He shuffles under me, trying to retrieve his phone from his pocket.
I lean my head on the rim of the toilet, the cold ceramic grounding me. The room is spinning but not as bad with the distraction of the cold surface on my cheeks. It isn't until I hear Marcus on the phone that I realize the comforting hand is gone.
It was Marcus?The loss of that comfort doesn't last long as I dry heave again. This time I don't attempt to move, I just keep my eyes shut and let my mouth tip over the bowl. Marcus rambles words that I don't even try to focus on as my whole body convulses, trying to expel whatever stomach acid is left.
"He’s coming." Marcus says as his hand returns to my back, stroking just like he was before and I allow myself the touch, even though it’s from him.
7
Hunter
I stand from the sofa cushion as Raf reaches the living area. I don't give him a chance to talk as I ask, "What is it?"
"She seems to be suffering from a chronic bladder infection that hopefully hasn’t traveled to her kidneys. I took a urine sample and will put a rush on it just to make sure. For now, I have her on an IV of strong antibiotics just to be safe." He shifts his stance as he continues, "Aside from the infection I have to say," he pauses, assessing Marcus on the couch and me, standing in front of him, "it looks like she’s suffered severe trauma."
My fists ball up in the pockets of my pants as I take in his words along with the body language. I don't push for more information, it's not his to tell. It's Elliott's to share, if she wants to. "Thank you, Raf." I relax my hands enough to pat him on the shoulder, the closest I can get to a hug at this moment.
Raf has been our personal medical professional since we started to branch out with our back-end work. He’s seen us with anything from stab wounds to head gashes and bullet removals. He doesn't mind the unethical ways we ask for medical attention, he likes the pay and has found a friendship with the three of us. Hell, he's probably more like family. At least I would hope he is.
"You need to take care of her. She’s weak and she needs food and rest."
"Trust me, we know. We’ve tried to get her to eat, but she won't move out of that bed." Marcus interjects.
"We’ll work on it. She needs time but I know she also needs to stay alive."
"I have an extra set of IV bags for you to change out in a few hours. After that, bandage her up. I'll be in contact soon." With a nod he turns, leaving the house.
"Come on, we should go talk to her."
"You go talk to her, she doesn't want me there."
"You need to get over thisthingthat you have towards her if she is going to feel comfortable enough to open up about herself, Everton, and whatever else Kam needs to be able to finish this mission."
He grabs his phone, leaning on his knees as he starts to tap on the screen, "I don't see why I have to be a part of this little conversation you want to have with her. You want her to open up to you, thenyougo."
He’s being a little shit.
I saw the way he comforted her earlier when she looked like death. He cares and that's what has his briefs in a bunch. That and the fact that we hadn't heard from Kam. He’s worried about him, I am too. But from all the missions we’ve done, we trusted that Kam always knows what to do and handles it on his own. It still doesn't put my mind at ease though. I could only imagine what Marcus was going through. He was still pissy towards Kam after our split and as annoyed as he was for wanting Kam back despite it, his stubbornness kept him from admitting it. He will always care for us just like I’ll always love and care for them.
I kick his leg and he fumbles forward, his phone dropping to the floor. "Get. Up."
"What the fuck, man?"
"Let's go."
"Fine." He grunts, picking his phone up off the floor before following behind me to Kameron's room.
I knock once before opening it slowly, peering around the door to see her lying in bed. Neither of us are surprised. Her eyes open but they droop, no evidence of the endless amount of sleep she’s had.
"Hey." I say, stepping closer so I’m standing by the bed. I scan her face to see that the color has started to come back a bit. There’s an IV attached to the crease of her elbow and the backup bags hanging on the wall behind her. It looks like Raf put a bag of saline to help with the dehydration she was suffering from. "How are you feeling now?"
"Okay." She replies through tight lips.
"Good to hear," I put my hands in my pockets as I look her over again. She turns her head away. "Look, I know this is a really rough time for you right now, but we need to work together. And the first step is eating something." She doesn't look my way so I continue, "Food first and then when you're ready, hopefully you can talk and tell us what happened. Marcus will be back with a snack, something small to start. I don't want all this medicine to hurt your stomach. How does that sound?"
Her body tenses but she nods, looking out the window on the other side of the bed. I look over to Marcus and I turn to exit the room, leaving her to rest.
"I didn't realize I was her servant now." He huffs out behind me as we go down the hall.
