Page 26 of Phantom
“Which one of them should I kill?” Luther stepped forward and set the tip of the silencer against my forehead. “Or should I just kill you.”Kill me—but no matter how hard I thought it, nothing left my lips. Luther’s lips curled into an icy smile. “Time’s up.”
A bang had me shooting straight up. My head swirled from the sudden rush of movement, and my stomach churned.
“Oop.”
I didn’t get the chance to see who spoke, but fortunately, a trash can appeared before me a second later, just in time for me to stick my head in and throw up all of my breakfast. My head pounded as I leaned away from the garbage can, seeing for the first time that the other person in the room with me was Dr. Marteau, the same doctor who’d patched me up when I first got to Hoppa. It took a few minutes for me to really figure out what was going on, but as my nightmare slowly evaporated from my brain, it was replaced with the memories of me working on my bike out in the garage.
“Where am I?” Even as I asked, I knew the answer. The folded clothes on the desk, the sheets I’d rustled just earlier that day—I was back in Tess’ guest room.
“You are in bed,” Dr. Marteau responded, “on the precipice of a lecture from your doctor, who would seek to remind you that ‘take it easy’ does not mean go perform hard labor in a hundred degree heat with no water to speak of.”
“Yeah.”
Dr. Marteau shoved a glass of water into my right hand before pulling the trash can off the bed and turned his attention back to my bare left arm. “As far as this goes, you shouldn’t have much more use for bandages. Everything’s close. Now you need to allow it some space to breathe.”
“Okay.” There was a scratching sound that had registered as white noise at first, but it became more prominent as my faculties returned. “What’s that noise?”
“I imagine the dog.” Dr. Marteau turned to walk toward the desk where his supplies were, limping as he walked. “He’s been like that since we carried you in here.”
“Who carried me?” I asked.
“It was a combined effort between me and Tess.”
My heart slammed hard. “Did she see—”
“No, no. I told her to leave before removing your shirt. I remembered that preference from last time.” He hobbled back over to me and started to rub an ointment on my arm that cooled my skin the instant it made contact. “Although, I must say, I’m a little surprised she hasn’t seen this already.” He stopped working for a minute and looked up at me. “This wouldn’t happen to be a fear of her seeing the scars, would it?”
What was this man, a physical doctor, or a mental one? “No.”
“Hm.” He went back to working on my arm. “Well, I’ll just say this. These scars aren’t going away, and it’s not very attractive or logical to always have sex with a sweatshirt on, so unless you plan on becoming a eunuch, I suggest you make peace with it. Val’s not shallow, and she seems to care about you a lot.” He glanced up again. “In few words, don’t be stupid.”
I nodded. “Thanks, doc.”
Dr. Marteau’s hands moved in rhythm up and down my arm that seemed practiced, and my muscles were starting to relax and loosen with each pass. Finally, he stopped what he was doing, pulled off the gloves he had on, tossed them into the trash can, and then started to pack up his things. Mid-movement, he grabbed a shirt and handed it over to me, which I took and pulled on before kicking my legs over the side of the bed so that I could sit up.
“You can come in,” Dr. Marteau called out.
The door opened almost immediately, and Lockjaw was the first into the room, racing across and jumping up onto the bed. He licked up my cheek, and I patted his head. “Good to see you, too, bud.”
“He was worried about you.” Tess was standing in the hallway. She took a couple of steps into the room and then backed out and situated herself right inside the doorway. I wanted to ask, but I decided it was probably better if she was finally staying away. “How’s he doing, doc?”
“He’s okay. Just a little heat exhaustion and dehydration.”
Tess raised an eyebrow. “Can’t I trust you to take care of yourself for a few hours?”
I shrugged. “Evidently not.”
Dr. Marteau lifted up his bag and looked at Tess. “Call if you need anything else, but he should be fine.”
Tess nodded. “Thanks.”
Dr. Marteau slipped past Tess and left the room, and we stood in silence until we heard the front door open and shut. Lockjaw curled into a ball next to me on the bed, and I started to pet him as Tess crossed her arms and placed a warm smile on her face. “Glad you’re not dead.”
All I could think about was Tess holding her hand out in my dream and how badly I wanted to go to her. “Me, too.”
“Your bike is operable again, right?”
“Yeah, just cosmetic stuff now.”
