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“A cotton ball and some tape is fine.”

He was already heading for the drawers. “Oh, come on. They’ve got to have something a little more fun in here.” He started searching.

Jewels waited as he rummaged through boxes of adhesive bandages.

Plain, plain, plain, plain… He kept searching. There must be at least one box of multicolored ones somewhere in here…

Ah-hah! “Found some,” he declared. He showed off the box over his shoulder.

Jewels smiled faintly as he crossed the room. He ripped the box open and dug around inside, flinging bandages across the counter until he found the color he was looking for. Then he peeled the package open and stuck the bandage over the mildly inflamed skin on her arm.

“There.” He grinned at the round purple bandage. It had a smiley face on it. He was starting to feel like an idiot when he noticed Jewels smiling back at him. So pretty, that smile. Her eyes. Her heart-shaped face.

“You found purple,” she said.

“Your favorite color,” he stated proudly. Wait—had she ever reallytoldhim purple was her favorite? His smile fell. “Right?”

She gave a soft laugh. “Yes.”

He studied the sheen of sweat on her face. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m feeling better already. That stuff works quickly.” She watched him as he finished clearing the counter and chucking the garbage out. “I never asked howyou’redoing.”

He kept his back facing her as he grabbed a few extra vials of medication from the cabinet and pocketed them. She would eventually need more, and he doubted anyone would want to come back here. “Is four okay, or should we take more?” He grabbed syringes, too.

“Four’s fine. That’s like two months’ worth.” He took a fifth, just in case. “You still haven’t answered my question,” she said.

He lingered in front of the cabinet, his back facing her. “What question?”

“How are you?”

“Oh. I’m fine,” he mumbled. He kept his eyes down as he returned to where she sat.

“Travis,” she reproached.

“What?” he asked innocently as he leaned a hip against the counter.

“You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

He didn’t say anything. He wasn’t fine—he hadn’t been since the moment he’d split up from the others in the hospital. The moment he’d watched Roman walk away all pissed. But he didn’t want to admit it. He liked this girl, and admitting he wasn’t okay seemed…gods, he didn’t know. Cowardly, maybe? Wimpy? Bit of both?

But Jewels wasn’t letting it go. “Travis,” she repeated in that same, reproachful tone.

“Jewels,” he countered with the same attitude.

“We’re trapped,” she began, using her fingers to tick off all the reasons why she believed he wasn’t fine. “Aside from Max, you don’t have any of your family with you. You miss your brothers—it’s obvious. And we have days, if we’re lucky, left to live.” Softer, she added, “It’s okay to be honest.”

Travis chewed on his lip as he considered how to respond. “I…have been beating myself up ever since Roman left the hospital,” he confessed. He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms, staring straight ahead at nothing as he let it all out. “I’m mad at myself for not getting out on time. I feel guilty for not going with Roman when he left to look for Paxton. And… And I feel like an awful person for coming back to Yveswich in the first place. Roman gave me a new life, and when I came backhere…” His vision fuzzed over as he stared at the floor. “I might as well have spat in his face. It would’ve been less of an insult.”

“Oh, Travis,” Jewels whispered.

He had to force himself to lift his gaze to her face.

She was watching him with sympathy. “Whydidyou stay? Was it really just because of…me?”