Page 117 of Twisted Heathens
Once we’re safely back in mine and Kade’s room, I take her straight to the bathroom. Brooklyn’s legs immediately collapse beneath her and I growl in frustration, depositing her in the tub. She looks even worse underneath the harsh light, skin waxy and smeared with blood. Eyes barely open. Mouth slack. Cheeks stained with tears.
You’re not allowed to fucking die on me. Not today.
I turn the tap on, cold water spraying across her fully clothed body. Brooklyn gasps, back arching. “What the… Phoenix?!”
“Wake the hell up. No sleeping,” I order firmly, rooting around under the sink for the stashed emergency kit. It’s under the false bottom, along with my cigarettes, spare cash and a couple of back-up mobile phones.
The noise that slips past her lips pierces my damn heart. Caught between a cry and a scream, her rage flowing freely. “You should have just left me,” she yells at me weakly.
“Not happening. You hear me?!”
I lose patience and roughly shake her, hysteria buzzing in my ears. “No one checks out early, do your fucking time and walk away free. Your sins don’t have to define you.”
Brooklyn’s head rolls to the side and her eyes slide shut, causing panic to seize hold of my lungs. I shout her name, but she remains limp and barely responsive. In my desperation, I take the kit and climb in the tub with her.
Both under the icy spray, I prise her eyes open and force her to look at me. “How’d you do it, huh? That room was cleaned out by security.”
Her semi-conscious grin makes my skin crawl. “E-Eli’s good at hiding stuff. I’m good at finding it.”
Trying to be gentle, I take her in my arms and slip my hand around the back of her neck. “Hold your breath, this is gonna hurt.”
One, two… three.
Dumping the bottle of antiseptic on her shredded skin, my teeth clench at her swift and immediate scream. “It’s okay, breathe…” I coax, holding her head to my chest. My own hands are trembling violently as she fists my wet shirt.
The bathwater turns bright red and leaks down the drain, pungent antiseptic scent thick in the air. She goes limp, but I can hear the rattled breaths coming from her chest. She’s still with me. Battling against the clock, I prop her up and grab the suture kit, expertly threading the needle in seconds.
Not my first rodeo.
“Here.” I offer the jacket cuff to her, slipping it in her slack mouth. “Bite down and try to keep quiet. We don’t need company right now.”
It takes me half an hour to get the deepest cuts stitched, cleaned and bandaged. She missed the major arteries but still managed to screw herself up good and proper, enough to threaten her life. She needs blood, but I’m so mad I can barely think straight, keeping myself strictly disciplined to focus on one problem at a time.
Then I’ll punish her for trying to leave me.
“I’d offer you something for the pain, but that’s kinda the point, right?” I bark at her.
“Fuck you. I didn’t ask you to help me.”
I gently extricate her ghostly white body from the tub, ignoring the bloody mess left behind as I carry her to my bed. Gently setting her down, those wide, unnerving eyes glare up at me. My fingers tighten on her chin and I fight the urge to bend her over my knee right here, right now. Like she fucking deserves, verging on death or not.
“You’re selfish and give no regard for anyone else’s feelings,” I accuse, staring down at her. She collapses against the pillows and eyes the thick bandages encasing her arms.
“Are you real?” Brooklyn asks me.
My stomach bottoms out. “Of course I’m real.”
I cup her cheek so that she can feel me, automatically leaning into my touch. I’m beyond terrified, more than I’ve ever felt in my life as I stare at her numb, confused gaze. What happened to her? First Eli, now my firecracker. The world feels like it’s ending.
“It’s the anniversary,” Brooklyn murmurs.
“Of what, baby?”
She tries to hold it in, but the words tumble free nonetheless, followed by near hysterical tears. “One year ago, I became a monster. I’m not going to drag you all down to hell with me, you deserve better than that. Just let me walk away now and it’ll be simpler for everyone.”
I collapse next to Brooklyn, pulling the sticky, stained shirt over my head because I can’t fucking think straight while covered in her blood. It’s unhinging my damn sanity, reminding me of how close we just came to losing her.
“That’s today? Fuck, baby…”
