Page 90 of Run for Her Life
“But how do you know this is real?” he asked hysterically. “What if tomorrow you woke up and someone removed the headset and told you that Zoe Storm was just a character you were playing? Thatthisis what wasn’t real?”
If only Jim knew the irony of the moment. If only he knew he wasn’t dealing with Zoe Storm right now. “Do you love her?”
“Of course I love her! She’s the one, my true love. What did I do? I just wanted to play…” His eyes bounced around, unable to focus on anything. She could see the madness seeping out of him, the chaos unspooling. He was trying to get a grip on in his surroundings. But the dissociation was too strong and jarring.
“Are you going to put the gun down or what?” She pulled Lisa harder against her. She’d begun to twitch, like she was about to wake up. “She’s going to die knowing you did nothing to protect her.”
His breathing sped up. His mouth fell open. A sob caught in his throat. “No.”
“For Lisa.”
“Who?” he asked.
Then his eyes locked onto hers. And something shifted. The distressed confusion and agony dissolved into blankness. There was a clarity in his eyes. His mind had decided what was real and what wasn’t. She knew what was coming. She aimed the gun at him but he was quicker.
The sound was deafening and sliced through the thick white noise of the forest, scattering birds into the sky.
The world folded.
She staggered back, winded. Pain bloomed like fire beneath her ribs, ricocheting through her body. She buckled to the ground, the trees a blur spinning out of focus. As her eyes started to close, she slipped into darkness, waiting for Zoe to save Emily again, but instead she heard Aiden’s faint voice.
FIFTY-FIVE
The first thing Zoe felt was the weight.
Not pain but heaviness. Like someone had poured concrete into her body.
Then came the light, sterile and sharp, penetrating closed eyelids. She turned her head instinctively, but even that small movement sent a ripple of nausea through her. Something tugged at her arm—an IV. Her throat was dry, raw, and incredibly painful, like she’d swallowed glass.
A distant beeping rose in the background. Her thoughts were wispy, floating in the air like smoke. The memories started to trickle back. She remembered a broken bridge, a stream of river with churning water, and skeletal trees twisting in odd shapes, poking the sky.
And then she remembered her body caving in, her stomach folding, her back smacking against a rock, her hand drenched in sticky, gushing blood.
She blinked. The world swam into shape.
White ceiling tiles. The faint smell of antiseptic. Machines she couldn’t name blinking softly around her. A curtain pulled halfway around her bed.
Hospital.Thank God.She wasn’t dead.
The ache in her side was deep and dull, but alive. Like something had burrowed its way in there and gone to sleep. She tried to move her hand. It responded, barely. Her fingertips felt like they were wrapped in cotton.
A moment later, the curtain was drawn back.
A nurse in soft blue scrubs smiled down at her. “You’re awake,” she said gently. “Take it easy. You’ve been through a lot.”
Zoe blinked up at her, her mouth dry, her mind full of holes. “What…” she managed to rasp. It burned. “What happened?”
The nurse reached for a cup of water with a bendable straw and held it out. Zoe sipped greedily, coughing once, then drank more. “You’re in hospital,” the nurse said. “You came out of surgery a few hours ago. How do you feel right now?”
“Like I’ve been run over by a truck,” she grumbled weakly.
The nurse chuckled. “The bullet went through your lower left side. Nicked a rib but missed anything vital. You were very lucky.” Zoe resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the wordlucky. “Your vitals look good. The doctor will come see you soon. He’s wrapping up another surgery right now.”
“How did I get here?”
“You have resourceful friends,” the nurse said vaguely before leaving. Zoe searched for her phone when the curtain was drawn back again and two figures approached.
Aiden and Simon. Both tall, wearing black coats, a grim expression on their faces.
