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“Are you hungry, Mom? They said you didn’t eat.”
Malik comes forward. “I can get the nurse, arrange for something to be brought to the room.”
“Where’s Chad?” She looks around us to the door.
My heart kicks up a notch in my chest. At any moment, Lorcan could come in. Malik needs to leave. “You should leave. Seriously. Lorcan was drunk. If he gets it into his head to come in, I can’t explain why you’re here. You work for the Zhangs, and as far as we know, they tried to kill me yesterday.”
“Where’s Chad?” She’s louder now, more insistent.
“He’s in the hall,” I say in a tender voice, letting my eyes connect with her vacant ones. “Chad stepped out for a minute.”
She relaxes into the bed and gives me a sad smile. “I had a dream he died.”
“It was a dream,” I whisper.
“Kimi.” Malik comes closer, his hand hovering by my shoulder.
“Go, please. You can’t help me anymore.” The gulf that’s opening up between us is starting to feel insurmountable. He knows things he’s not telling me.
“You know where to find me.” The door clicks closed behind him.
“Where’s Axel?” Mom’s body is a slight outline under the covers.
“He went with Chad, Mom.” I grip her hand, willing her to come back, to push through one last time. It’s been so long since she was here. “Are you hungry?”
“Axel’s getting him out, you know.”
I frown. “Getting who out?”
“Chad.”
“From what?”
“Who are you?” She cocks her head and examines my face, but nothing registers. “Do we know each other?”
And she’s gone again.
“In another life.” I kiss her forehead. “In another life, you were the best mom.”
“Well, aren’t you sweet?” Her eyes drift closed.
Tears prick at the back of my eyes, and my attention is trained on the ceiling when the door clicks open again. I rotate, annoyance sparking in me. “Ma—”
“Sorry,” Lorcan says, hands raised. “It was taking bloody ages. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Oh.” I flush. Malik’s name had been so close to slipping out. “I-I was about to leave.”
“How is she?” He nods in my mother’s direction.
“Lucid, sort of, for a brief moment. Mostly rambling about things I couldn’t understand.” I push my hands into my coat pockets and take a deep breath.
Lorcan comes closer to the bed, and her eyes pop open. She squints at him and then starts puffing and trying to raise herself up. But she’s too weak. The monitors beside her go haywire, and a nurse comes charging in.
“You’ve upset her.” The nurse rushes to my mother’s side.
“We’re leaving.” My focus flicks between him and my mother. Something about him set her off, but he seems unperturbed. He watches the nurse calm her without a twinge of recognition.
“Get him out.” Her gaze strays to Lorcan. “Out. Out.”