***
The next time I wake I’m warm. I still have a dull ache at the back of my head, but my whole body from my head to my toes is comfortable. I’m lying down and the soft pillow touching the side of my face tells me I’m in a bed. I feel the mattress shift and I open my eyes, ignoring the brightness that attacks them.
“Hey.” Charlie sounds relieved as my eyes focus on him lying next to me. He’s on his side with his elbow on his pillow and his hand keeping his head up. His eyes are intently staring at me.
“Hi.” I feel shy, realizing I have no memory of getting into bed with Charlie or even how I got back inside.
“How are you feeling?”
I reach out and gingerly touch the back of my head where the ache is coming from. I feel a definite sore spot with traces of what I think might be dried blood. I try to remember being hurt when memories of being outside in the rain hit me.
“Where’s Will?”
Charlie eyes me carefully for a moment before answering, “He’s in his room.”
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. I think he has a broken shoulder or something. The guards tried to hit him over the head like they did with you, but it didn’t quite work on him. He’s the one who carried you up here.”
“He did?”
“Yep, never seen the kid so mad. The guards were too afraid to go near him.”
“But he’s fine?”
“He’s fine. He let Harold look at you and Stan went mental at him. Locked him in his room and then when Harold was done with you they locked you in your room, too. It’s weird, Harold wanted you to stay in that medical lab, but Stan wouldn’t have it.”
“But I’m in your room now?” I don’t need to glance around to know this.
“We figured you wouldn’t want to be waking up in there so Rose picked your lock and we got you out.”
I don’t even have to think about it to know I would have been horrified to wake up in the same bed that Drew had died on.
“What about Will? Is he still locked in his room?”
“Rose picked his lock, too, but really, by the looks of the door by the lounge, if he wanted out of his room, then he would be out. What the hell were you guys thinking?” Charlie doesn’t sound angry, but I feel bad hearing that question. Do they think we had tried to escape without them?
“Will and I just wanted to be outside. We weren’t trying to escape, we wouldn’t leave you behind.”
“Being outside means that much to you?”
It sounds stupid really. Will and I staged a huge breakout just to stand around outside like a couple of idiots getting soaked. “It’s stupid, I know. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not looking for an apology, Zoe. I’m just worried about you is all.”
It’s strange to have Charlie admit he’s worried about me. Just earlier today I’d been worried about him. What is happening here?
“Are you okay? What did Stan do to you today?” I’m reminded by my thoughts that Charlie had been taken away today and we had all experienced several blackouts because of it.
“He didn’t do anything. He just figured Rose and I needed a break from each other and he might as well see where I was with controlling blackouts.”
“How did it go?”
“Well, I didn’t learn anything new. I’m able to control when I want to cause a blackout, but not the extent of it and if you throw in distractions, I have no hope of anything.”
“Distractions?”
Charlie yawns and I find myself catching it and yawning, too.
“How about we talk about this in the morning?”
“Okay.” My eyes close in anticipation of more sleep. I feel exhausted again.
The lights go out and I move the covers up closer to my shoulders, relishing in the warmth I feel. Charlie’s hand catches mine under the covers and I smile as he holds onto it just like he had done the night before.
Taken By Surprise Page 57
