“Why would she let them?” Luka was still holding onto me, but it was less aggression and more like I was a lifeline he clung to desperately. I wrapped my hands around his fists, looked for Sasha. He moved closer, grabbing onto our shoulders.
“Because she’s Aesli,” he muttered. Nothing else made sense.
“Right, of fucking course,” Ryan spat out, looking murderous.
Jason shook his head, looking off into nothing. “Who else is gonna save the world for those fucking cowards?”
Chapter One
Tai, one week later
I spent hours outside her room, every day, sitting on the other side of the clear barrier looking in on her. Watching her sleep. Watching her suffer.
She shook with fever, her teeth rattling loud enough to hear over all the monitors and machines, recording every heartbeat and every breath. She dripped with sweat, but everything that touched her burned with cold.
She clawed at her skin until they taped socks over her hands.
I was there when she cried for Mouse, and when she slipped into delirium and begged for her mom to make it stop.
I sat behind a barrier, and I couldn’t do a fucking thing for her.
And I watched them draw blood from the accesses Mouse created, listening for the results — hearing the percentage of red blood cells decrease. Once upon a time, that was a reason to celebrate, but now it filled me with terror.
She suffered and I prayed, to the old gods and the new.
The others came and went, sometimes forcing me to go. To shower, to eat. But someone was always there, just outside the barrier. We were always with her.
I was there with Sasha when Kane showed up, bitching to her assistant as she approached, talking about “that stupid girl” ruining everything. She was dictating to him what parts of Azzie she wanted when Azzie died.
Two security guards got tangled up restraining Sasha, so no one got to me right away. Pretty sure that the big one, Reggie, waited before he took me down. I didn’t even struggle.
I don’t think it’s ever right to lay hands on a woman in anger, but she’s not even a human being, she’s a fucking monster.
She tried to get me ejected permanently, but instead I was ordered to stay away for 24 hours in punishment for striking Dr. Kane. Until McNamara heard why I hit her. He’s Azzie’s doctor, head of the whole medical complex. He let me return in less than six hours, and banned Kane from the ICU.
I was there when the fever broke.
It was the middle of the night, and I couldn’t sleep. I was sitting in one of the reclining chairs they’d moved in for us, with Luka asleep in the other. He’d had a rough day, forced to stay at school for appearance’s sake after skipping most of the week.
I watched her eyes open, and they focused for the first time in seven days. Even in the dim glow of the night lights and monitors, I could see her behind her eyes.
She curled up on her side, pulling her covers up tighter around her, blinking at me.
“I’m cold,” she rasped out, her lips cracking even under the layers of chapstick applied every few hours. The nurses were worried that if her lips started bleeding, she could potentially drown in her own blood so they were diligent. “And I have to pee.”
“And you’re alive, Azzie. Alive. We weren’t sure for a long time—”
“Yeah, me neither,” she said, shivering slightly. “Can you get me a blanket?”
“Full lockdown, sunshine, or I’d already be over there. I’ll get your nurse.”
“Okay.”
I stood, and reached down to shake Luka. “She’s awake,” I said quietly, and he was fully alert and sitting straight up, eyes ranging over every inch of her making sure all the pieces were still in place. “I’m going to get her nurse.”
He nodded, getting up and stepping towards the glass.
“Azzie,” I heard him breathe out, agonized, as I left the room.
I found the nurse’s station empty and waited impatiently until she appeared from another room, peeling off a surgical mask, gloves, and gown and disposing of them before she approached. “Yes?”
“Azzie’s awake,” I said and her face lit up. “She’s cold and needs to pee. And she’s thirsty, I think. Her voice is pretty messed up.”
“Of course,” she said, bustling towards the shared decontamination room that gave her access to Azzie and the room on the other side once she’d washed and covered up. I returned to the waiting area to find Luka still at the barrier, one hand pressed against it, crying while he and Azzie talked.
“—have to calm down, Luka, I’m okay.”
