Page 129 of Sin Like the Devil

“Where’d he get it from, then? The tooth fairy?”

“It’s not my shit. I’ve been monitoring him.”

Lennox keeps me pinned against his front, unable to wriggle free. “I warned you, Ripley. You just crossed the fucking line.”

“We’ve got loss of consciousness and signs of respiratory depression.” Doctor Hall straightens. “Likely opioid intoxication. It’ll have to be an intramuscular injection.”

Nina roots around in the medical bag. After checking the labels, she pulls out two wrapped syringes and begins to prep them. Doctor Hall quickly radios to whoever is listening to request additional help.

We’re both transfixed as the nurse lifts Raine’s right leg to give the doctor a good angle to approach his thigh from. Doctor Hall holds the first needle at a right angle then inserts it into Raine’s thigh through his clothing.

“Naloxone administered at 19:04.” He checks his wristwatch. “100 micrograms.”

“What are they doing to him?” Lennox snarls.

I struggle against his grip. “It’ll reverse the OD.”

After waiting two minutes, they check his breathing again before administering another dose. My heart is ready to tear free from my chest, and I can feel how hard Lennox is shaking. He still hasn’t released me from his muscled prison.

After several minutes, Raine’s breathing is a little less shallow. He still hasn’t woken up, but I can see his chest rising and falling with deeper breaths. Nina keeps two fingers clamped tight on his wrist, measuring his pulse rate.

“Is he going to be okay?” Lennox’s voice is rough.

“I’m familiar with Raine’s file.” Doctor Hall disposes of the used needles. “There’s a higher risk of acute withdrawal following this treatment in cases of chronic drug abuse.”

“Meaning?” Lennox snaps.

“He’ll need to be admitted and monitored.”

Barely able to see through my tears, I’m not sure when my body stopped fighting to escape and started leaning into the warm embrace of its captor. Feeling Lennox’s firm chest at my back keeps me upright as I watch another nurse and two extra guards roll a mobile stretcher in.

“On three. Okay, one… two… three.”

It takes two of them to lift Raine’s limp body up and onto the stretcher. He’s still deathly pale and clammy, those molten eyes sealed shut. Lennox’s tight grip on me finally slackens, but I don’t leap away yet.

“Please,” I whisper. “I want to?—”

Disregarding me, they wheel him away. I’m left staring after them, unspoken words hanging on my lips, regret holding me captive now. I can’t move. Can’t blink. All I can see is Raine’s blue lips and slack face. Just like Holly.

She was still hanging when I found her. Tiptoes barely scraping the bedroom carpet. Jeans soaked with urine. Throat crushed. Lips blue. Eyes wide. She was as still as stone and cold as ice.

Worlds coalesce and become one. I’m staring down the barrel of another potential loss while being held by the person who instigated the last. I’m not sure when fate decided to become such a cruel bitch, but I’m sick of the irony.

“Let go!” I erupt.

Seeming to snap back to his senses at the same time, Lennox abruptly releases me like I burned him. “With pleasure.”

“We need to get to the medical wing.”

“You’re going nowhere,” he deadpans.

Spinning around, I meet his hard, seafoam glare. “Raine needs me!”

“Raine needs you to leave him the fuck alone!” Neck muscles corded, rage pours from Lennox. “Which you seem incapable of doing. I won’t let you sell another fucking pill to him.”

“I didn’t do this!” I throw out my arms in frustration. “They weren’t my pills!”

“You’re such a manipulative cunt. I don’t believe a self-serving word that leaves your mouth.”

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