Page 131 of Heartless Game

I struggled to open my eyes; they were so heavy. Finally, on the third try, I cracked them open.

“Oh my god, she’s awake!” an unfamiliar woman’s voice said. “I’ll go get the doctor.”

I heard a door open and then shut.

“Oh, honey.” My vision swam, but when it settled, my mother was in front of me.

She gripped my hand.

“You’ve been out for days,” she said. “I thought I’d lost you. Oh thank god, you’re okay.”

My last memories came back to me. Shabbat dinner at the Silvers, guns trained on me and my mother. The deal Isaac and his father made. His father threatening to kill my mother—and me confessing that I’d been the one to murder my stepfather.

Abe trying to shoot me.

Isaac fighting him for the gun.

Isaac shooting his father, knowing the bullet would go through him, too.

Isaac, falling to the ground.

Knocking the gun out of the guard’s hand and running to Isaac.

And then the gunshot, the pain, and Isaac’s eyes on mine as everything faded to black.

Isaac.

Only my mother was in the room with me.

Where was Isaac?

“Where is he?” I asked my mom. “Where’s Isaac? Is he okay? Did he make it? Is he?—”

I could barely voice my fears out loud.

She laughed again. “He’s fine. He didn’t leave the room for days, except, I hope, to use the toilet at some point. His brothers finally dragged him out of here so he could shower.” She lowered her voice in a false whisper. “He was beginning to stink.”

“Oh,” I said, settling into the bed I was lying on, relief allowing my strained muscles to relax.

“Oh,” she mimicked. “You’ve been hiding things from me. I’ll admit, I’m…concerned about your involvement with the next head of the Silver family. I don’t want you anywhere near their violence or criminal activity. But he does seem to truly care about you, and wants to protect you, and I do like that.”

“Mom, I think—” I began, before I could finish the sentence the door slammed opened. A tall man in a white doctor’s coat entered the room, Isaac right on his heels.

The man gave me the chills. Isaac did not seem concerned.

“— a second to check her over,” the doctor was saying.

“Fuck that.” Isaac moved around him, crossing with long strides toward the bed and pulling an IV stand behind him. He stopped, leaning down and pressing a hard, possessive kiss to my lips.

“Ow,” I complained.

“Shit.” He lifted his head, pressing a softer, gentler kiss to my forehead. “I just—fuck, Tovah. I thought I’d lost you. I thought you were gone. I thought?—”

“We know what you thought,” my mom said, dryly. “You haunted the halls of this hospital while she was recovering and yelled at so many doctors, I’m surprised they didn’t kick you out.”

Isaac shrugged. “It worked, didn’t it? Your daughter’s alive, and safe.” He looked at me. “And you’re going tostayalive and safe.” A look passed over his face, one I couldn’t read. It scared me a little.

“You’re okay,” he said again, kissing my forehead.

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