“I don’t have to do anything, Azzie, except spank the fuck out of your ass for scaring us all to death.”
“Can you at least wait until I’m feeling better so I can enjoy it too?”
He threw up his hands. “She’s making jokes about it… of course she think it’s hilarious, after torturing me for seven fucking days—”
“Seven days?” she said. “For real? Like the seventh day is now ending, or it’ll be the seventh day tomorrow?”
“Why?” I asked, stepping in beside Luka so she could see me too.
“The CDC dudes are coming back after seven days to see if I lived. I want to make sure they’re allowed to talk to me.”
“CDC dudes?” I asked in a deceptively cheerful tone. They must have brought whatever the fuck it was that infected her. “Glad to know to expect them.” I shook out my arms, half-expecting them to walk off the elevator any second.
“Tai!” She tried to sit up and started coughing, but the nurse was right there, instantly, helping her upright, settling her back against her pillows, handing Azzie a cup with a straw. She drank, giving a big sigh of relief, then drank some more. The nurse pulled a few blankets out of the warming cabinet and tucked them in around her. Azzie moaned, then said “Wait, I have to pee.”
“I’ll shut the curtain and get you a bedpan,” the nurse said briskly, reaching for the privacy curtain.
“No!” Azzie stopped her. “No. I don’t— I’m not comfortable with that. Can you just help me up? I can use the bathroom like a regular person.”
“You’re not a regular person,” the nurse said. “You’ve been extremely ill. And I’m sorry, but I have a back injury and I can’t lift you.”
“He can,” she said, pointing at me. “And he works here, he’s one of my phlebotomists. Please? I don’t use bedpans. Ever.”
The nurse eyed me through the barrier, like it was the first time she noticed my scrubs and name tag. “I— I suppose so. If he knows the clean room protocol—”
“I do,” I said eagerly. “I’ve had nothing but time to read all the signs, the manuals, the supplements… I know the protocol.”
“Alright,” she said. “Go to the door and I’ll buzz you in from here.”
Luka cursed me out as I practically ran to the entrance to the decontamination room, and the nurse hit a button on her side to let me in without needing to swipe or key anything in. I entered the room and immediately started scrubbing my hands and arms, my face, my neck, and any other part that could possibly be exposed. I gloved up, put on foot covers, a surgical gown, mask, and head cover, then removed the gloves and put on a fresh pair that hadn’t come into contact with anything that was now covered up. When I was done, I checked the list hanging on the wall and confirmed I’d done all the steps and in the right order, then stepped into the UV light chamber between the rooms and covered my eyes.
After I’d been sufficiently decontaminated, the nurse elbow-punched a large button on the wall, and the door swung open.
And there was my Azzie.
I approached the bed slowly, not having been this close to her in ages, and she smiled weakly up at me. “Hi Tai.”
“Hi, sunshine,” I answered, my voice crackling a little. “It’s good to see you awake.”
“It’s good to be awake,” she agreed, her eyes getting heavy but then popped open again. “Can you help me up so I can use
the bathroom?”
“Yeah, of course,” I said, but first I turned to the nurse. “I thought she had a catheter?” I ignored the flinch I saw out of the corner of my eye.
“Dr. McNamara had us remove it earlier. He said that she was out of the eryptosis stage and she’d be lucid when she woke up. I would’ve questioned any other doctor, but he knows his stuff,” she shrugged. “And he said Azzie hates catheters and bedpans, and would insist on using the bathroom, so we should be prepared, but Amelia just went on break when you came out to find me, otherwise she could have helped Azzie up.”
“It’s not a problem at all,” I said, leaning over to make sure Azzie’s IV tube wouldn’t catch on anything. Her nurse disconnected the wires attached to the leads on her chest while I looked away, both of us forgetting that the privacy curtain was still open.
“Nice rack,” Luka called out and I pulled the curtain closed, flipping him off.
“Good to know your blush response is in full working order,” the nurse chuckled. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine,” Azzie grumbled. “They’re just boobs.”
