Page 137 of Claimed

Eloise softly says, “She wanted to stay close. Soon time to dispense more anti-nausea meds.”

She points to a whiteboard leaned against the wall on the back of the medicine table.

I move over there and then return to Eloise, saying, “My name’s not on the schedule.”

“Your mate asked us not to include you. It’s okay, plenty of volunteers put their hands up.”

I frown, but don’t reply. I can see Cat got the next doses of meds in paper cups, lined up on the table. There’s a clipboard on the table, too, with notes on it about the patients.

“Did you get any sleep?” I ask Eloise.

She shrugs. “A little. Glad my girl is back.”

“How is she?”

Eloise gives me a dark look, and I can only imagine how Jennifer is doing.

She leans closer and drops the volume of her voice even softer, adding, “I did wake up when they took Jillian out.”

“No, not Jillian?”

“Didn’t make it.”

I blow out a hard exhale and hold back threatening tears as I stare at the place where Jilian was and see it’s someone else now. Another female. I also see yellow Post-it notes on the floor in front of each mattress except for where Jillian was. That Post-it is pink. My nostrils flare as I try to decode the scent as there’s only some dark hair showing from the top of the blankets. It doesn’t smell as bad in here as it did yesterday, but the smell of sickness definitely lingers and is making it hard for me to discern who that is.

“Margaret took ill in the middle of the night,” Eloise explains, “Larry must have just started her on the soup recently.”

My eyes find Larry, who is lying on the floor, asleep beside Floyd. Those two are the only ones who don’t have pillows, blankets, or mattresses.

“I want to kick him,” I say, then add, “even if that’s hypocritical of me.”

Eloise cups my shoulder and squeezes. “No, hon. That don’t make you a hypocrite.”

I roll my eyes doubtfully.

She shakes her head. “Big difference between following orders on strangers not knowing much about what it would do and what he did. Larry’s doing it on pack members young and old, family and friends, knowing exactly what would happen. People have been dying and he’s still doing it. Giant difference.”

I say nothing. Because Wyatt has a hold over all of us, clearly, since so many of us are still here and so many of us have done his bidding. I don’t like Larry, he’s not a nice guy, but he’s been ruled by fear, too.

“It was glorious when you slapped him, though.”

“I’m ashamed of how good it felt.”

“Don’t be ashamed. Lot of us wanted to do worse. Kimmy’s doing a bit better, too,” she adds. “No change with anyone else from what Cat said when she briefed me before she went to lie down.”

More folks are stirring, rising to sitting from their mattresses. Grey comes in, Linc behind him. I set my coffee down and move to him, sinking into his body for a moment before looking up.

“Hi,” I whisper.

“Hey,” he whispers back, eyes tired-looking.

I sink into his warmth for another brief moment, taking the comfort it gives me because I suspect today will be another long, hard day.

Tugging on the hem of my t-shirt makes me look down.

“Can we have another granola bar?” Lara asks, rubbing her eyes.

I see five other small heads pop up from their beds like prairie dogs at the mention of granola bars. And another head. One of the sick kids who says, “I’m hungry, too.”

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