And the next thing I knew, I bolted out the door and sprinted straight to the garage, trying to make it to Eva’s side as quickly as I could get there.
22
Eva
My eyes opened slowly, and the first thing I smelled was disinfectant. The stench was so strong that it made my nose curl, and I shifted to get away from it. And when I moved, I heard a swarm of footsteps rocket toward me before a bright light shone in my eyes.
“Can you tell me your name?”
The deep, resonating voice rattled my ribcage. “Uh, Eva.”
“Good, good. Can you tell me the last thing you remember?”
The doctor’s office.“Sorry, where am I? Where’s Dr. Lucy.”
“At least she remembers that,” a female voice said.
“Can you open your mouth?”
I did as the voice asked of me, but I felt panic rising in my gut. Where the hell was I? Who were these people? This didn’t feel like Dr. Lucy’s office. For one, the bed in there wasn’t big enough to allow me to lay down. I shouldn’t have been lying down in the office.
Then, I felt someone messing with the top of my hand.
“Stop,” I murmured. And when I ripped it away, I brought my hand in front of my face only to see the IV protruding out of my skin. “I’m in a hospital?” I exclaimed.
“Where is she? Eva? Where are you?” Gavin’s voice sounded so far away, and yet it was crystal clear.
I batted away the hands and the questions, frustrated that no one would answer mine. I tried to prop myself up, but a pair of hands pressed against my shoulders.
“You need to lie down. You’ve been out for quite some time.”
“Eva!” Gavin exclaimed.
I cleared my throat. “Help! I’m in here, Gavin!”
The thundering of footsteps headed my way before people started grunting. I blinked to try to clear my vision, but it was fuzzy. Hazy. Like I had just taken a handful of narcotics or some shit like that. I put my hand up to try to take stock of the IV again, but instead, I felt something warm wrap around it. Something warm and familiar.
“I’m right here. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be just fine,” he cooed.
“Mr. Lincoln,” the booming voice said, “I didn’t realize she was with you.”
I looked over at Gavin. “What’s going on? Why am I here?”
He furrowed his brow. “They haven’t told you where you are yet?”
“She just woke up. We were trying to get a read on her vitals to make sure she didn’t sustain any head trauma when she passed out,” a female voice said.
Gavin didn’t take his eyes off me. “Thank you, nurse. I’ll take it from here, guys.”
“We still have tests to run. We don’t know why she fainted,” the deep voice said.
I sniffled. “I do.”
Gavin brushed my hair away from my forehead. “You know why you passed out in the doctor’s office?”
I nodded slowly. “Can you get everyone to leave? We really need to talk.”
With a flick of his wrist, the entire staff in my hospital room was gone. I heard a soft buzzing of the fluorescent lights blanketing us and rattling my eardrums. Gavin’s eyes were filled with worry, but I knew soon they would be filled with anger.
