Chapter 31
Cayden
Seven hours. It takes seven fucking hours and threatening to murder another doctor that Weston found to get her stable. Turns out she wasn’t just bleeding out; she has broken bones, torn muscles, damage to practically every inch of her body.
It’s a miracle she’s still alive.
Yet she is. My girl is a fighter, and anything less is unacceptable. Darlia wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’ve thanked all the gods for her stubborn attitude that will haunt me the moment she wakes up. And gods it will be the sweetest sounding thing I’ve ever heard.
“The car is ready,” Weston says, placing a hand on my shoulder. I look down at her. Time to go home, love.
Darlia still lays unconscious in the hospital stretcher, still peacefully sleeping considering all the drugs they gave her so they could stitch up the wound. The sight of her so peaceful makes a smile ghost my lips for the first time in a month.
Darlia survived.
If I didn’t know the horrors she went through, I would think she looked calm. But I know that she’s not out of the woods yet. I know she is going to beat herself up over Lauren, even if I don’t know the situation yet.
Walking over to her bedside and pushing some flyaway hairs from her face, I lean down to her ear.
“Hi, darling. You’re doing a lot better. We’re going to move you, but don’t worry, it’s just me carrying you, okay? I’m going to try and be as gentle as possible,” I whisper, telling her every detail. She may not hear me, but I want her to know what’s going on, even if it’s just to comfort myself.
Bella walks through the door, holding a set of scrubs that look anything but comfortable. The paper rustles as she holds them up, showing the material to me, but we have to work with what we have, and we have to leave. Now.
“I’ll step outside if you don’t mind changing her?” I’m already walking towards the door, not waiting for her response.
I may not be a stranger to Darlia’s body, but every time I’ve seen it, she has been in complete control of everything.
I don’t plan on taking that control from her today.
Closing the door behind me, I look up to see Weston, Marcus, Luke, and Caleb all standing around the hall, guns slung over their shoulders. “She’s stable. Bella is changing her, then we’ll move.”
Exhaustion is finally catching up to me. My legs are aching to collapse, my hands trembling from the amount of caffeine I’ve been having. The weeks of not sleeping or eating properly are finally coming to kick me in the ass. But I won’t pass out, not until Darlia is safe.
All I want is for her to be safe.
“You can come in,” Bella calls out from inside the room.
Opening the door, I stop when I see Darlia in the light blue paper scrubs.
I wonder if this is what they kept her in all this time.
The jumpsuit was clearly new, the manufacturer folds still in the fabric.
She hadn’t been wearing it that long, maybe a day at most.
My hands bunch into fists at the thought of keeping her in something that will haunt her. The quicker we leave, the quicker I can get her changed.
I slowly lift Darlia up into my arms with one hand under her legs, the other under her back, carrying her out of the room. Unlike when I came in, I’m slow, precise. I take my time walking down the stairs, careful not to shake her too much.
As we exit, I turn my back to the broken glass window frame we walked through so that if anyone gets cut, it’s me.
When we finally get out of the hospital, I sit in the back of the Jeep Caleb and Western drove here, holding Darlia in my lap close to my chest and buckling us in together, putting the seat belt under her arm so it’s not hurting her.
I rest my chin on her head, inhaling the dirt, blood, and everything else she’s been through, but also that smell that’s distinctly Darlia.
My Darlia.
“Where to, Cayden?” Marcus asks, jumping into the driver’s seat, knowing I wouldn’t want to take her back to my house. It’s not safe for her there anymore, The Academy proved that. I’m willing to bet they’re there waiting for us to return just so they can take her again.
“Do you still have that apartment?” I ask Marcus. He doesn’t respond, but he puts the car into gear and starts driving off.
Darlia continues to sleep in my lap, unknowing that she’s free.
All I want to do is wake her, kiss her, apologise over and over and hold her until she doesn’t hate me anymore and the world is no longer a scary place to her.
But for now, keeping her safe where no one from The Academy will find her is my priority.
“Park a few blocks away. They may recognise the car from the hospital, especially if they are monitoring the cameras. I don’t want anyone knowing where she is.”
