Page 5 of Broken
“Oh. That’s weird.”
“It’s possible he got shot with his own gun.” Alice eyed me carefully. “What kind of trouble did you get yourself into now? Between you and Vix, I’m not sure who’s worse.”
“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have called you if...”
She placed her hand over mine. “You know you can call me any time. I’m only concerned about you. Who’s the manwhose life I just saved? Is your life at risk with him around?”
“I wasn’t the one who shot him, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“No, that’s not it. Do you want me to keep him sedated?”
I thought about it for a moment. If Theo woke up too soon, he’d try to leave, even if he wasn’t in a condition to take care of himself. Yeah, I was an idiot who was worried about the safety of theman who wanted to put a bullet in my head.
Theo had been under the influence of the poison when he’d gotten here, so it was possible it had all been a hallucination of some kind and he hadn’t truly wanted to see me. It was a little annoying that he knew exactly where I lived, but it wasn’t that hard to obtain that info. Still, I preferred to try to live like a regular person rather than hidein some safe house. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen hideouts breached before, and I really liked my apartment.
“Um, yeah,” I finally said. “I don’t know how he’ll react when he realizes where he is, and he could reopen the wound or something.”
“Alright. I definitely don’t want to have to patch him up again.” Her eyes focused on mine. “Are you sure you want him to stay here? We can arrangefor him to be transferred somewhere else. I don’t know why you don’t want your guards to know about him, but if...”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Nothing will happen to me.”
She gave me a small smile, then got to her feet. “Won’t your guards be surprised that we stayed in here for so long?”
“No, I... I’ll text them or just go tell them we all got drunk and had a bad hangoveror something.” I could handle the Cobras.
“Oh,” Alice said just as she was about to leave the room. “I forgot to tell you we moved him onto your bed.”
“That’s fine.” Theo in my bed. Oh God. Just what I needed.
“You were just a teen when you brought me your first boyfriend with a gunshot wound, but the advice I gave you then about surrounding yourself with people who are bad for youstill counts. You didn’t forget it, did you?”
I shook my head. My first boyfriend happened to be a gang member too, although he’d been just entry-level and mostly a thief. After he’d gotten shot, I’d taken him to Alice, who I’d met when I’d ended up at a hospital after a night that included lots of drugs and alcohol. I’d broken up with him once he recovered and once I decided I had enoughof hanging out with criminals and junkies.
Wait, had Alice just assumed Theo was my...? “Whoa, wait. He’s not... He’s totally not my boyfriend. I mean, he’s hot and all, but...”
Alice’s eyebrows shot up, a smile playing on her lips. “You should get some rest. Eric and I will go home in a few hours. I’ll leave some of the sedative in case you need it, and I’ll stop by to check up on him.You should call me immediately if his condition changes for the worse.”
“Can I go see him?” I hopped to my feet. Now that Alice had mentioned getting some rest, I realized I’d been awake the whole night and morning.
“Sure.”
I headed to my room and cracked the door open. Theo’s eyes were closed, his face peaceful, and I hesitated for a moment, but then I entered the room. My pink bedcovers were pulled up to his chest, and his bare arms rested at his sides.
I stepped closer, reaching out toward his hand and brushing my fingers against his. The small contact sent a jolt of energy through my body. I was so, so glad that he was okay that I couldn’t even describe that feeling. As I took a closer look at his arms, I noticed a whole lot of pale thin scars. I traced my fingeracross a few of them, then snatched my hand back as if I’d been burned. Would he even want me to touch him like this? Or would he be repulsed? I took a step back and headed for the door.
Chapter 4
AFTER A FEW DAYS, ALICE told me we had to stop giving Theo any more of the sedative and let him wake up, which was kind of scary, but I supposed I couldn’t keep him as a Sleeping Beauty in my room forever. I’d found the handcuffs that I had and cuffed Theo’s wrist to the headboard. If he woke up when I wasn’t around, I wantedto know about it, although I wasn’t sure if the cuffs would stop him or even slow him down.
I sat down in the chair across from the bed and waited. When I was about halfway through the second book I’d read today, a movement caught my eye and I looked up. Theo’s eyes were focused on me, his lips slightly parted in surprise as he looked around. Then he tugged at the cuff on his wrist and raisedan eyebrow at me.
“Welcome back,” I said, and he looked down at the bandage that was still around his stomach.
“Do you really think this will stop me?” He nodded toward the cuffs.
“Of course not.” I got to my feet, setting down the book, then pulled the cuff key out of my pocket, but I didn’t go closer to him. “You could’ve died. My friend saved you. She said the bullet that hityou was laced with poison and that you had the antidote. You’re lucky she found it in time. What happened to you?”
“That’s none of your business,” he said, his eyes hard. “You could’ve fixed the mistake you made, but instead you made another one.”