CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

“Hey, Crosby. Hannah and I went for a little hike.” I grit my teeth as he helps me sit up on the bench, but a yelp of pain escapes anyway.

“Hannah?” I ask through my clenched teeth. “Can you go ahead of us and find Charlie? Let him know what happened? The way word gets out around here, I don’t want him hearing it from anyone else. Tell him I’m okay.”

“You’re not okay.”

“But I will be. Please, just let him know we’re on our way.”

Hannah nods, and then takes off toward Jhana Park and our dorm.

“Oh, sweetie, what did they do to you?” Crosby kneels down in front of me. He puts a hand under my chin to check out my face.

“Not they. Alonzo. He was pretty awful to Herc, too, although I got the worst of it. I’m pretty sure my ribs are broken.” I look back toward the edge of the park. “I don’t think they followed us. At least, Alonzo sure didn’t.”

“You’re safe now. He will never hurt you again. I promise you that.” He stands. “I’m going to pick you up now. I know it’s going to hurt, but I promise I’ll be as careful as I can.”

“No tossing me over your shoulder this time,” I say with a shaky smile.

He slips his arm under my knees and puts his other arm behind my back. I gasp at the pain of putting my arms around his neck.

“Okay, kiddo. You ready?”

I nod, and hold my breath. He lifts me up, and I bury my face in his chest, screaming from the pain.

“Sorry,” he whispers.

The trip back to the dorm is a blur of pain and confusion. I slip in and out of a haze, perhaps from shock, or maybe from pure exhaustion.

I come back around to a state of vague awareness and realize I’m back in our suite.

Hello, sweet bed.

Crosby puts me down as if the slightest bump might make me shatter into a million pieces. He sits down next to me, on my injured side. Even the small bit of movement as the side of the bed sinks makes me cringe.

“Sorry,” he says. “Let’s see how bad you are now that we’re back in decent lighting.” He gives my cheek a thorough, worried appraisal.

“That man has a nasty right hook,” I say. “I guess I should have been jumping out of windows for practice, like Charlie.”

Crosby’s hand freezes on my jaw mid-inspection. “That’s not funny.”

“I’m not sure I was joking. What’s the trick, anyway?”

“To not feeling pain?”

“Yeah. I mean, Charlie has it figured out, but Delphine and Louis, they got hurt when we escaped. And they’ve been here, what, a hundred years or something?”

“Correction, they were here a hundred years. Past tense.” He places an ice pack on my cheek. “There’s really no trick to getting past pain. You just have to be ready. But it’s a hard thing to let go. Charlie’s a rare exception, mostly because—”

“He’s had lots of practice?”

“Exactly. That and stubborn determination.”

“Well, whatever it is, I’m jealous.”

“You’ll heal in no time. You’re in no short supply of stubbornness.”

“My ribs are what really hurt. Every breath I take feels like I’m being crushed.” I pull the left side of my shirt up just enough to show him the damage. The amount of pain it causes brings tears to my eyes.

Crosby takes a long look at my ribs and then pulls my shirt back down for me, saving me the painful trouble. “Good news is, by tomorrow you should be feeling a lot better.”

“Our little hike was not so great after all.” I touch my cheek gingerly.

“You ready to tell me what happened?”

“Okay.” The pain and the fear make the retelling nearly impossible, but somehow I manage. “He saw me that night with Bobby, outside Nero’s. And then after the pods when you were … ”

Crosby nods, letting me skip over the awful details.

“He was there. At the table in the corner. And he knew I saw him, and I mentioned Herc to you. He knew eventually I’d figure out that he was Herc’s dad, and he didn’t want me ruining his plans.”

“What plans?” Crosby asks.

“He made it sound like he and Herc were going to run off together. Start a new life. Ironic, huh?” I’m teary-eyed. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what? You did what you had to do to defend yourself.”

“Pushing him—it was reflex. Herc started screaming and looking for a way down the canyon so he could go after his dad. That’s when Hannah and I got out of there.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

The door bursts open and Charlie charges through like a bull. “Dez?” He rushes to my side and takes a seat next to me. “My god, what did he do to you?” His posture is rigid. “Where is he?” he asks Crosby.

“You mean Herc?” I ask.

“I’m going to—”

Hannah walks through the door. “I already told you, it wasn’t Herc’s fault.”

“She’s right,” I say. “There’s no way he could stand up to his dad. The guy’s psychotic.”

Hannah sits down on her bed. “Is there anything else I can do?”

“If you don’t mind coming with me for a bit,” Crosby says, “I’d appreciate it. I need to talk to you about what happened.”

Charlie begins to stroke my hair, ignoring our observers. “I can’t believe he did this to you.” He looks over at Crosby. “So, what’s going to happen to them? I mean, if Herc thinks we’re going to still be roommates after this, he’s out of his freaking mind. And his dad better not come anywhere near Dez or Hannah again. Or any of us, for that matter.”

