Page 60 of Aleko
“Interesting timing,” said Luca. Alex could hear the sound of the siren quickly approaching. Luca looked back at Pellos and then out at the ocean. “Get Pellos in the ambulance,” he said. “I will distract Anuket.”
“Luca,” Alex began, but Luca shook his head.
“No. Worry about Pellos. I will do this.”
Luca strode out to the patio and began to jog down the trail to the beach.
“I’ll go get the paramedics,” said Sebastian. “Stay here. Keep pressure on the wounds. I will be right back.”
Alex nodded. Things were happening to fast and not fastenough. He heard the rumble of the garage door opening. The ambulance siren wailed through the house and with a groan Lia sat up. Alex didn’t know what to do. He could see a trickle of blood coming from her scalp. She must have hit her head on the billiard table.
A bolt of lightning struck outside. Alex might have blinked, but he thought it went up from the beach, not down from the sky. Lia reached up a hand to the edge of the table and with a groan climbed to her feet. There was a pounding of feet and the paramedics ran in, their gurney wheeling between them. They pushed Alex out of the way—taking over the job Sebastian had given him. With quick bursts of chatter they lifted Pellos onto the gurney. Alex found that he couldn’t understand them. It was as if he had lost the ability to speak Greek.
“Where is he?” demanded Lia, looking around. “I will kill him.”
“You already did,” snarled Alex, angrily.
Her head swung around and he could tell she was having trouble focusing.
“What?”
“You shot Pellos!” he yelled.
Lia didn’t say anything. She simply stood there blinking at him.
“Get out of my house!” Alex yelled.
“Alex,” she began, putting one hand up to her head.
“You need to go,” said Sebastian, grabbing Alex by the arm. “Go with Pellos. I’ll go back up Luca.”
“Where is Pellos?” asked Lia looking around.
“Get out!” bellowed Alex, claws extending. He took a step toward Eliandra, but Sebastian got their first. He picked her up and carried her bodily out to the patio.
“I don’t understand!” Tears were trickling down her face.
“Run,” said Sebastian, “Just run.” Then he slammed the door.
Episode 32
The Hospital
Alex
Alex couldn’t breathe properly. He felt like he had a constant stitch in his side. He kept moving. Straightening. Sitting. Standing. It didn’t matter—he couldn’t breathe. He felt like his chest was being crushed. And without air, he couldn’t think properly. The consistent beep and woosh of the machines attached to Pellos only served to accentuate the lack of rhythm in his own breath.
He stole another glance at Pellos’s face. Distorted by the breathing tube, pale and gaunt from the lack of blood even though they’d been pumping it into him by the liter bagful, he barely looked like Pellos. But there in the line of his cheekbone and the curve of his nose, Alex could see the little boy he’d fallen in love with.
Alex had been so exasperated to have a tiny human following him around. What was he supposed to do with a little boy? Alex barely rememberedbeinga little boy. And what kind of life would it be for a human? Alex had tried to pawn him off on other people. Social workers, caring individuals, people who had proper plans and knew all about children. And then the next day, there would be Pellos, squawking and cheerful as a sparrow.
Alex had kept feeding him. He didn’t know what else to do. Children needed feeding, and Pellos had been a scarecrow—hardly more than bones and ragged clothes. And then, one day, Pellos hadn’t turned up, and Alex had panicked, fearing that something had happened to him. Alex had wanted Pellos, and then there he was—a tiny flickering dot behind his eyelids.
Alex closed his eyes now. The dot was still there, but it pulsedvery faintly, and Alex couldn’t breathe. He felt torn in half—betrayed on a level he couldn’t fathom. Alex covered his face with his hands. He didn’t even have anyone to pray to. He’d stopped believing in gods a long time ago. The only thing he really believed was that he was cursed by fate. But he hadn’t thought that fate would be quite this cruel. He leaned his forehead against the side of the Pellos’s bed, feeling the rough texture of the cotton sheets. When would he learn? He had nothing that fate couldn’t snatch away.
The room door slammed open and Alex lifted his head prepared to snarl at a careless nurse. Instead, it was Sebastian, carrying an awkward box.
“Bastian! Would you just wait!” Hudson was behind Sebastian and complaining, as usual. “You can’t just go bashing into things!”
