With an unpleasant sensation in his chest, Gray slowly disconnected the machine from his torso, then proceeded to get rid of the IV, and all the other things that had kept his body in working order throughout… God knew how long. The catheter was the worst bit, and he ended up unsuccessful, silently cursing all the gods he didn’t believe in. He sat through the intense pain in his dick and lower stomach, but once it receded, it was time to move. With the goddamn thing still in if necessary.
Once free, Gray found the lock of the side rail and slid it back, carefully shifting his legs off the mattress until the tips of his toes brushed the floor.
He stood on trembly legs, shocked by how weak he felt, but his first steps still took him to the window, and he was relieved to see that it was not the night of the new moon. Breathless, he let himself lean against the cold glass that relieved the feverish haze, and watched a lone car move down the street.
The hospital was on the outskirts of Brecon, and when he looked toward town, spotting very few lit windows, it became clear that it was past midnight. This, at least, explained the deathly silence.
Gray made his way toward the door until his shadow climbed up the wall—elongated, and so dark something about its almost physical presence triggered a bleep in his mind.
But when he stopped moving, the shadow did as well. There was nothing unusual about it. Maybe his brain was still not at its best after the shock his body went through following the fire.
He opened the door and left the small room, standing still in the dark, empty corridor. There were lamps lit on either end of it, but the distance seemed impossibly far, like a mirage in the desert that a man could follow for hours without ever getting closer to the lifesaving water. Gray rested some of his weight on the wall and moved. With his head down, he watched the resin tiles under his bare feet, counting distance. Inch after inch, he neared the bright lamp, his one reason to drag his lead-brick feet along.
A whisper of music beckoned him beyond the glow above his head, and the closer he was, the more clearly he recognized the sound of an overrated pop number that he detested. There was no doubt about it—he was still in the human world.
For the briefest moment, his confused brain told him someone whispered from behind his back, but when he flinched and glanced over his shoulder, no one was hiding in the shadows.
By the time he reached the room where two nurses listened to music over a late-night dinner of sandwiches, he was panting and sweaty as if he’d ran five miles. His heart raced, dizziness made him lean against the doorframe, but he had to know what was going on with the Kings of Hell. Had someone else been hurt in the fire?
For a moment, he wasn’t sure why the two women looked so spooked when they finally spotted him, but he calmed down and let one of them lead him back to his room once they promised to call his father.
A doctor came over to see him next, and once she had gone, one of the nurses switched on the television to entertain Gray, but the rerun of some dumb family-friendly sitcom didn’t make the passing of time any easier.
From the corner of his eye, he watched his own shadow stir every time the brightness of the television screen changed ever-so slightly. The thing had been following him all his life, yet for once he found its presence unsettling, as if it could listen to Gray’s thoughts and watch him like a hidden camera. Was it… darker than it should have been, or was it the sigil carved into Gray’s skin that made everything appear a bit strange and alien?
The wait felt like hours, even though he’d only managed to get to episode two of the show when the stomping in the corridor outside told him his father was coming.
Rev was a hulking presence in the doorway, his bald head reflecting the light overhead, wide chest heaving as he caught his breath after rushing down the corridor. There was a spot of white paint where his black T-shirt stretched over a rounded belly, but he seemed put-together enough that he couldn’t have been sleeping when he got the call.
Gray tried to wave, but the hand he felt rise and move wasn’t there. He tried to ignore the twist in his gut and spoke. “How long was I out?”
Rev smiled widely and walked up to him with arms stretched out as if he wanted to give Gray a hug, but then took a glance at the side where the stump was and instead pulled up a chair and patted Gray’s leg with unusual gentleness.