Crosby waves his hand, stopping Charlie’s rant before it gains too much momentum. “We’ve already sent guards from adult segregation to retrieve Alonzo. He will be moved to a secured housing unit in the city and placed under strict supervision.” He sits back and rubs his face. “As for Herc, I’m not sure what will happen. That will be up to Kay and other administrative staff. For now, he’ll be moved to a different dorm, but my best guess is they’ll want to work toward reintroducing him to your floor.”

Charlie shakes his head. “No way. I’m sorry, but when you head out into the wilderness to attack your floormates, you don’t get to be on our floor anymore. He’s burned his bridges.”

“I’m fine with him coming back, eventually,” I say. “Like I said, I feel sorry for him. Today I got a taste of what his life must have been like, and it wasn’t pretty.”

Crosby eases off the edge of the bed. “I’m going to head out, but I’ll come back to check on you in the morning. You’re in good hands.”

“Thanks, Crosby. For everything,” I say.

“Anytime, kiddo. Ready to go?” he asks Hannah.

“Sure thing.” She comes over and pats my leg. “I’ll be back in a little bit, okay? Then we can work on getting you changed into pajamas.”

“That sounds awesome. Looking forward to it.”

“Take good care of her, Charlie,” she says as they leave.

“No worries. I was a Boy Scout, after all. I’m a highly trained professional.”

It’s a relief to see a glimmer of his humor return. “We might need to put your first aid badge to use,” I say.

Charlie runs the back of his fingers up and down my arm as we sit and contemplate the events of the past twenty-four hours. It’s hard to believe we could face so much peril in so little time. Facing down a sadistic killer was just the icing on the cake, I guess.

I touch my cheek, checking to see how tender and painful it is, and move my hand down to my ribs. Even the most careful touch makes me grit my teeth in pain.

Charlie looks like he’s going to be sick. “Hannah said … she said Herc’s dad, he kicked you?” His clenched jaw sets his face in a tight grimace.

My hand strokes his cheek. “I’m going to be okay, Charlie,” I say softly.

“I can’t believe—I mean, why would he want to hurt you?”

I can’t help but think back to the question I asked Crosby yesterday: Am I being punished? Now I’m beginning to think that everyone around me is, too. “Herc’s dad is an angry man. He’s a bully, and was furious I stood up to his son. He was even madder that I stood up to him. I guess he wanted to teach us all a lesson.”

Charlie adjusts the pillows propping me up. “How bad does it hurt?”

Pointing to the left side of my face, I explain, “I turned my head as he swung, so he got me on the cheek and ear. My ribs took the brunt of it, though.”

“Doesn’t it hurt to talk?”

“Not so much. It’s going to take more than Alonzo to shut me up.”

We stare into each other’s eyes and let ourselves drift. The idea of getting “lost” in someone’s eyes used to elicit my best, most sarcastic eye roll, but for the second time since meeting Charlie, I understand what everyone was talking about. Perhaps death intensifies the experience, adding eternity to the mix. My pulse pounds and my stomach does somersaults.

He leans in and his lips brush against my forehead in a gentle kiss. “That didn’t hurt, did it?” he asks.

“No,” I whisper.

Our lips meet, warm and soft, shy and hesitant. Everything else falls away. I forget the pain, the fear, even that we’re dead. All that matters is this kiss, and I don’t ever want it to end.

Charlie caresses the uninjured side of my face, and the kiss becomes more urgent, as if we were to stop, we might never get the chance again. My breathing is rapid despite the fiery pain engulfing my side. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. My fingers run up his arms, coming to rest on his solid, lean shoulders. My lips part as I pull him closer.

His fingers trace down my arm, his hand coming to rest behind the small of my back as he pulls me close. I run my fingernails gently up the back of his neck, and he shudders. I tilt my head back, breathing hard as his lips move down my jaw to my collarbone.

I could get used to this.

Except the door is opening.

Charlie sits up just as Hannah walks in.

“Wow, that was quick,” I say, still in a daze.

“I was gone like half an hour,” she says with an odd, amused look on her face. “Looks like you two have been busy.”

Charlie hops up from the bed, trying to look casual and failing miserably. “Uh, I should probably, you know, get going. You two need to, uh, get ready for DSR and stuff. So, yeah, I’m going to head out.” He gives us a little salute as he leaves.

Luckily for me, I get to stay in bed propped up on pillows. I don’t have to try to act casual. Nice bonus of having dark skin? Nobody can see you blush.

“What was that?” Hannah demands, grinning.

“What was what?”

“You’re lucky you’re laid up. Otherwise I’d force it out of you.” She smooths the case of one of my pillows. “You’re going to tell me just as soon as you’re feeling a bit better.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Have it your way.” She walks over to my closet and opens the door. “Let’s get you ready for bed.”