Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Patch her together. She’ll never be whole again.
Her smile won’t be as bright. Her light wasn’t strong enough for my darkness.
The thought drives me down to my knees, and Alexei crouches in front of me, placing his hands on my shoulders. Then he says, “You’ve been shot. Come, let’s get the bullet out.”
I shake my head, unreasonably thinking they should leave it inside me so it can poison me the way I poisoned Hailey’s life.
Alexei tightens his grip on me and tugs me up to my feet. “Come.” He pushes me back and then forces me to move. I’m shoved down in a chair, not taking in any of my surroundings.
“Do you need anything?” Madame Keller asks.
“We’re good,” Alexei answers. “Just take care of the girl.”
I stare blankly at Alexei’s shirt while he cuts mine open in the front. He injects me with something, probably a painkiller. I don’t have the strength to wince as he begins to dig the bullet out.
He should take out my fucked up heart while he’s at it.
I hear the bullet clank as he drops it in a steel bowl. There’s a sharp burn as he sterilizes the wound. I can’t bring myself to flinch as he stitches me up.
Hailey’s afraid of me. She probably hates me.
Still, I can’t lose her. I’ll take her hate as long as I don’t have to face a day without her.
It’s fucking fucked up.
“What do I do?” I ask Alexei.
“About?”
“Hailey.” I swallow hard. “She’s going to want to leave me.”
“We don’t keep women against their will,” he says, his tone intolerant. Placing his hands on either side of my head, he forces me to look at him. “Do you hear me?”
“I can’t let her go,” I admit, feeling weaker than I’ve ever felt in my life.
Alexei stares me down for a couple of seconds. “Don’t, brother.”
“I love her.”
He shakes his head. “You can’t force her to stay. I won’t let you.”
I’m strong but not near as strong as my brother. “How do I do this?”
“The same way Hailey has to. The hard fucking way.”
It will kill me. I can’t live without Hailey. I can’t go back to the absolute darkness. I need whatever light she has left.
HAILEY
You’d think I would’ve passed out by now, but no, I’m awake for every torturous second. There’s no reprieve.
The physical pain has been dulled by drugs.
It’s the mental and emotional sides that are chaotic.
I’m tempted to ask them to sedate me, but I’m too scared. I have no idea what this place is, I only know it’s not a hospital.
There are two women and a man. And Demitri. The one woman is elderly, and she just stands next to Demitri, both of them watching me with sharp gazes. The other woman is dressed in black, like the man. Their clothes look like combat uniforms.
They’ve cut the ties from my wrists and taken x-rays of me. Now they’re talking about my injuries impassively as if I’m not here.
“Four broken ribs on the right side and two cracked on the left. Her right elbow has been dislocated. No internal damage. Just bruising. It will heal.”
The man straightens my right arm, and it yanks a whimper from me. He pulls on my wrist, and I cry from the unbearable pain as he pops my elbow back in place.
“Give her something stronger for the pain,” Demitri bites the words out, sounding angry. He comes to stand on the left side of the bed, and when he places his hand on my shoulder, I flinch.
It doesn’t escape his attention, and his hand moves to my head, gently brushing over the strands. It offers me no comfort, nor when he says, “You’re safe here, Hailey.”
I don’t believe a word that comes from any of them.
They inject more drugs into the IV, and against my will, I lie still while they tend to my wounds. My clothes are cut off, making me feel self-conscious. The blood is washed away from my skin, and when they’re finally done, a blanket is placed over me.
The elderly woman comes closer. “We’ll give you something to sleep, child.”
Sluggishly I shake my head. I don’t want anything. God only knows what they can do to me if I’m unconscious.
“You need to rest. It will help your body heal,” she argues.
I manage to shake my head again, my mind growing foggy from the painkillers. I feel it wash through me, the physical pain lessening until I’m numb.
“The painkillers should knock her out,” the man says, and then he leaves with the other woman.
I hear the door creaking, and thinking everyone has finally left, I close my eyes. I hear a chair being moved and pry them open again.
Alexei takes a seat next to the bed, his eyes drifting over me. It takes a lot of effort to turn my face away from him.