by Jen Pretty
“There she is,” the nurse said. “How are you feeling, hon?”
I opened my mouth and rasped out a “Fine,” but it didn't sound fine, and I didn't feel fine. It was just what you said when someone asked, which was a dumb thing to do. A half-demon had gored me. I felt like shit.
The nurse filled a glass of water with a straw and handed it to Julian.
“I’ll set you up a bit, but don't try to get up. You have stitches that need to heal. The doctor will be in to talk to you a little later about your injuries.”
The bed made a humming sound until I was sitting in a semi-reclined position. Julian held the cup of water in front of me and I took a sip. The cold water coated my throat and relieved the burning in my throat. It seemed to clear my mind, too, like I was waking up.
“Where is Nick?” I asked.
Julian's smile faltered a second before he covered it. “He is in the cafeteria getting some lunch. He will be back soon. You have been out for three days.”
Three days? Holy shit. I didn't feel like I had slept for three days. I was tired and sore.
“This button,” the nurse held up a little button attached to a cord. “Will deliver a dose of pain medication. If you feel too much pain, push the button.” She tied the cord around the side rail of the bed and then walked out again.
I pushed the freaking button. It took about four seconds for the pain to go away. I relaxed into the pillow under my head in relief. My eyes started to slide shut again, but my head tipped towards Julian. His eyes were so dark, like deep pools of water. I wanted to reach out and touch them to see if my finger dipped right in. That was a weird thought.
I must have fallen back to sleep because when I opened my eyes again, Nick was sitting in the chair Julian had been in. His face had several days of stubble on it and his hair was a mess. He was flipping through a women's health magazine.
“You look like shit,” I rasped, like a two-pack-a-day smoker.
His eyes shot up and he leaned forward, resting his arms on the side of the bed so his face was right in front of mine.
“Thank God, Harlow. I’ve been so worried about you.” He laced his fingers with mine and squeezed my hand. “The doctor should be here soon to talk to you.”
I nodded and then pointed at the cup of water on the table. He held it for me so I could drink some more. Water had never tasted so good.
I tipped my head back, stared at the ceiling, and went over what happened in my mind again. I knew those damn horned half-demons were dangerous. Then remembered feeling of the horn breaking through my skin sent chills up my spine. God that was gross. Zero-stars, do not recommend.
“Where is Julian?”
“He had something to take care of. He’ll be back.”
I nodded and rested my head back on my pillow. This wasn’t going to be something I recovered from quickly and each day Collin was gathering more and more half-demons and probably demons too. I shook my head wishing I could go home and eat pizza with Lincoln in our kitchen.
The sound of a cart rattled through the halls of the hospital. The scent of food wafted through as a woman in a hairnet bustled into the room and set a tray on a table. She pressed it against the side on my bed, so the tray was hovering over my legs. Smiling, she scurried off again. I stared at the plastic plate for a minute before lifting the top off and surveying the selection. There were several little cups with disposable lids covering some type of food that I didn't recognize, but there was a mug of coffee. That was recognizable. I popped the top off and took a sip of the hot black liquid. It slid down my throat, and the heat warmed me sending a shiver across my skin. The nutty smell reminded me of better days when I didn't have a hole in my stomach from a damn half-demon.
I set the cup down and checked through the rest of the items. There was some cream of wheat or some godforsaken thing that I quickly pressed the lid back on and set to the side, and a cup of soup. There was also half a ham sandwich on whole wheat bread. They were apparently concerned about the regularity of my bowels because that was a ton of fibre.
Nick started chuckling beside me and I glanced over at him. “I’m sorry, but that is the worst meal I have ever seen.”
“Agreed. You think pizza delivers here?” I said before thinking. My face went pale and Nick stopped laughing. I was expecting pizza when I opened the door to the hotel room. Now I was sitting here, useless. The pain was racing back in, so I clicked the button to get a bit more pain medicine and pushed on the tray. The searing ache in my stomach ratcheted up as I strained to push the tray, making me groan. Nick stood and moved it for me. He was a good guy.
Sliding down in my bed, I tried to bury my face in the pillow. I wanted to curl up and forget everything, but at the same moment, a man in a shirt and tie walked in. He had a stethoscope around his neck, and a gaggle of younger looking people dressed in scrubs followed in his wake.
“Hello, Harlow. How are you feeling?” He flicked on the last of the lights and stepped up to the bed. He scanned my face and then the tray of uneaten food. “Not too hungry yet? I’m just going to take a look at your incision.”
He pulled the blanket down and my hospital gown up. Apparently, I was free for all to see because the random people behind him stepped forward to look over his shoulder too. Nick gripped my hand, keeping his eyes on my face. At least someone noticed I was a person.
“This looks good. You won't have too large a scar, and the internal damage was minimal. It will take a few weeks to heal fully, but you should be able to go home tomorrow.”
I nodded, staring at the four-inch gash across my stomach that was red and angry with stitches holding it together.
The doctor slid my gown down then turned and made his way out of the room, the rest of the looky-loos trailing in his wake — nothing like being assaulted in a hospital bed. I adjusted the blankets and tucked them into the side so I felt less exposed, then closed my eyes and let myself slip back into sleep.
