Page 22 of Crimson Flames

What? I said I wouldn't say it to his face. My head is fair game.

Dr. K rounds the corner and locks eyes with Kai. I am sure he needs to talk to someone, and from what I have heard, she’s the best person to go to.

“Kai, can we get that talk I was promised earlier?” she asks.

I can see he’s hesitant as he tucks the gun behind his shirt and conceals it in one swipe.

Would it be weird if I gave him a high five for that move? Because it was smooth.

“Go ahead,” I encourage before turning to Dr. K. “He’s hungry though, none of us have eaten in a while now.”

She gives him a soft smile before nodding.

“Want to go to the cafeteria?”

Kai looks back at me as if asking permission. I nod again, hoping he takes the hint. He needs food and to decompress. He can’t do that with Nessa emotionally vulnerable by his side.

“You can come back when you’re done.”

Relief washes over him, even if Dr. K looks at me disapprovingly. I’ll get him to shower here and have some clothes delivered. This is where he feels safe, and I’m not going to take that away from him.

During the whole exchange, Boris stands to the side, not uttering a word. Now that our attention isn’t fixated on him, it seems like he’s calmed him down a bit.

When Kai and Dr. K walk away, he turns to me. “That kid has some nerve.”

I scoff, barely refraining from punching him in the face, even if it would feel so damn good right now.

“You’re the one that has some nerve. You think you can just walk back through those doors without hell to pay?”

He huffs a breath and tries to shove me out of the way. Grabbing his arm forcefully, I push him to the other side of the hallway. He stumbles, not expecting the move and instantly wego from civilized,okay okay partially civilized, to feral beasts in the blink of an eye.

Fists are thrown, and I swear he cracks one of my teeth, but I’m not going down. I land a few blows of my own, really taking him by surprise when I get a good uppercut to his abdomen. The man has abs of fecking steel, but the blow still made him gasp for air.

I’m about to go in again when a sharp voice cuts through our haze.

“Stop this madness right now.”

Doc approaches from the side and moves to stand between the two of us. “I am a guest in this hospital, and there are others who are very sick all around you. This is not how we will conduct ourselves here.”

I wipe my mouth, tasting blood as I look at the old fella.

“He was just about to tap out anyway, no problem.”

Doc shakes his head, and I think I actually hear Boris growl.

“That is enough,” he snaps at Boris before turning to me. “I have some news I need to deliver to Nessa, and I think the two of you should be there.”

That gets our attention in an instant.

“You can’t give her more bad news,” I say adamantly.

Doc shakes his head. “I won’t keep this from her. You know I respect you both, but I will always stand by the fact that we all get to make our own choices with our own bodies. That includes knowing all the information so that those choices can be made.”

“Is she okay?” Boris asks, and Doc nods.

“I would rather have this discussion only once, as it will not be pleasant.”

I try to take a deep breath before we walk into the room, settling some lingering rage for that cowardly, old man. It takes us both a minute to breathe before walking into the room muchmore calmly than we have any business pretending to be. Nessa cracks open a sleepy eye as I crawl into the bed beside her.

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