"How long will she need to rest?" I ask.
She looks at the IV bags above their heads. "It'll take at least twenty four hours for most of the drugs to wear off completely. She may not be fully coherent for a few days though."
Taking a deep breath, I hold back my anger. I don't want to leave her, but I don't want that asshole getting away. What should we do?
Nurse Cheshire turns back to us before leaving the room. "Doctor, you asked to be notified right away when the Madd Hatter finally arrived. He took over Lukas about an hour ago."
I smile, because the Madd Hatter is many things, but he would never hurt a woman. In fact, he would guard her with his life if we asked him to. She will be safe, while we go on the hunt.
"Nurse, please send him to me."
She nods, with that unnerving smile of hers firmly planted back on her chubby face. "Yes sir, I'll arrange it immediately."
ELEVEN
My Babysitter The Madd Hatter
I hope they aren't out there doing something stupid that will get them arrested.
-Presley
"Good morning,Ms. James. I take it you slept well?" A deep voice asks from somewhere near.
I've heard the voice before but I can’t quite place it. My eyelids flutter open and closed, because they're still so heavy with sleep. "Good morning. May I have something to drink please?" I whisper.
The person moves from my bedside but returns quickly. "Dr. Donovan, warned me that you might feel dehydrated when you woke up."
I take a couple of sips of ice water, and it's almost too cold for my throat. "Thank you." I say, before laying back down.
Like a razor blade cutting through the black fog in my mind,images of last night come flooding back in. Nausea grips my insides when I think about what Drew did to me.
Thankfully, I got away from him, but how many didn't? How many other poor girls has he done that to? "Where's Kai and Gunner?"
Contemplating his answer he's quiet for a moment. "They're out hunting."
Hunting? I don't understand what that means. We're all meat eaters, but they’ve never shown interest in that hobby before. I don't ask any of the questions buzzing in my head aloud. My brain is too fuzzy. Slowly, I drift back off to sleep.
Minutes pass or maybe it's hours. My stomach growls, and my groggy head aches. Begging my eyes to open all the way, I compromise by scrunching them like I'm looking up into the sun.
A man dressed all in black with his feet propped up on my hospital bed is reading a book. I do know him, but I've only talked to him once.
With his skeletal make up off, his top hat is the only way I know it's not Lukas. If my stepbrothers left me with him, then that means he won't hurt me. "What is your given name? Or am I supposed to call you the Madd Hatter?"
He chuckles. "You can call me Ashe."
Ashe, that's right, because he likes to start fires. "What are you reading?"
He hands me his paperback, the pages are well worn, and there's even notes on the inside of the ledgers. "It's all the works of Edgar Allen Poe. You know the man had to be insane himself to write this dark shit, even still, they’re masterpieces."
I nod. "I haven't read him in ages, but I've loved every story of his that I've read, even as a child. What's your favorite?"
One thing I didn't notice about Ashe before is that he'smethodical. I like that he doesn't just say words to say them, he thinks about it first.
After a moment he answers. "The Fall of the House of Usher. Surprisingly, it hits a little too close to home for me, therefore I hate it so fiercely that I love it."
I yawn. "In our English 1101 class that we had together, well that I had with your counterpart, we learned that there is a fine line between love and hate. Do you agree?"
He nods. "I remember you in that class. Lukas and I are always both present, one personality is just more dominant at any given time. We have Dr. Jekyll to thank for that. He has merged our personalities together to the point that we are in perfect sync with each other. I protect him, and he's helping me gain the parts of humanity that I lack. Thank you for being nice to him, he has his reasons for being the way that he is. We're working on it."
