rest on the black duffle bag Nina had brought last night. Pulling the IV from her arm, she removed the ECG patches from her chest and climbed out of bed, testing her body after the surgery she just had. Luckily, they only had to do a minor invasive laparoscopy. The three small incisions were tender, but manageable. Her arm, ankle, nose and jaw hurt like a mother fucker, but she’s had worse injuries before.
Heading to the bathroom, she ran a shallow bath and lowered her tender body into the water. She needed to scrub the remnants of the past twelve hours from her
skin and memory, a task that proofed difficult without getting her cast or incisions wet and the conversation with Reaper replaying in her mind on a loop. Every sound echoing outside the bathroom door, jerked her eyes to its handle, waiting for Reaper to return.
Once she was done scrubbing, she scrambled out of the tub, balancing on one leg to put on the sweatpants and tank Nina had provided. She didn’t bother with the hassle of trying to get underwear or shoes on with just one arm.
Collecting her belongings, she limped to the door and swung the door open just to stammer back with a yelp. For a moment, her mind had played tricks on her, seeing Reaper in the doorway, but when her eyes finally focused, she stared into Nick’s disappointed face. Dropping her chin, she mentally kicked herself for acting like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar.
“I knew you’d run,” Nick said, the teasing in his eyes belying the serious tone of his voice.
“You’re supposed to be doing your rounds at six,” she accused. “It’s barely five.”
“And you checking yourself out of the hospital right after surgery is exactly why I’m here at five and not six.”
“How’d you know?” she asked, shifting her full weight to her uninjured leg and adjusting the bag over her shoulder.
“Because you’ve never allowed me to discharge you in the eleven years I’ve known you,” he answered with a smile, taking her bag from her. “You really should get back into that bed. Allow your body to rest for a change.”
“If I haven’t waited for you to discharge me in eleven years, what makes you think I’d start following your advice now?” she teased, the smile she tried to give him faltering as pain crept into her jaw.
“Why are you on your feet?” a voice boomed from down the hallway as Scorpion came charging at her.
Her heart fluttered with the force of a thousand wasp wings as she took in the concern etched on his face, relief washing over her that it seemed as if he hadn’t encountered Reaper yet.
“I…” she stammered without knowing what to answer.
“You should be in bed,” he ordered when he reached her and, without warning, swept her carefully into his arms.
“Maybe you can talk some sense into her,” Nick laughed, and Scorpion aimed for the bed.
“Put me down,” she giggled and was surprised at the alienated reaction.
All thoughts of Reaper vanished from her mind as the warmth of Scorpion’s body seeped into hers.
“In bed, now,” Scorpion growled, sending the wasps to a knockout tournament in her stomach.
“Not this bed,” she protested. “I’ll get into bed, but not in a hospital.”
“If you promise to keep her bed-bound for at least four days,” Nick said from the doorway, and Scorpion turned with her to look at him. “She can go home, but you have to rest, Poison. Doctor’s orders.”
Poison gave Nick a grateful smile.
“I will make sure she takes the time she needs to recover,” Scorpion promised.
“I have already informed her work that she will be out for bit,” Nick said to Scorpion, and Poison watched the exchange as if at a tennis match.
“And I will make sure she doesn’t fight for at least four weeks,” Scorpion answered, and the men nodded in agreement.
“Hello?” she waved her cast between the two of them. “Ya’ll know I’m like right here?”
Looking up at the surprise on Scorpion’s face, she realized he had forgotten about her in his arms. How strong was this man? It wasn’t like she was a tiny thing. She was almost five foot eight of pure muscle and curves, but he held her like a feather. His eyes gleamed inches from hers, and she could feel his breath on her cheek. Fuck, he was handsome and being this close to him, his scent overwhelmed her senses.
“Let’s get you home,” he said with a smile and headed to the door.
“I can walk by myself, you know?” she told him, glancing up at him.
“I’ll get a wheelchair,” Nick offered, but Scorpion
stopped him.
“I carried her in here, so I’ll carry her out, as well.”
And Poison wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole as her face burned the brightest shade of red known to humankind.