Page 63 of Tail Me No Lies
Ruth practically lived at the hospital, sleeping in chairs and only leaving when the nurses reminded her to eat and shower. Eventually, the medics declared that his skin had healed enough to be removed from the vat. Nox was moved to a regular bed, swaddled in bandages, and removed from the breathing machine.
Now she waited for him to wake.
The first day, she stayed by his side, buzzing with anticipation. The second day, she grew agitated, jumping at every rasping breath and noise. By the fourth day, she was resigned. The medics reassured her that he would wake up on his own schedule. He was breathing on his own, so there was no need to be alarmed.
Ruth wasn’t alarmed. She was angry. She found a man she loved more than anything who, amazingly enough, loved her. He’d seen her true nature and the worst of her habits and thought,Yes. Her.
And some asshole tried to take him away.
It wasn’t fair and it was her fault because she antagonized the asshole and made the situation worse. She brought Nox into the mess. He was hurt because of her.
No. Geral shoulders the blame for all of this.
Anger kept her moving forward when dealing with the fire investigator and an insurance company that didn’t want to pay. She remained calm when the Watch questioned her again about that night. Geral’s charred remains had been found in the smoldering wreckage of the barn. Ruth even managed to keep her temper when they clearly didn’t believe her about Geral’s death being an accident. Fortunately, Geral had a big mouth and made several loud statements in the tavern that Ruth’s fields needed to be burned. Serene also produced two cousins who passed Geral and four other men on their way to her property.
Once the Watch realized exactly what Geral had done, they tried to explain it all away as a terrible accident.
Oops, accidents happened.
Yeah, and so did attempted murder. Ruth wasn’t in a forgiving mood and didn’t want to see Geral’s minions walk away consequence-free.
Serene was a gem. She organized a cleaning service to scrub the smoke damage from Ruth’s house and have the ruined barn demolished.
And the smell of smoke would not leave. No matter how much she scrubbed or washed her clothes, the acrid fumes clung to her. It had to be in her head, either trauma or a synapse misfiring. She knew the smell wasn’t real but that didn’t stop her from opening windows and gulping fresh air like she was suffocating.
Regarding her research, the news was a mixed bag. The good: the fire never reached her lab. The bad: the agripods were destroyed. Undetermined: the agricorp was pleased with the most recent specimens, but there wasn’t enough data. They wanted to renew the contract, but Ruth couldn’t think that far into the future. She couldn’t go on with the contract as it had been written, but she didn’t have the bandwidth to figure out what changes to make.
That was a problem she could save for the future, so she did. Nox and his recovery occupied her thoughts. With each day that passed, the medics’ kind reassurances turned to caution andconsidering the worst.
He had to wake up. Ruth desperately wanted to make a deal with a devil or any available higher power. She burned her hands trying to save her field but she’d give so much more to save Nox. Anything.
A year ago—even a handful of months ago—if anyone told her that she’d willingly trade her life’s work for the well-being of one man, she’d call them a liar. Now? She’d make that trade without hesitation.
He would wake up.He would.
The universe couldn’t be so cruel. She refused to believe it and she wasn’t interested in any future that didn’t have Nox in it.
Summer turned into autumn with warm days and brisk nights. Ruth spent her days at Nox’s bedside, catching up on a year’s worth of peer-reviewed articles and literature.
Each day was the same. Nox’s condition was stable. Medics came and went, tossing her pitying looks. Serene called and reminded Ruth to eat a proper meal and brush her hair. Ruth flipped through articles, half-reading and mostly obsessing over the beeping monitors.
At night, she’d drive back to the empty house. Little Hunter waited, an accusatory look on her furry face like Ruth maliciously kept her from the love of her life.
“I know. Same,” Ruth said, gently petting the wuap.
She went to sleep in their bed, clutching his pillow that still held his scent, and did it again the next day.
She’d do it every day until Nox woke up.
Then one day, something different happened. Nox had a visitor.
A Tal man entered the room as if he had every right to be there. The air about him—a mix of menace and arrogance—told Ruth that he was not another medic. He wore an expensive suit and two large men stood behind him, their hands folded placidly in front.
This had to be Nox’s uncle.
Ruth set down her tablet and slid out of the chair.
Ashen looked at Nox, bandaged and covered in blue goop, and made an unimpressed noise. He turned tawny gold eyes—Nox’s eyes—to Ruth, and she fought the urge to cower.
