RAIN
Chapter seventeen
Istep in behind Blade, quietly closing the door. The wall light above her bed casts a soft glow over Alexa’s sleeping body. Various wires are stuck on her chest, oxygen tubes in her nose, and an IV trickles into her arm.
Fuck.
Blade rounds the bed quietly, and I step to the other side as he raises a shaking hand to her face, lightly tucking golden strands behind her ear.
Dr Illya confirmed she won’t wake for a few hours, and I figured it best she is not aware of our presence. I didn’t want the sight of us to deteriorate her already fragile mental state further. Blade surprisingly agreed, and we came straight here from the airstrip.
On the flight here, he made me scroll through the last six months of photos on her IG, and I understood why he’s been monitoring it so attentively.
She may be smiling in the photos, but you can see the life draining from her eyes.
The most recent photo was taken two days ago at Lakely’s wedding, captioned, she’s married, but she’s still mine.
The signs have been there, but I think this came a lot faster than even Blade was anticipating.
If not for him, we’d be at her funeral instead.
He sucks in a shaky breath, blinking rapidly. A new emotion. I’ve never seen him cry.
“You can’t leave me, baby,” he whispers.
A year ago, him referring to her as such would have made my chest ache with jealousy. Now, I don’t feel that.
“You die, I die,” he whispers through his teeth, a tear in the corner of his eye. “Do you understand me, Alexa?”
He pulls down his sweatshirt and t-shirt a little, swiping two fingers across his chest, then holds them in front of her small button nose. It scrunches, and she whimpers, stirring a little. The numbers from her heart rate monitor jump from a steady sixty-two to ninety-five.
“Mmm,” he hums with a satisfied smile, “and you say I don’t have an effect on you.”
I throw my arm up. “She’s in a hospital bed, and you’re still tormenting her?”
“You are fucking beautiful.” He leans down to whisper in her ear. “Rest while you can, Lune.”
The door clicks open, and I look over my shoulder as Dr Illya steps in to approach the foot of her bed. His deep brown eyes are bloodshot, the faint light illuminating his ageing dark skin. “She’s doing well,” he whispers.
Blade’s gaze stays locked on her. “I want her in Alcove.”
Alcove was built a year ago by Weston otherwise, she’d be swearing out the entire hospital.
“He’s your type for sure,” she emphasises.
I arch a brow at the screen. “And how do you know that?”
“Because he looks like Alexa,” Lakely laughs.
They have maybe one similarity; they’re both blond, although Rome’s hair is lighter.
“I approve,” Alexa sings.
“Wasn’t aware I needed that, but thanks.”
She scoffs, humoured.
“How are you feeling, Lex?”
Silence falls, allowing me to hear the breathing behind me. I spin in my chair to see Blade leaning against the wall. For his size, the fucker moves quieter than a mouse.
“I’m good.” She puts on that fake reassuring voice I’ve learned to detect.
Blade’s lip twitches with a snarl, and he shakes his head. I turn my head to speak towards the phone. “I hope so.” Blade dips his chin and glares, and I’m wondering how many daggers he’s thrown at me since he came in. “When did you start taking pills again, Lex?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Rain.”
“I understand, but it was laced. It could’ve killed you.”
“I wouldn’t care if it did.”
“Alexa!” Lakely scolds.
“Don’t fucking say that, Alexa,” Blade spits, taking an enraged step toward me. Snatching the phone from the desk, I step away from him. “What were you thinking, baby? Give me the name. That’s all I need.”
Alexa’s shortening breaths jolt through the phone. “W-wait, are you both in LA?”
Blade grins. “If you don’t give it to me, I might just pay you a little visit.”
“I’ll finally have you arrested,” she spits.
“Try it,” he taunts. “I’m not leaving this country until I watch them die.”
“N-no, it’s not his fault.”
He.
“They cut this shit with so much fentanyl it’ll kill someone,” Blade explains calmly, not bringing to light the fact she gave him information. “I’m about to walk out this door, Alexa. Room 401 in the east wing. Don’t make me repeat myself,” he warns.
“You can talk to yourself all night, Blade. Your threats are meaningless to me.”
“We both know I’ll follow through.”
“Then come find me. Kill me, for all I care.”
“I’ll see you soon, baby.”
He retreats toward the door, and I throw my head back. “Alexa, this shit will kill hundreds of people.”
“Is he gone?”
Blade stares at me, and I lie. “Yes, he’s gone.”
“A-at,” she admits. “I got it from Atticus.”
“Son of a bitch.” Blade shoves a finger in my face. “I warned that motherfucker on her seventeenth birthday when he sold her that cocaine. If he ever sold to her again, I’d put him in a grave.”
“You fucking liar!” Alexa shouts. “Please, Blade. Please don’t.”
“It’s okay,” he croons with a cold smile. “I’ll keep a souvenir for you.”
She releases a string of curses, and I hang up.
“What the fuck was that?” I snap.
He turns, stalking toward the door. “She can talk about me in therapy. I’ll enjoy reading about it.”
I sigh and drop my head, hating the ideas playing in it. Maybe I need to be a little more forceful with Rome. Not to the extent he’ll end up in a mental facility like Alexa, but enough to truly make him understand who he belongs to and put an end to his pathetic defiance.