Collin was in my room in Humber Falls. He had me pinned to my bed, his nails puncturing my neck. Hot blood trickled down into my hair and soaked the sheets beneath me.
“You can’t stop me,” he said in typical villain style.
His razor-sharp teeth gnashed and ground together as he squeezed the life out of me. I struggled against him and dug at his hands, trying to free myself to get a breath of air. My lungs burned and tears streaked down my cheeks. A darkness started to crowd my vision, and I knew the end was near. My life was almost over. I sent a silent goodbye to Len and Lincoln.
“Harlow!” someone yelled.
I screamed and thrashed. Collin was holding me down. My stomach burned with my magic, and I threw it out into the half-demon pinning me to the sheets. The now familiar warmth flooded down my veins until it reached my fingertips, then it jumped to the demon, stopping him.
I took a deep, ragged breath, finally able to breathe again and looked up at the face attached to the hands on my shoulders. It wasn’t Collin. It was Julian.
My brain couldn't quite keep up. What had just happened? I felt my neck, but it was whole. It must have been a nightmare, but it felt so real. Shit. Now Julian was as frozen as a gargoyle in the middle of the day. I reached up and touched his face. His cold skin made me shutter.
The door swung open and the last person I wanted to see at that exact moment stepped inside.
“What have you done?” my mother asked, dropping her Styrofoam cup of coffee to the floor.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
My face scrunched into a scowl and I didn't answer her. I searched out my magic powers and felt the heat grow until my power flooded again. This time it slid out like a lazy river instead of a bolt of lightning and flowed gently into Julian as if he was a warm pool. His eyelids flickered a few times, and then he stumbled back and slouched into a chair by the wall. His eyes were still unfocused when he looked at me.
My mother stumbled forward to the end of my bed, staring down at me with accusation in her eyes.
&nbs
p; “It was an accident, you psycho. What do you want?” I turned back to look at Julian, worried I had damaged him. Who knows what my weird powers did to a demon?
She sighed like she was so put upon by me. As if I was the one hassling her, not the other way around. I didn't want her in my hospital room.
“I came to check on you,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me. “They said you were awake, but I had no idea you were in here messing about with those powers of yours.”
“I wasn’t messing about with my powers. I had a nightmare, thanks to all the jerk demons who have been trying to kill me. Thanks for your concern. You can leave now.”
She huffed but didn't leave. I was about to suggest it again when Julian stood up and stepped forward.
“You should go. I will be in contact if we need you.” Julian's voice was firm, and my mother dropped her eyes to the floor before turning and walking back out the door.
Interesting.
“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to roll onto my side to look at him. The pain in my stomach was much less now even though I hadn't pressed the button for pain medication in a while.
“It’s fine,” he said, but not in a voice that sounded like it was fine.
After a long awkward silence, I asked the question I had been burning to ask. “Was it terrible?”
His eyes finally slid to mine, and his face looked haunted. “I think you sent me to hell.”
The air whooshed out of my lungs. Had I sent him to hell? I had always imagined hell was just a fairy tale they told bad kids, so they’d go to bed on time. But if there were demons, there must be a hell. While I tried to wrap my brain around that, Julian pulled his chair closer to me and slouched down, taking my hand in his.
“It’s okay, Harlow. I shouldn't have tried to hold you. Tell me what you dreamed about.”
I shook my head, still struck by the fact I had sent Julian to hell. I took a few deep breaths and calmed my heart. “It was just Collin killing me. It's always either him or a demon.”
Julian bit his lip and furrowed his brow. “Maybe once we have captured him the nightmares will stop.”
I snorted. Pretty sure that was unlikely. They hadn’t stopped since I got back from New York; they would not disappear easily.
This was so messed up. I wanted to ask Julian more about hell, but I decided now wasn't a good time. He still looked haunted. I wiggled down in the bed, trying to get comfortable, but I had been lying down too long and just wanted to get up and move around.
We sat in silence for a while until a nurse I hadn't met before came into the room and informed me I could go for a walk around the halls of the hospital. She helped me sit up and then pulled a second gown over my back so that I didn't flash everyone I passed in the hall. Julian ambled beside me as I took some small steps, pulling an IV stand along beside me.
“I’ll never be able to defeat Collin now. It’ll take forever to get strong enough to use my powers.”
An old man walked past leaning heavy on a cane, and our conversation paused. Not that it was much of a discussion. Julian hadn’t spoken since the nurse came in to get me out of bed. He kept his eyes forward, and we moved down the corridor. I glanced at him. His expression was blank, like the one he used to use around Collin. I hated that expression. It was stupid. Facial expressions were there for a reason and controlling them seemed like cheating.
Finally, he spoke, “I have someone coming to help you get better faster.”
“Who?”
“Someone from New York.”
That cleared things up perfectly…not. “Who from New York?” I asked, adding impatience to my voice. I didn't need to play twenty questions while my stomach was aching, and my legs were shaking. I turned us back towards the room. That seemed like plenty of walking for one day.
“One of the half-demons.”
I stopped dead in the hall, but Julian kept strolling forward at a slower pace.
