Page 86 of Stalked By Shadows

Lukas took my face into his hands. “Is it really you? Fuck.”

“It’s okay,” Micah whispered. He stroked Lukas’s back and leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “You’re okay, right?”

I blinked at him, a thousand questions in my head. “I think so. Some weird muscle cramping. What happened? Where did you go in the cemetery?” I asked him.

Micah shook his head, his expression guarded. He flicked his eyes toward Lukas. “Let’s focus on you for a minute, okay?”

Lukas still held on like he was terrified I’d be yanked away from him at any moment. I rubbed his back and shoulders and met Micah’s gaze, feeling something unspoken transfer between us. Something had happened.

A sick realization sank into my gut as I looked at Lukas’s disheveled appearance and Micah’s blank mask. I’d lost time. That was what Micah was trying to tell me without making my brother lose his shit. Not a few days like I originally suspected. How long? Weeks? Months?

Had the cemetery dream been real? Micah had watched me dragged down into the abyss, unable to help. Was he traumatized by the memory? Did he remember at all?

Micah turned to the nurse. “Is there a doctor we can talk to? Get an update from? We’d like to take him home as soon as possible.”

The nurse nodded. “I’ll send word to have him come down. I know the police wanted to talk to Mr. Caine before he left as well.”

“Is he in trouble?” Micah asked.

“I don’t think so. More they were worried about how he got into the state he was in.”

Micah nodded, like he understood and waved the nurse off. “If we could start with the doctor that would be great.”

“Okay,” the nurse agreed and left.

I stroked Lukas’s hair. “Hey, buddy. You’re a bit of a mess, yeah?” I told him.

He pulled away enough to look at me. “You need food. You were already so thin… Fuck. Have you eaten?”

I pointed to the tray. “Just did.” Though I was still hungry. “Bland hospital food, yay, right?” I settled back against the pillows and let the tension ease a little. My muscles still twitched and spasmed. It was lessening, but still annoying.

Lukas jumped up like he had a spring in his feet. “There’s a good size cafeteria.” He looked around the room, confusion on his face for a minute. “We passed it on the way up. Let me get you some food. What do you want?”

“Um, anything other than bland chicken and potatoes? I’m craving bananas like crazy. I could eat a dozen at least. Maybe some turkey too.” That sounded divine, and weird. “Not like together on one sandwich, but like maybe a banana and a turkey sandwich?”

Lukas looked at Micah.

“I’ll stay here with him. It will probably be a while before the doctor shows,” Micah said.

Lukas held on to my hand, grip almost painful. He stared at me like he thought I’d vanish any second.

“I’m fine,” I told him. “Starving, but fine.”

Micah moved around him to sit on the edge of the bed beside me. Lukas stared another moment and then finally nodded, before letting me go. “Don’t either of you leave this room until I get back,” he commanded.

We both nodded like bobblehead dolls. Lukas looked back a dozen times before he left. Micah deflated a little once he was gone. He curled up beside me, resting his head on the pillow beside mine, and I stared at him, loving those pale blue eyes and the dance of freckles across his nose.

“I really hope this is real,” I said. The nightmares, if that’s what they were, needed to be done. No more darkness, shadows, or fire.

“How are you really feeling?” he asked.

“Starving,” I said because it was the truth. “And more than a little confused. I lost time, yeah? More than a couple of days?”

He nodded. “A month.”

That took a minute to process. I’d been missing a month? It felt only like seconds. “Gone like you were gone?” I asked. Vanished, untraceable, presumed dead, which explained why Lukas looked so broken.

“Maybe?”