“No, they’re your boobs,” Luka’s disembodied voice said from the other side. “And that makes them special. But I didn’t see much.”
“Oh my,” the nurse giggled. “Well this certainly impacts the pool…”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Oh, uh… there’s a betting pool. On who the seven of you are. Like relatives or… umm, friends?”
Unprofessional as fuck, but pretty funny. I wasn’t expecting was Azzie to ask who her money was on.
The nurse had the decency to look embarrassed. “Well, I put five dollars on the big guy here to be your boyfriend since he’s here the most. The triplets are pretty widely considered to be close friends,” she made air quotes around that, “and the other two are relatives? Maybe cousins? They don’t talk like brothers.”
“If you bring me a vanilla milkshake, I’ll help you cheat. And for explaining all of this to me, I’ll let you have a freebie: this one has a twin.”
“OH!” she said, looking at me closely. “Oh. Well that’s— disappointing.”
“I was still here the most,” I growled. “Spider had classes.”
“Yeah, I suppose with me in here, there wasn’t much to do at the lab. Where’s Mouse, I would’ve thought she’d be here—?”
“Don’t you have to pee?” Luka asked, effectively distracting her.
“Yes, yes I do. Can you help me stand up, Tai?”
“Nope,” I said, and reached down and scooped her up into my arms, asking the nurse to bring the IV with us. She weighed almost nothing, it was almost painful how light she was in my arms. “She’s going to need more than one milkshake,” I said, trying to keep my voice from cracking again. “Maybe some other stuff too—”
“No pudding cups,” Azzie shuddered. “Applesauce, fruit cups, or jello are acceptable but NO pudding cups.”
My eyebrow went up. She made a face at me, and I didn’t ask. I carried her to the bathroom and right inside, setting her down on the toilet. The nurse rolled the IV stand in behind us.
“Okay, you can leave now.”
I grunted, not happy with leaving her there, vulnerable and unsteady, with a nurse who couldn’t lift her if needed. “No, I’m staying. She can’t help you if you slip.”
“I’m sitting down.”
“You could get lightheaded, topple over.”
“But I won’t, I’m just peeing.”
“You could start feeling nauseous, need to throw up.”
“Nope, just peeing.”
“You could—”
“TAI! I really, really have to pee. Could you please step out and let me? I promise not to try to do jumping jacks or sit ups for the next two minutes, and you can come back in when I’m done, okay?”
“You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?”
She frowned at me and looked away.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t meant that.”
“Yes you did,” she said, annoyed and still not looking at me. “But I don’t care, you aren’t getting your way on this. It’s not about you and what you want, Tai. It’s about what I need. And I need you to leave.”
“Dayum,” the nurse whispered.
I backed out of the bathroom, feeling about two inches tall. She was right, and I’d forgotten what it was like to have her put me in my place.
“I’ve missed you,” I said to the closed door, loud enough for her to hear me.
“Aim better next time.” I heard a soft chuckle, then then sound of liquid hitting porcelain, and knew we were okay.
The second I heard the toilet flush, I was back in there lifting her up, and helping her to the sink.
“I could’ve done this,” she groused, making a face at me.
“Mmhmm,” I hummed, ignoring her attempts to intimidate me. I waited while she washed her hands, watching her; loving that she was here, awake, and strong enough to sass me.
“Wish you weren’t wearing the mask,” she said in a small voice. “I can’t tell how mad you are.”
“Why would you think I’m mad?”
“You’re, like, glaring at me—”
I looked up and saw her watching me in the mirror.
“Not glaring,” I said softly, trying to express with my eyes all the feels I was feeling. It must’ve worked because a slow flush rolled over her skin, her eyes glowing against the pink.
“Oh,” she breathed. “Okay.”
“Uh, I’ll just leave you two alone,” the nurse said awkwardly, stepping out of the bathroom and pulling the door closed behind her.
“Can I give you a hug?” I asked, and she nodded, our eyes still locked together in our reflection.
