Page 64 of Rise of the King (Checkmate 5)

He nods and leans in closer to lend his body warmth. “You’re in shock. Injuries? Scan your body, Soph. Feel it. Where does it hurt?”

“My feet.”

His eyes drop. “New injuries?”

I lick my lips and shake my head. “No, same from last night. But I think they opened up again.”

“Okay. What else?”

“My arm?” It comes out as a question, like, though I can feel the burn, I still don’t know if it’s true. Jay’s brow comes up in question, but he leans back and looks. It takes him only a second to tear the sleeve from the sweatshirt I’m wearing and lose his mind. “Sophia! They shot you.”

“They… what?” I cast a slow glance down to my left. It’s like I’m living in a world of molasses. My brain is foggy, my movements sluggish. Jay roars his curses and bumps my arm every time he draws breath into his broad chest, but I only swim with the Jello, sliding into the warmth, then I sleep.

* * *

“Sophia?” It’s so dark, and warm, and my dreams are pleasant for a change. “Wake up, Sophia. You in there?”

“Sleepy.” I turn to my right and snuggle in. “Not time.”

My bed compresses as Jay sits by my hip and drags me back over. “Wake up, sleeping beauty. Just wake up, tell me your name, take some medicine, then you can sleep again.”

“Shhhh. My name’s Sophia, dummy.”

Chuckling, his fingers slide over my forehead and drag my hair back. “You’re in there. Have a couple pills, baby, then you can sleep again.”

“Time is it?” I mumble. “Not time to get up yet.”

“It’s actually dinnertime. Are you hurting anywhere?”

The fog in my brain slowly begins to recede. I was warm and cozy a moment ago, but I was alone. I’m not alone anymore, but as payment, my body throbs like it hasn’t in so long. My feet ache; my ribs ache. My head throbs, and the fire in my arm builds in strength until tears form in my eyes and I turn back to face Jay.

“What did you do?” I bring my hand up to touch the fire. “Why is my arm so sore?”

“You don’t remember what happened?” He helps me sit up and lean against the cushioned headboard. “Did you bonk your head, too?”

“I have a headache.” Blindly reaching toward the lamp that glares in my peripherals, I try to switch it off, only to knock it to the floor and smash the globe. Same results. “My head hurts.”

“Have a little water.” Jay places a glass tumbler between my hands, fastens my fingers around it, then helps me lift it. “Have a little, then I have some Advil here for you, too.”

The fire flares in my arm when he forces my hands up with the glass. I take a sip but lower it again as fire ants sting beneath my skin and make me weep. “Shit, Jay. What did you do?”

“You took a bullet in your arm, babe.”

“A bu– a bullet?!” I shoot my head around and stare down at my pale arm covered in snow-white bandaging. “What?”

“It’s just a graze,” he murmurs. Lifting his hand to my lips, he places a pill on my tongue when I open my mouth, then a second pill right beside it and pushes my hand up again. “Took a chunk out of your arm, but there’s no hole, no internal damage. I stitched it up while you slept.”

“You stitched me up?” My stomach revolts until I clamp my lips shut and close my eyes.

“Relax, Sophia. Relax, baby.” He strokes my temple and blows warm breath over my sensitive skin. His dark stubble is right in my vision when I open my eyes; his pearly white teeth sparkle as he speaks. “I let you sleep so you wouldn’t have to remember. I used a little numbing ointment I picked up from the drugstore.”

“When did you go to the drugstore?”

“While you slept.”

My heart races with panic. “You left me?”

His eyes glitter with pain. “Swear to God, it was a hard choice. The drugstore is just a couple doors down. I didn’t want to leave you, but you needed antiseptic and antibiotic. I made my choice, and I ran, I swear. I was gone less than five minutes. You were in the exact same place I left you, so I rolled with it and cleaned you up while you were out.”

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