Page 79 of Reclaiming Adelaide

“We’re working on it. Come, lay down for a minute. You’re going to work yourself into exhaustion again.”

“Can you grab me a tissue, please?”

He nodded, walking me back to the bed where the ominous IV bag that once provided a helping hand now stood before me with death written all over it.

Jake disappeared into the bathroom as I removed the tape on my port, pulling the fine hairs from my skin as I jerked it free.

He walked back with a tissue just as I yanked the catheter from my vein.

“Jesus Christ, Adelaide,” he said, grabbing my arm as blood splattered onto my palm and dripped onto the floor. “What are you doing?”

“He can’t poison me if I don’t have an IV in.”

“Goddammit.” Jake pressed the tissue hard into the back of my hand. “Hold this while I find some tape.”

I placed my hand over the tissue, the sight of blood turning my stomach while he dipped into cupboards, but came up dry.

“I’ll be right back—”

“No. Don’t leave me,” I said, standing from the bed too fast. “He’ll come back.”

“Sweets. I’ll stand in the doorway and have your nurse come back in. Relax.”

How could I relax when I was fairly certain I was a door’s width away from becoming another statistic? Why didn’t he believe me?

“I’m not lying.”

“I believe you.”

He did?

Jake opened the hospital room door and kept to his word, standing in the doorway, and asked the nurse across the hall for some gauze and tape.

The woman from earlier walked in behind him and shut the door, applying sanitizer to her hands as she stepped further inside. “I would’ve taken it out when we finished this IV bag.”

I shook my head. “I just want to go home.”

She gloved her hands, then picked up my arm, peeking under the tissue. “You should wait for a nurse to do this next time. You could damage the vein by ripping it out like that.”

There wouldn’t be a next time if we didn’t get out of here.

My head swam as she bandaged up the hole in my hand. “There you go.”

“Is the paperwork ready?”

She glanced at Jake, who stood over us, his arms crossed like he was ready to lay into someone—most likely me. “We have two more papers that need signing by the doctor, and then you can go.”

“We need to go,” I said with a lowered voice as she left the room.

“I’m working on it. Just lay back and rest.”

“I can’t.” I raised my arms above my head and yawned as he tipped my feet onto the bed. “He’ll come for me.”

“I’ll be by your side.” He covered me up as I stared up at him. “Don’t worry, sweets. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Jake pressed his fingers to my knuckles. “You’re safe.”

24

Whywouldtheycomehere? What was their purpose?

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