I stepped closer, and she turned, looking up at me with huge eyes. I gathered her in a delicate embrace, burying my masked face in her hair. “I’ve felt so helpless. Watching you… it was killing me. Not just me, all of us.”
“I’m sorry.” I almost didn’t hear her, it was said so quietly. “Hopefully it won’t happen again.”
“Hopefully?” I choked, all the anger and fear of the last week clogging my throat. “Nothing is worth what you’ve been going through, nothing. This is never going to—”
“I don’t want to fight with you,” she interrupted me, exhausted. “Can you take me back to bed?”
It hit me like a punch in the gut. I was doing it again, trying to bulldoze over everything in my path — even if I was right, I didn’t have the right. “I’m sorry,” I said, with real regret. “I’ll try to stop —”
“Stomping around in your ginormous boots, making demands you have no right to make? Thinking because you can shout louder, that means you’re in charge?”
“Yeah,” I sighed, feeling like an ass. “All those things.”
“Not gonna hold my breath, Tai. You’re a stomper by nature,” she was teasing me now, and I sighed again but this time it was in relief. “I’ll concede that I’m not the most… thoughtful person by nature. I’ll try to remember that it isn’t just me and Mouse anymore, that other people might care too.”
“Lots of people care about you, Azzie. Lots of people asked about you, all the time, wanting to know how you were doing. One of the security guards has been here every day to check in even when it wasn’t his shift to guard you — a big dude named Reggie. More people would’ve visited but your doctor stopped them. You just don’t see it.”
I could feel her sniffling against my chest. “You need to shut up right now,” she said, her voice breaking. “You’re making me cry like a little girl.”
“You are a little girl,” I said, “your head barely reaches my shoulder.” I felt her stiffen, and chuckled. “You’re not a child, Azzie. I’m well aware of that.”
She caught her breath, like she was going to say something, then sighed. “Gonna let that go for now. Instead, I’m going to say that since you realize I’m a grown-ass woman, maybe you can stop dodging the quest
ion and tell me why Mouse isn’t here. I wouldn’t expect her to leave my side, last time—” she broke off. “I just want to know what happened.”
I held her tighter, knowing this was going to destroy her. “We don’t know, sunshine. The night you went into the hospital, she sent me a weird text, I think it was supposed to go to you. I’d been trying to get in touch with her about something, and I think I was at the top of her contact list, and it went to me instead. The next morning, we had a meeting — which we’ll talk about later — and when I got to the lab, it was dark and the doors were locked. I used my key, and went in and waited. When neither of you showed up, I about had a panic attack, then Spider called me and told me where you were. He found out from Sev who found out from the teacher in your game. I’ve been right here most of the week, and Mouse never showed up.”
“Okay,” she said, scary calm. After a few moments, she asked, “What did the text say?”
“JAK2.”
“As in…?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
“What were you trying to contact her about?”
“Oh. Yeah, that’s the other weird thing. She sent a package to my mom.”
“Your mom?”
“Yeah. It was addressed to Mama Chandler, Hopi Rez, Arizona. The return address was Tai’s Friend Mouse. I texted her to ask what she sent.”
“Oh my God, that fucking bitch!” She swore, but didn’t sound angry. She was shaking her head, muttering about Mouse minding her own fucking business. Eventually, she asked, cautiously, “So did your mom enjoy the present?”
“Uhh… my mom never opened the package,” I admitted, and she peeled her head back away from my chest and eyed me, confused.
“Why not?”
“I told my mom not to open it until I found out what it was, and then I sorta got distracted by the whole vigil over my— over my friend.”
“It’s safe for her to open,” she said, ignoring my slip. “And it’s important. Really important. You should text her now.” There was something about the way she was looking at me — almost…hopeful? Definitely nervous. And something else that I couldn’t identify.
Book of the Damned: A-E5L1-01-00: (A reverse harem, post-pandemic, slow-burn romance) (The JAK2 Cycle, Book 2) Page 2
