Page 117 of Bones
I heard the door open and close. I tried to lick my lips to get some moisture into them. A head popped into my vision, startling me.
“Griz, she’s awake!” Apple called. Then she glanced back at me, her little hand resting over mine. “Hi, Bones, how you feeling?”
Griz appeared beside Apple, relief clear in his dark eyes. “There you are.”
“Water?” I croaked.
Apple grabbed something next to her, holding up a large jug of water with a clear tube sticking out of it. She placed the tube at my lips. “Here. Drink,” she ordered.
I obeyed, the cool water like a balm on my dry throat.
“What happened?” I mumbled after I drank my fill.
"You passed out while Mac was carrying you back," Griz explained. "When he got you home, your back was bleeding, so we had to check the stitches. Some of ’em were torn, so we sewed you back up. You had a burnout fever on top of all that. You were unconscious for almost two days."
I closed my eyes, trying to process all that. I had vague recollections of crying and pain and a warm hand squeezing mine.
“How you feelin’?” Griz asked.
“Like shit,” I muttered without opening my eyes.
“Did you just answer honestly?”
The surprise in Griz’s voice made me drag my eyes open again.
He smirked, but his eyes were worried. “I can’t tell if that means you’re dying or if you’re just actually starting to trust me.”
I rolled my eyes or tried to.
“Should I tell the others?” Apple asked, and I blinked in surprise at her hand resting on his thick arm without fear.
“Yeah, peanut. Go tell ’em.” He smiled.
“I’ll be back, Bones,” she promised as she bounded to the door.
Griz pulled up a chair to the side of my mattress and—Wait.A chair? How was he eye level with me?I reached over the edge of the mattress. Normally I’d immediately touch the floor, but now my fingers touched only air.
“We made you a bed frame with some cinder blocks,” Griz said, noticing my hand. “Makes it a lot easier to take care of your back when you’re up a little higher.”
Something clenched in my chest, but I wasn’t sure whether it was gratitude for the gift or guilt that they were taking care ofme.
“You got lots of visitors,” Griz added. “Seems most people are takin’ your side.”
Anxiety swirled in my stomach. “Side?”
“They think Madame was wrong,” he said, his eyes studying me.
My heart started beating faster, clearing the cobwebs in my head a little.
“They think she needs to be stopped.”
“Don’t tell me that,” I whispered.
“I’m just repeatin’ what they said.”
“I can’t…I can’t know. I don’t…Madame will—” I broke off, my lips trembling. Didn’t they know they’d end up in that fucking chair in Madame’s dungeon if they said shit like that? And then Madame would force me to help her torture them and I couldn’t?—
“Ok.” Griz covered my shaking hand with his steady one. “It’s ok. I won’t tell you.” He still sounded calm but something like disappointment flashed across his face.