Marcus drops me and Darlia outside of the regulated apartment complex, using the cover of a truck parked outside to sneak inside without the cameras seeing. Only once we’re inside does Marcus take off and lead the new order away if they’re watching on the cameras.
Marcus’s assigned apartment is on the 32nd floor, and of course the elevator just had to be out for maintenance the one time we need it. I’m not as gentle going up the steps this time.
I’m strong, sure, but I am going to need a minute after carrying Darlia up thirty-two flights of stairs on fuck all sleep or food, and on the brink of passing out.
I take the steps two at a time, making sure to read the level signs as I keep going up, taking a break every few floors before starting again.
It could be worse. Marcus could have been assigned level 50 considering every apartment complex has fifty levels. I guess I have one reason to be grateful. Not that I am grateful to the new order for anything.
I’m going to kill every single one of them for what they did to Darlia.
By the time I reach level 32, I am huffing and puffing, my body slick with sweat. I walk to Marcus’s apartment using the keypad to open the door before walking Darlia inside and laying her down in the bedroom.
The second she’s safe in the bed, I collapse beside her, trying to catch my breath.
Darlia looks so beautiful, so peaceful.
She starts to stir slightly, her mind probably still foggy from the drugs. I pull her in close to me, wrapping my arm around her waist, careful not to disturb the gauze or bandage on her stomach.
“Shhh, darling, you’re safe, I’m here. You’re safe.”
I know when she wakes I’ll have to talk to her about Lauren, but for right now, she can be safe in my arms. The guilt is going to eat Darlia alive, and I won’t let her break because of it.
I refuse to let her go through hell and back, just to break now.
Darlia’s birthday is in three days. I had promised myself I would find a way to make it special for her. Originally, I had planned on taking her out to the barn so she could see what I was doing while she was in The Academy, but that will have to wait for now.
Has Darlia ever even had a birthday? That’s not something The Academy would celebrate.
“How’s she doing?” Bella interrupts my thoughts, walking into the room like she didn’t just climb thirty-two flights of stairs. Show off. I bet Darlia would’ve done the same, even teased me for being out of breath. Gods, I want to hear her voice so bad, even if it’s just to yell at me.
If she uses her voice only to hurt me, they will still leave the most beautiful lips.
“Alive,” I say, sitting up and moving over so Bella can sit down on the bed beside Darlia.
“This is going to break her. You need to be there for her. Lauren was her best friend.”
Well the fuck aware.
Who does she think I am? I think I know more about Darlia than she does. Darlia is many things, but open is not one of them. Not with anyone else, anyway. I only know so much from her Academy files and the details I’ve managed to piece together through our conversations.
“She wouldn’t have done it unless her life depended on it. Darlia would never ever hurt Lauren. I watched it myself on the mat, she would tell Lauren how to hit her so Lauren could win the fights. She wanted Lauren to live.”
“I know,” I say, shutting down her thoughts instantly. I don’t mind Bella. She’s Darlia’s friend and for that reason wherever I am, she’s welcome. But telling me shit I already know about my girl is pointless and just annoying me, considering how fucking tired I am.
I know Darlia would never hurt Lauren. I don’t think she wanted to kill anyone, at least not anymore. Not after finding out the truth.
“My clothes are in the wardrobe, can you change her?” Not waiting for a response, I grab Darlia’s hand and squeeze it gently before leaving the room. By the time Bella is finished, Darlia is in my sweatpants and a hoodie.
It’s probably one of the first times she’s been allowed to wear something so comfortable, and the thought makes my heart clench. “You should go be with Marcus, he needs you and Darlia needs rest. Thanks for changing her.”
I’m trying to be polite, I really am. But I have spent a month looking for her only to find her on the brink of death, and I just want some time alone with Darlia, safe and sound in my arms.
“Yeah, keep her safe.” Bella walks out of the room and closes the door behind her.
The second we’re alone, I walk into the wardrobe, grab the standard grey jumpsuit and change into it, throwing the bloodied clothes I was wearing on the floor before getting into bed beside Darlia again.
