Page 24 of Sink With Me

Like fuck he will. Pushing off the chair, slowly I roll up my sleeves. He knows better, this isn't some playground to make friends. It’s war.

The salty sea breeze sticks to my skin, I cross the courtyard to the infirmary. Lives have been lost at her hands. I don't care if they're surrounded by my people just like she doesn't care who he is. If given the chance she'll take anyone that's close enough to her.

“MOE!” My steps slow down the hall barely registering a sound over my voice, all personnel step aside creating a path out of the way of my fury. She could’ve hurt him.

“Shit…” He mouths the word, turning fast enough he knocks a tray of medical equipment out of Laura's hands.

“It was nice meeting you Moe!” Sharkie’s statement rattles in my ears reminding me that she is the enemy, and she has seen him. She knows his name, how he looks. If she escapes— no she can’t. She’s stuck. It doesn’t make the thought of him being in danger from the possibility any better.

Moe ducks around the corner and I take off at a sprint, each heavy footfall calculated. He’ll go through the back exit and attempt to get away, we've played this game too many times before.

Before he can reach the door, my hand is wrapping the bend of his elbow.

“God–” I yank him back hard enough his head jolts with the motion, cutting off whatever the hell he was going to say.

“What were you thinking?” I scold.

He goes silent, pushing at my hand, there's a flash of fear in his eyes that makes me loosen my hold, but he masks it with an aggravated groan.

“She's been yelling for days cuffed to a bed! I just wanted to–”

“That's none of your concern! I gave you one order…”

“Yeah, nothings my concern around here. Is it?”

Silence. He’s caught me off guard at the worst possible moment as he rips his arm out my grasp.

“Go. To. Your. Quarters.”

I watch him turn, digging his hands into his pockets and storming down the hall. I straighten my shoulders, tapping my fingers to my thigh but it's doing little to calm me. That wasn't my intention, I wish I could tell him that. Unfortunately, he needs time and quite frankly so do I.

A hand to my shoulder causes me to stiffen and tighten my skin around my strained muscles.

“We need to tend to her but she’s being, well–” the soft feminine voice starts but I'm already heading back in the direction I need to be going. I swear once she's healed she'll be getting a piece of my mind. I stop by the door, looking over the various people surrounding her thrashing body. There's too much happening. IVs rip from her arm and the blood pressure monitor makes an erratic sound from misplacement.

“Calm down, they're just trying to help.” I say smoothly. Her back arches off the bed with a scream stronger than I've heard. I push my hand through my hair, pulling the strands along the way. The irritable clanking of her cuffs grows louder over the rapid beat of her heart. My breathing shallows. Red. It slicks down her wrist, staining the sheets. It drips to the floor and drags against the scrubs of the nurses trying to get her still. I’ve had enough.

“Sedate her.”

Date: 5-3-2024

Time: 1524

I hated having to do it, but it was the only logical choice. It was something I could control. Everything has felt upside down, seeing the way she looked right after fighting with Moe completely wrecked my world. All the blood that followed, with that one statement still fresh in my head. This is his home, of course things are his concern around here. Just not her.

I shake my head breathing in the fresh, clean scent of the room, distracting myself with the task at hand. Unlike the fiasco on shore, her skin isn’t cold anymore. It’s warm and so soft I have to hold back the urge to brush my thumb along her wrist as I toy with the bandages that wrap her minor cuts. It reminds me of my mother, and it gets me closer to her. The photograph in my pocket doesn’t feed the fix I need anymore, and I wonder who would want to hurt such a violent creature.

“You could’ve hurt yourself, or him, if you had the chance.” I mumble under my breath. I highly doubt she can hear me, but someone needs to talk some sense into her. A low hum comes through her nose. I imagine she's trying to get the last word, she seems like the type.

“Save it for someone else. I’m not listening to it. If you’re going to be here, you have to be more careful.”

Okay, I’m conversing with myself now. Maybe I’m losing my mind, but this is what she does to me. She takes everything I think I know about rationality and morals and throws them out the window. I don’t need to stay. She already makes me bloody confused, but having her here on my base. Fuck... Yeah, she isn’t leaving.

Her lips part with a soft breath. I’m gonna take this as a win by default. Tomorrow I’ll come back and see that someone redoes her bandages. One thing is for sure, though. Cuffs are never going on her wrist again unless–

My body stiffens, urging itself into action by standing. I didn’t realize how much having her here would affect me, but judging by the sudden pain behind my zipper, I know it’s not a good thing.

Her hand drops to the mattress with a sudden thud, typically I’d be more gentle, but I’m treading in beyond fucked territory. My body has a mind of its own when it reacts to her.

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