“I don't want whoever it is to come,” I said, catching up to him. I limped past holding my stomach with one hand and leaning slightly on the IV pole with the other.
Once I was back in the room, I struggled into bed, choking myself on the gowns as I tried to maneuver myself and the IV line. I pulled at the neck hole but couldn't get it loosened and had to stand up again to bunch the stupid thing. Finally, I collapsed back into the bed with a moan and used my legs to adjust the blankets. I longed for my pain medication button which the nurse had taken away.
I looked up to find Julian leaning against the door frame, looking at the floor and biting his lip. “Let me do this for you, please?”
“How is a half-demon going to help me, Julian? All they do is break me and ruin my life.”
He was silent for a moment and then nodded and slipped back out through the door, leaving me alone in the hospital room.
Shit.
I guess I didn't mean that the way it came out. Or maybe I did. When had a half-demon ever done something good for my life? Never. Neither had a gargoyle or a demon. They were all shit. Maybe even including Julian. I was happy where I was in Humber Falls before he came along and dragged me away. Now he had done it again, and once again I was in the hospital.
Try to kill me once, shame on you. Try to kill me twice…
I closed my eyes, but I couldn't sleep. My mind just kept circling back to Julian. Damn his dark, brooding eyes.
An hour of restless tossing and turning later, Nick breezed through the door.
“Hey, Harlow. How are you feeling now?” he asked. He was all grins and giggles.
I squinted at him suspiciously. Something was going on.
“What’s that look for?” he asked.
“What are you so happy about?”
“I was talking to Julian, and he said Darla was coming to help you. That's great news.”
I scoffed. “Is that the half-demon? Not interested.”
He stopped beside my bed and stared down at me like I had grown two heads. “Darla can heal you,” he explained.
“If she is a half-demon, I’m not interested. I have sworn off all half demons till the end of time.”
He sunk into the chair beside my bed and continued to stare at me like I might change my mind. “I need your help, Har.” He spoke softly, and my brain tried to abandon our no-demon plan, but I stopped my mouth from saying anything. The no-demon plan was a good one. I wasn't going back on this decision no matter how much he made those puppy dog eyes at me.
It turned into a staring competition. When Lincoln looked at me like that he always won, but I was determined this time. Demons had been ruining my life since my mother gave birth to me. It was time to take a stand.
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “So you would rather heal at human speed?”
“Yes, I want to go home, eat pizza, and lay in my bed until I heal and then never have anything to do with half-demons again.”
“You will leave this city to Collin?”
“Shut up,” I snapped. “I want to be left alone. I'm not strong enough to stop Collin or anyone else. This was a stupid mission, and the Demon Division shouldn’t have asked me to come.”
Nick's eyes traced my features for a moment longer before he whispered: “I’m sorry.” He stood and walked out of the room, letting the door swing shut behind him.
“Fuck,” I whispered. I didn't handle Nick any better than I had Julian. I closed my eyes and buried my face in my pillow before letting out a scream. The pillow muffled it enough that the nurse didn't come charging in and I felt a bit better.
I picked up the phone and made a collect call to Len, knowing he would pick up. It was late in the afternoon, so the rush should have been over.
“’Ello,” his raspy voice filtered through the phone and tears sprung to my eyes. I tried to speak, but all that came out was a hiccup and sniffle.
“’Eh, Harlow, is that you?”
“Yes,” I muttered, wiping my face. “I’m fucking up here, Len.”
He made a tsk sound at my language but didn't call me out on it. “It’s probably not as bad as you think. What is going on?” I heard the squeak of his rickety old bench that sat on the front porch of his pizza parlour and the soft sound of traffic. Picturing him sitting there made my tears run faster. I wasn’t used to being this emotional but I missed home, and the pain in my stomach was pushing through the pain medication.
I told him all of it. My mother, Collin kidnapping Julian, getting stabbed in the stomach, the things I had said to Julian and Nick. We had never specifically talked about me being a gargoyle huntress, but he wasn't surprised by anything I said. He probably knew all along and just didn't say anything. Len was a man of few words.
He listened quietly, even when I had to stop to blow my nose, and when I was done talking I felt empty, like I had handed off all the weight of my problems to Len. I imagined his broad shoulders carrying my troubles. His old man muscles could handle it. He should be the one here in this city stopping Collin. Len was strong for an old guy and was a soldier in his youth. I wasn’t fit for this kind of work.
Len sighed, a sure sign he was going to say something that I wouldn't like.
“You know I love you like you was my own daughter, but you got to stick this one out. You got a special skill that is gonna help a bunch of folks—”
“The half-demons,” I interrupted.
“You know that it will spill over to humans, too. You want little kids all over the country possessed by demons? That’s what that Collin fellow is planning, I bet — bringing back the demons, letting them in somehow. You and I both know you won't stand for that. You are braver than you think Harlow.”
A tear slipped out. Len wasn’t big on mushy stuff, but he had always believed in me. “Okay, Len,” I whispered.
“You do the best you can, and then you come home. This new kid can't make the special right. Folks are complaining.”
I laughed. It was always about the pizza with him. “I love you, too,” I said.
