Page 40 of Festive Fugitive
“Don’t tell me anything. I don’t need to know why you can’t go to a normal hospital, or what your names are,” she says as we step into the tight space featuring a desk, chairs, lots of storage, and the mobile X-ray unit at the back. Considering the size of the trailer, I can onlyassume there’s another room that can be entered from the back, but just like her, I don’t need to know everything.
The procedure goes very swiftly after that. Eli’s ankle is whole, and the swelling is due to a bad sprain. Nurse Patch recommends we purchase a support brace, and I already know that will be the first thing we do once we’re out of here. The supermarket should stock them, actually. If it’s closed, I can probably break in without much trouble. Maybe even get Eli snacks while I’m there.
We’re about to leave when Eli stops both me and the nurse. “Wait. While we’re here, real quick, could we please take an X-ray of his chest?” He pats my shoulder.
After a stunned second, I know what this is about, and while he’s being thoughtful, I break out in a cold sweat.
“Why?” the nurse asks, picking on the reindeer pin attached to her scrubs, but she must have realized this unexpected visit will be over faster if she does what we want her to, so she approaches the machine to shift things around.
For a moment, I say nothing, eyeing Eli with an uncertainty I rarely feel. “There is no need,” I whisper.
“You’d finally be certain.” He strokes my face, his eyes so soft and full of compassion I could drown in them. “And if it is there, you’d know to extract it in the future. If it’s not, you’d be free.”
I know he’s right, that this has been going for far too long, but agreeing feels like jumping into a dark cavern without anything to keep me safe. My brain is pounding as if it’s grown too big for my head, and I can’t think. “Sullivan will know. He will punish me,” I tell him in a low voice and lick the sweat from above my lip.
Eli’s cold fingers trail over my hand. “Sullivan’s gone, Wolf. You’re free to do as you wish.” He’s probably not using my name in case the nurse is eavesdropping, butit feels so tender and personal when he calls me that. He knows I’m dangerous, yet has no fear around me. He trusts me. Cherishes me. Wants what’s best for me.
And when he looks at me from behind the mask that hides his identity, I know I can’t stand disappointing him.
He’s the one I live for now.
“So… you want me to do it?”
Eli nods. “If not for yourself, would you please do it for me? I need to know what we’re up against.”
‘We’. As if my problems are his to handle. As if he’s the one who ought to take care of me, not the other way around. A part of me wants to correct him, but he squeezes my hand, and it’s clear to me then that my obedience will make him happy.
How can I refuse?
There’s a siren ringing in my ears, like a tornado warning, when I stand in place, about to risk that my body is in fact rigged and self-destructs. But I’ve been through so much worse, so when the nurse steps away, I lock eyes with my sweet lamb, who gives me an encouraging smile.
It’s hard to breathe when anticipation twists my ligaments as if I’m a human-sized salami, but then the apparatus beeps and—
“We’re done” the woman says, and I stare at her, unsure if it really is over.
Nothing’s happened.
I’m still whole. And Sullivan’s dead and can no longer reach me.
“Anything in there?” Eli asks, limping to the nurse’s side. “Any metal in or around his heart?”
I dress in my coat while she takes her time, but once the photo is mounted on the bright screen, one thing is as obvious as the fact that I would rather die than disappoint Eli—there’s nothing of note inside my chest.
No implants. No bombs. No remotely-activated poison vials.
I’m all flesh and bone, like most people who don’t share my history.
“I don’t know what the hell you two are looking for, but I don’t see it,” she says and frowns at us.
I take a deep breath, but I’m unable to speak anyway. Eli steps in without hesitation. “We are so grateful for the help, and we’ll pay, but could you please give us a moment here? After that, you’ll never see us again.”
The nurse glances around the expensive equipment but must have figured we’re not about to steal or sabotage any of it, because she eventually nods.
“Five minutes. Tops,” she says and leaves.
As soon as she’s out, Eli turns to me and strokes my arm. “See? It’s okay. You’re free.”
It doesn’t seem real, and the tiny Christmas tree perched on top of the nearby cabinet makes the whole thing even more ridiculous.
