52
Violet
When Will and I get back to the apartment, I make us grilled cheese sandwiches and warm up a can of soup for something fast before I take a quick shower. We both fall asleep, one on each couch in the living area with the television left on.
I only sleep three and a half hours and when I wake up, he’s not on the couch opposite to me, but I can hear him talking, sounding like he’s in the hallway by the bedrooms. I spot him in the hall on my way into the master bedroom. He waves while talking on the phone.
I head to the bathroom and use it, then wash my face and brush my teeth. When I come out, he’s pulling his shoes on.
“I was just on the phone with Tony. All seven bottles of booze had drugs in them. Not just one thing. A cocktail of shit, apparently. Lots of bad shit. The cops think it was related to a case they’re working on where Killian was helping.”
“I’m gonna change my clothes and then can we go back?” I ask, “I hate not being there and don’t want him alone when he wakes up.”
“Yeah. When you’re ready. He’s already awake.”
“Shit. I’ll be five minutes,” I say and rush to the bedroom so I can change.
***
When we step into his hospital room, Killian is awake. I rush over to him, feeling relief at seeing he’s no longer restrained.
“Hi,” I say, leaning in and putting my lips to his. I’m so relieved I could cry. “How are you feeling?”
He looks into my eyes and his nostrils flare. His lip curls and then he swallows, and says nothing.
I wait.
It’s an awkward moment of silence, Will hovering near the door.
The doctor comes in.
“Hello, Mrs. Coulter.”
“Hi,” I say, turning in the doctor’s direction and grab for Killian’s hand.
His hand is sort of limp so my eyes dart to his face briefly. Maybe he’s groggy. I rub my hand over his and look at the doctor expectantly. “Do you need me out of the way?”
It registers that Killian isn’t squeezing my hand back. He’s not looking at the doctor, either; he’s just staring in the other direction at nothing. And his jaw muscles keep bulging, like he’s clenching his teeth over and over.
“Nope, you’re good. So,” the doctor says, “the mix of substances detected in his system was a dangerous combination and he’s frankly lucky he didn’t go into cardiac arrest or even organ failure. Labs look better right now than they did a few hours ago, but he’ll be here until tomorrow. His heart rate is still more erratic than I’d like. And because there could be some residual effects we’ll keep a close eye.”
“Such as?” Will asks.
“We want to ensure he’s not having further hallucinations, for one thing. That can linger. We’ll be testing his urine and blood every few hours as well as monitoring his blood pressure, heart rate, and so forth. So, just lots of rest and monitoring, running labs and you can likely take him home tomorrow.”
“How’s Jagger?” I ask.
The doctor answers, “Similar. I can’t speak to non-family about his condition, though since you all went through this together, it’s probably safe for me to say that he didn’t ingest as much as your husband by the results, but thankfully got in here quickly as even with less in his system, the levels were still dangerous. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Thank you,” I say to the doctor.
“I’ll talk to Tony. Get an update,” Will says. “He’s a couple doors down with Jag. Don’t leave here, okay?”
I’m about to agree when Killian says, “Don’t.”
Will freezes and looks at us expectantly.
“Don’t leave her alone with me,” Killian says.
My body locks tight with surprise. Surprise turns to shock and a hollow pit in my stomach when Killian pulls his hand away from mine.
“Take her home.”
“Baby?” I say, frowning.
“Go home, Violet. I’ll be home tomorrow.” He still looks away.
“No,” I say. “I wanna stay here with you.”
He twists to look into my eyes and the expression on his face chills me to the bone. “Go. Home,” he grunts and then he turns his head away again. “Please.”
“Can you give us a minute?” I ask Will.
“No,” Killian grinds out. “Will, take her the fuck home. Stay there. Send Tony in on your way out.”
“Killian,” I try.
“Violet, go! Fuckin’ please,” he bites off, not looking at me.
I back up slowly, bumping into Will.
“Got you. It’s okay. Kill, I’ll take her home. Anything else?”
“No. Just take her home. Stay there until I call you.”
“Right,” Will says, grabbing my hand.
He tugs so I follow him out of the hospital room. I look over my shoulder as he does, my heart aching as Killian won’t even look at me.
I manage, with some difficulty, to work down a swallow. In the hallway, the doctor I was just talking to touches my arm, so I stop.