Page 47 of Fractured Constellations
“I’m a ham and pineapple kind of guy,” Thorn adds, and I snap my head to look at him.
“Of course you are.” I laugh as Patty gives my arm a little squeeze.
“I’ll be back later, just buzz if you need anything,” she tells me, and I give her a grateful smile before she leaves with the doctor.
“Now, what were you worrying about just then, Princess?” Blade asks, taking my chin in his fingers and turning my head to face him.
“That I hardly know you all, yet am relying on you for everything,” I confess, unable to resist the command in his tone.
He leans in, pressing our foreheads together. “You know our fucking souls, Goldilocks, because they are a part of yours. Everything else is unimportant.”
His words feel like a star has exploded inside me, rendering me speechless, because I know that he’s right. It’s like I’ve finally been reunited with the missing pieces of myself, which is fucking terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure.
“Now, Chase, order pizza for a snack and let’s get through this last bout together, then we can get the fuck out of here and take you home,” Blade commands and gives me a soft kiss before releasing his grip and settling back against the pillows, pulling me against his chest.
I look at Thorn, who’s staring at me like I’m every star in the sky, and it makes my heart skip a beat. Blade is right. Everything else is unimportant, because we have this connection which feels life-changing, and that’s all that matters…for now anyway. Everything else can follow.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“STAY(SPED UP VERSION)” BY SAMI ROSE
THORN
Iwatch as Luna struggles with the effects of this final transfusion, and the helplessness is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. No, maybe similar to what I felt with Mom, though I was far less involved than I am with Luna, so this just ratchets it up to a new level.
Her skin is even paler than usual, her hands trembling as she takes a sip of water from the cup that Blade is holding for her. Fuck. This is the worst kind of torture.
Mom’s hand trembles so much as she picks up her glass that it slips from her hand, falling and splashing all over the carpet by her bedside.
“Shit,”she hisses, her head resting back against the pillows, her eyes closing.
“Hey, Mom, don’t worry, I’ll clean this up,” I say, rushing into her bathroom and grabbing a towel to soak up the spill.
“Thank you, Thorn, honey,” she replies, her voice cracking as I walk back into the room.
“It’s what I’m here for, to take care of you,” I tell her, and she smiles, though it’s strained.
“I’m your mother, I should take care of you.” Her green eyes, so similar to mine, sparkle as tears fill them. I immediately abandon the towel and climb onto the bed next to her, taking her frail body in my arms and pulling her close.
“What do you call a funny lizard?” I ask, and she sniffles.
“I don’t know. What do you call a funny lizard?”
“A stand up chameleon!”
I blink out of the memory, finding myself back in the hospital room, Luna resting on Blade’s chest, her eyes closed as she shivers in his arms despite the blankets covering them both.
Chase is on his laptop, no doubt organizing logistics for getting her home and her care once we’re back. Blade has her charts next to him, his phone in front of him as he clearly researches her treatments, searching for anything we may have missed. I’m here for emotional support and to be a distraction. I can’t do the science shit they can, but I can make her laugh, and that must count for something.
My lungs expand as I take a deep, satisfied breath. We may still have a long way to go to make up for being such assholes in the beginning, but we’re working together as a team, as a unit with one goal: to get her better. And it’s undoubtedly the most important job of our lives.
I get caught in blue eyes that sparkled last week but now look dull, washed-out.
“What did the llama say when he was banned from the zoo?” I ask, and her lips twitch upwards, which is like the fucking sun and warms me from the inside out.
“I don’t know,” she answers, her voice soft and quiet.
“Alpaca my bags,” I answer, and her peal of laughter is like the greatest treasure, something that makes my brothers light up just as it does me.
