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“You haven’t fought him physically before tonight,” he pointed out.

“I barely ‘fought’ him at all,” Alex argued. “I thought I was holding my own at first, but it turned out he was playing with me.”

“Which only shows that you have more to learn,” Hunter said. “You’ll find a way, Alex. And in the meantime, you’ll just have to apply yourself to your training.”

“Because I’m such a slacker?” she asked wryly.

Hunter smiled at her fully this time, and the expression softened his whole face, highlighting how handsome he was when he wasn’t looking all menacing-assassin-like. But he didn’t get the chance to confirm or deny her statement as the curtain was pulled open and Fletcher stepped into the small space.

“Time to get you fixed up,” the doctor said.

Hunter took that as his cue to leave her bedside, but when he reached the door, he said, “A slacker never would have made it through my first task, Alex, let alone the rest.”

She felt an unexpected rush of warmth from his words— and the tone of approval in them—before she resigned herself to letting Fletcher prod and poke away at her body. He checked her injuries for traces of poison and infection before he healed her cuts and eased her bruises—but not without causing her even more discomfort.

No pain, no gain, apparently.

“If I had my way, you’d be staying here overnight,” Fletcher said, handing her a vial of pain reliever.

Alex groaned at the thought, but when the doctor narrowed his eyes, she quickly wiped the grimace off her face and swallowed the contents of the vial.

“Fortunately for you, I don’t think there’s reason enough for me to keep you under observation when what you really need is a good night’s sleep,” he said.

“Does that mean I can go?”

He handed her a rehydration toffee, one of the few medicines she recognised, having studied them in her Med Sci class. “Only if you promise to suck on this until it’s finished and head straight to your dorm to rest.”

“Oooh, I love these,” Alex said, eagerly taking the candy-like medicine from him and popping it in her mouth. Within afew swirls of her tongue she began to feel her hunger and thirst disappear.

“Off you go, then,” Fletcher said, but when she jumped off the bed and made to leave, he stopped her and removed his lab coat, handing it over.

She looked from the coat back to him with a questioning look.

“It’s not curfew yet,” he explained. “This might help you avoid some curious glances. And it makes you look like you’ve come straight from a Chemistry lab rather than been attacked by a pack of wild animals.”

“Oh.” Alex pulled the coat over her shredded dress. “I guess you’re right. Thanks, Fletcher. I’ll bring it back tomorrow.”

“Just as long as you’re dropping it off and not coming as a patient,” he said. “No more injuries for a while, okay?”

“I’ll try my hardest.”

“You always do, Alex,” he told her with a disgruntled sigh. “You really need to try harder.”

She grinned at him and left the Ward, almost walking straight into Jordan who was waiting outside.

“What are you still doing here?” she asked.

“You didn’t think I’d leave without you?”

“Well… yeah,” she admitted. “That was kind of the point of getting Fletcher to let everyone else go. I’m not the only exhausted one.”

“But youarethe only one who can barely stand without assistance,” he said. “And rightly so, considering everything you’ve been through over the past two days.”

“Jordan—”

“We’re not arguing about this,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her waist to help support her weight again. “I’m going to escort you to your room, with or without your permission.”

“Fine,” she huffed, grateful for his help but not wanting to say as much out loud. “But you have to promise to go straight to bed afterwards.”