I always made Marcus leave a spare change of clothes in the apartment just in case.
I never thought I would have to bring Darlia here.
But I refuse to make her be around anything from the new order ever again.
She can have my clothes and I’ll wear the new order bullshit.
“Rest, love. I’ve got you.”
?
Darlia has been asleep for three days. Today is her twentieth birthday.
I don’t even think she knows that. We have set up a mini base in the apartment; all the boys sleep on the couch or mattresses on the floor. Everyone has agreed Darlia gets the bed considering her injuries and me, by extension.
Marcus went back to my house to get me some clothes and weapons, since we didn’t have any here. The apartment is full; Bella, Marcus, Weston, Luke, and Caleb all sit in the lounge, waiting on any update on Darlia.
Her breathing has evened out, her breaths becoming fuller, steadier. She’s finally out of the woods as long as she continues to rest. And if I know Darlia, the second she wakes up, that will be the last thing she wants to do.
Darlia doesn’t even know the other boys. She met Luke once in the subway when I had first become her target. She doesn’t know that this apartment is filled with survivors of the new order and The Academy.
Darlia doesn’t know she’s safe now. Truly safe.
I want them here, I need them all here. Darlia’s not going to trust anything I tell her at the moment, but I need her to understand I’m not the bad guy. And god only knows what they’ve put in her head over the last month.
Filling up an apartment full of men she’s never met before probably isn’t the best idea while Darlia’s at her most vulnerable, but it’s for her safety, and her reassurance. And mine, after all. She’s my deadly girl.
The bedroom door opens, and as if on cue, Darlia takes a shaky step out towards us, confusion clear as day on her face. I don’t hesitate, walking to her side and picking her up bridal-style, close to my chest.
“You’re supposed to be resting.”
“Where are we?” Darlia’s voice croaks, the words barely a whisper.
Shit, when did I last change her fluids? “You want some water, love?” She nods, curling into my chest with a soft hum of agreement.
Carrying her into the kitchen, I place Darlia on top of the counter, filling a glass with water and bringing it to her lips, letting her take small sips.
“That’s it, take your time.” Running my fingers through her hair, I watch her eyes start to droop again.
“You came after me?” Darlia asks, her voice breaking at the question, and fuck it breaks my heart.
“I never stopped looking for you, darling.”
I turn around before I say anything else, knowing Darlia can’t handle anything else right now.
Instead I start to make her some food. There’s not a lot to work with considering the fact this is a regulated apartment.
There are ration packs, a few granola bars, but no real food, not like Darlia deserves, not like she always has with me.
Is this the first time she’ll see how the Zoned citizens live?
Finding the best pack, I open a ration of pasta, heating it up and putting it in a bowl for Darlia. “It’s not going to be all that nice, but it’s something.”
Guilt seeps through me for giving her something of the New Order, anything less than she deserves. Much less on her birthday.
Wait. Fuck, that’s right.
I open the fridge and pull out the single cupcake I bought for her from the only bakery still left, and stick a candle that I smuggled back from the mansion on top, lighting it with my cigarette lighter. Candles and lighters aren’t allowed in the Zones.
“Happy birthday, love. You’re getting old.”
Darlia tries and fails to hold back a smile. I’ve never seen a better sight, not after everything she has been through. I want to be the cause of at least one of those smiles a day.
Darlia stares at the candle, confused, like she’s waiting for it to do something. I hold it up close to her.
“You blow it out, love.” I almost laugh at the way her brows knit in confusion. Her lips press together before they part, and she blows out the candle, the flame disappearing instantly.
Darlia looks up at Bella, waiting for confirmation that it’s safe most likely, before taking a bite. The frosting goes anywhere but her mouth, causing the guys to laugh at her, but I notice the way her eyes light up, the way her smile returns shamelessly.
She’s letting herself enjoy this moment, and right now that’s enough.
Tomorrow is going to be hell when Darlia remembers what she did, but that’s a problem for tomorrow. Right now, my girl is safe, happy, and alive, and that’s all I need.