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“Peony,” my voice comes out way scratchier than I expected. My eyes feel so heavy…sticky…that it takes a tremendous effort to prise them open.

When I do, all I see is too much beige. Well, beige and a disgustingly dark brown suspicious looking stain on the speckled ceiling tiles above my head.

I’m no stranger to dirt and stains, but I don’t recognise that one.

“Where am I?” I rasp out.

“Hospital, mate,” comes Zie’s falsely cheery voice from somewhere on my right. “Children’s ward.”

Like a strong magnet is pulling my eyes closed, I fight to keep them open and turn my head to face Zie. He looks fucking terrible.

There’s a laugh. “You don’t look shit hot yourself, dude.”

My brain slowly catches up to what my ears are hearing. “I’m not a fucking child,” I say, my words coming out like cotton wool dipped in treacle. “Children’s ward.”

“You’re under sixteen, so you can’t be on a main ward because—” Axel explains on my right.

“Too many paedos,” I finish helpfully.

They both chuckle.

“Why are we in hospital then?”

“You mate, we’re fine.”

Gee, thanks, way to make a guy feel better.

“What happened? Where’s Peony?”

For a horrible moment I worry that something has happened to her. That I arrived too late to save her from…something.

I shake my head. I have no idea what happened.

“She’s fine, don’t worry. She’s actually just getting a drink from the shop. She’ll be back any minute. And she’ll be so happy you’re awake. It’s been a while.”

I feel everything getting heavy once more, the need to sleep overwhelmingly strong, but I desperately want to see for myself that Peony is okay.

I turn slowly to look at Axel, but he’s always had an excellent poker face. Since we were little kids he could commit a crime right in front of an adult and deny it to the point he’d have the grown-ups questioning their sanity and booking an eye test.

I don’t feel like he”s bullshitting me though. Maybe she really is just at the shop.

I fight a yawn and blink. It’s a long blink, like someone just put weights on my eyelids. I don’t have the energy to fight. I don’t want to fight. I want to sleep.

“Sleep, mate. We’ll be here when you wake up. All three of us.”

I’m already gone.