Page 5 of While He Breathes

I creep over to the curtain and shift it enough to look out at the dark room, listening intently for any sounds of life around me.

Once I’m satisfied that no one else is in the room, I shift the curtain to the side and take a proper look around.

There’s an empty bed beside me as well as two across, but only one of them is occupied.

A woman not much older than me sleeps soundly in the bed directly across from me, and I watch her chest rise and fall for a few beats before making a move.

I take it slow, making sure I’m steady on my feet as I sneak across the room and slip her chart out from the end of her bed. Surely this shit should be digital by now, but it’s making my job easy, so I can’t complain.

Jane Denver is on all the good shit, meaning she won’t be waking up anytime soon, even if a herd of elephants traipsed through the room.

I drop the chart back into its holder and move to the cupboard beside the bed. I tug the door open, and my shoulders sag in relief when I find a pile of neatly stacked clothes sitting on the shelf.

Without hesitation, I slip the hideous gown off my shoulders and quickly dress in the simple mom jeans and sweater that slide over my bandages with ease.

Once I’m dressed and have slipped on the sandals that are only a size too big for me, I consider my next steps.

I can’t go back to my apartment for a whole host of reasons. One, it was trashed and, to my knowledge, is still unlivable. Looking back on it, I should have pushed harder for Orion to let me go home, but I allowed myself to be blinded by how perfect things were. Look where that got me. And two, that’s the first place he would look for me.

Shaking off the thought of the man who made me love him just to shatter my heart, I grab the baseball cap sitting on the top of Jane’s bag, tugging it over my messy hair before stepping in front of the mirror above the sink that the staff must use to wash their hands between consults.

I’m too pale, and my hair hangs limp beneath the hat, but it’s going to have to do. Once I’m out of here, I can worry about how I look.

Before I can overthink my next steps, I slip from the room and look both ways down the hallway. It’s blessedly quiet, meaning it’s probably the middle of the night, which works perfectly for disappearing into the night.

I slink down the hallway quietly, keeping my eyes moving in case a nurse comes to check on a patient, but so far, I haven’t so much as seen anyone who works here.

When I turn a corner and come face-to-face with the nurses’ station, my heart stutters in my chest thinking I’m about to be caught, but it’s empty.

The stairwell sign catches my eye on the other side, and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

Almost there.

My feet carry me toward the door, and it’s only when I catch sight of a pill bottle sitting beside one of the keyboards that I pause.

I read the label and a scoff tumbles from my throat. There’s no way I’m this fucking lucky.

Valium.

Just the thing I’m going to need to skip town when I’ve had a panic attack with every vehicle I’ve been in since the accident that killed my brother.

The accident caused by the man who made me love him.

Fuck.

I shake off the thought of Orion and shove down the nausea that rolls in my gut. I never should have allowed myself to think I’d have a happily ever after, but that was my mistake. One I intend to rectify as soon as I can get my shit together.

I swipe the pills from the desk and head for the stairs.

It’s not until I’m on the street and the cool night air wraps around me that I release my first full breath since I woke up.

First, I heal.

And then I kill the Hunter.

CHAPTER THREE

ORION