Page 128 of Sin Like the Devil

“Where the fuck are you?” he barks in greeting after two rings.

“It’s Ripley.”

Lennox pauses. “Where is Raine?”

“Out cold. Looks like an OD. You need to raise the alarm.”

“This isn’t a funny joke. Where is he?”

“Stop wasting time, Nox! Get fucking help!”

After a beat, there’s a loud thud like he’s punching whatever available surface is nearby.

“Where?”

“Art room. Next to where he was last time.”

“Stay with him!”

When the line disconnects, I toss his phone aside. Raine still hasn’t stirred. Pulling him away from the wall, I cradle his head in my lap and wrap my arms around him, attempting to transfer some warmth into his frozen body.

“Why?” I whisper through pooling tears. “I know we’re in a world of shit, but you didn’t have to do this.”

Smoothing sweaty hair from his face, I focus on the whistling of his nose, indicating each breath. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. My world narrows to those two functions, offering me the faintest sliver of hope.

“Please, Raine.”

Keeping a hand on his chest, I feel for the thrum of his heartbeat against his breastbone. Seconds pass sluggishly, turning into agonising minutes marked only by the beat of his continued existence.

“You deserve better than this place. I’ll let you go if I have to, but I need you to get help and be okay. You’ll never heal in Harrowdean.”

Holding his hand in a deathly tight grip, I feel the faintest twitching of his fingers. Just a whisper. Enough to convince me that he’s heard my voice in whatever drug-trapped hole he’s stuck in.

“You had to make me go and give a shit about you, huh?” I laugh wetly. “You couldn’t just take no for an answer.”

Ducking down, I press a kiss against his clammy, blue lips. My tears drip on his face, absorbed by golden stubble. I hold him close, trying hard not to sob, until the sound of company approaches.

“In here!” I shout.

The door cracks against the wall, mirroring the violence of the storm still raging outside. Lennox is at the head of the group, followed closely by Doctor Hall from the medical wing and Nina, the smart-mouthed nurse who cared for me.

“How long has Raine been unconscious?” Doctor Hall asks calmly.

“I don’t know… Ten minutes? He was like this when I found him.”

He crouches down, taking the medical bag from the nurse. “What has he taken?”

“I don’t know!”

He sighs. “Move aside please.”

“No, I’m not leaving him.”

Hands slide underneath my arms, and I’m yanked away from Raine. The doctor gently takes his head and rests it on the floor before he begins his examination. I hiss and curse as Lennox drags me backwards, his fingers digging deep into me.

“What did you sell him?” he growls in my ear.

“This wasn’t me.”

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