And I’ll be the one to make it happen, enjoying every minute of it.
Britt
Familiar, pale silver eyes fill with tears that overflow down ruddy, freckled cheeks. I’m cramped, my body curled up tight, shaking like a leaf while pressed against the person with the haunted eyes. My nostrils sting from the smell of industrial cleaner and the acrid burn of sulfur. Heavy boots thud into view.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
I jolt awake, the sudden movement sending a streak of pain through my skull.
“Ow.” I try to reach up to touch my scar, but someone is holding my hand.
“Thank god, you’re awake! Jesus, Britt. I was so fucking scared.”
“Keller?” My voice is hoarse and my throat is dry. His warm hand squeezes mine.
“Let me get the nurse.” He tries to untangle his fingers from mine and I panic, clinging to his arm.
“No! Don’t leave me!” Memories of being in the hospital after waking up from brain surgery and a weeklong coma have me freaking out. The beeping of the heart monitor gets faster and faster, a loud alarm drawing unwanted attention to my distress.
“Okay. It’s okay, baby. I’m here.
” Keller squeezes my hand before reaching over and pressing a button to summon the nurse.
“What happened?” I croak, licking my cracked lips. Keller lifts a cup and puts a straw between them. The cool water soothes my raw throat.
Keller’s hand tightens on mine. “Don’t worry about that right now.”
I want to push for more information, but a harried nurse enters the room. She gives Keller a scathing look that lets me know he’s most likely been a nuisance.
“Hello, Miss Reeves. Welcome back. I’m Mona. I need to check your vitals and then Dr. Wetzel will be in to see you.” Mona fusses with various buttons and my IV line, throwing a scowl or two Keller’s way. At some point, Keller threw his hood up over his brow, hiding most of his face, which probably aggravates Mona even more.
Her work done, Mona stalks out of the room in a huff with a promise to find the doctor.
“Why am I here?” I ask Keller again. He winces and his face turns red. Even under that hood I can see he doesn’t want to tell me. “Tell me, Keller!”
Sighing, he pushes back the hood, letting it fall against his back. Troubled gray eyes meet mine and I gasp. Flashes of tears, of screams, of the metallic scent of gunpowder assail my fragile mind. Frightened, I twist, yanking free from Keller’s grip and press the heels of my hands to either side of my head.
“Britt? Britt? What the fuck? Hey! Help! What’s happening?”
I curl up, screaming while pushing on my temples to try and purge the horrific visions. The machines attached to my body go crazy, beeping in a loud cacophony that only adds to my agitation.
“Move back, please.” A commanding voice enters the room.
“Fuck you, I’m not leaving her!” Even while I’m falling to pieces, the panic edging into Keller’s voice is obvious. Keller is on the verge of losing it.
“Sir, if you don’t step aside, I’ll have security remove you from the premises. You are not family and we can keep you out.”
“Fuck!”
Keller must do what they ask because several sets of hands touch me at once, causing me to flinch and let out a strangled cry. A stranger speaks. “Britton? Can you calm down?”
Blood, gunpowder, silver eyes, burnt rubber, more blood, so much blood… memory after memory pummels my mind as it splinters into fragments—ignorant bliss on one side, reality demanding to be set free on the other.
“Mona, push one milligram of Versed, IV.”
A soothing chill enters my vein and before I can piece together the images, my world goes dark.
* * *