Page 67 of Revenge & Ruin

She giggles a little deliriously just as we make it to the front doors. I push them open, dragging us both out into the frigid night.

The sudden change in temperature seems to perk her up a little. “It’s freezing.”

I take off my jacket and drape it over her shoulders, hiding her outfit from the view of a few curious pedestrians. “Not much further. This way.”

She relaxes a little, snuggling adorably into the fabric of my jacket and allowing me to guide her over to the entrance to the underground parking lot.

“Teo?”

“Yes?”

“I’m really tired.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

My car is only a few meters away now. I just need to get her there before?—

Isabella wobbles again. This time, her legs give out entirely. I rush to catch her before she can injure herself on the concrete floor.

In my arms, she blearily looks up at me. If she’s shocked by our current embrace, she’s too tired to say anything other than. “Don’t let them hurt me.”

Then her eyes close entirely, and her body lies limp in my arms.

Suddenly, it feels quite hard to swallow.

“No one will touch you. I promise.”

18

ISABELLA

The headache hits me first. Before the nausea. Before I even have a chance to open my eyes.

It thrums through my skull like a neverending call to battle that I have no chance of surviving. It feels like every cell in my brain is deprived of oxygen, and I can’t breathe it fast enough.

It would be dizzying if my eyes were open. And when I finally do open them, I promptly vomit.

Conveniently, there’s a bucket next to my bed. I’m not sure if I manage to get all of it in or who put it there. But the effort of hurling my guts takes its toll, and I promptly fall back to sleep.

The next time I wake up, the bucket is clean. I still feel dizzy, and my head still throbs, but for the first time, I can look slightly further than the edge of my bed.

There’s a drip attached to my arm and a monitor that beeps in time with my heartbeat. The room itself is unfamiliar and sterile. A hospital, maybe?

Why would I be in a hospital?

There’s a shuffle outside my door, so I close my eyes again, feigning sleep, only to become overwhelmed by my exhaustion once more and fall asleep once more.

When I wake up again, my headache has gone. It still takes some time for me to dispel the feeling of nausea. But after a few moments of staring up at the light above me, the dizziness subsides.

Slowly, I push myself up into a sitting position and take stock of the condition of my body. Everything seems fine. There’s no pain anywhere other than the ghost of a headache now.

I’m wearing a simple hospital gown, though, and my little black dress and heels are nowhere to be found.

I sigh but then wince as my breath harshly passes over my chapped lips.

Luckily, someone seems to have left a glass of water nearby, so I reach over to take it.

Only for my ears to be assaulted by the sound of metal clanging against metal.

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