Page 107 of Filthy Elites

He nods and heads towards the door. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it taken care of,” he says before he disappears into the hallway.

Two seconds. That’s all it takes before the reality of what happened finally fucking hits me. The door to my room slides shut and the outside sounds of people talking and working in the hall are muffled. My chest tightens at the same time my fingers do in the sheets covering my legs.

I don’t feel any different. Not really. I reach down beneath the sheets, pushing them away as I pull up my hospital gown. I don’t know where my clothes are but there are no bruises on my thighs. If they pumped my stomach … does that mean they cleaned me up? Did something actually happen and Viks just doesn’t want to tell me?

I remember being drugged. I remember being held against the wall in the storage room. The dealer’s face wavers in my memory like a haunting ghost and I shake my head to try and rid myself of the image. Bile rises up my throat, but I choke it back down.

“Don’t,” I warn myself, my voice a whisper in the quiet room. “Don’t fucking think about it.”

The door opens and my thoughts recede as Viks walks in, practically dragging a tall, skinny man old enough to be my grandfather in a white lab coat. “Check her out,” he orders, releasing the old doctor. “Make sure she’s fine.”

I blink as the disgruntled man takes a step away from Viks and straightens his coat. His eyes move to me. “Miss Montgomery,” he says in what I assume is a professional manner—as professional as a man can be while obviously avoiding looking at the massive tattooed monster in the room. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I want to go home,” I repeat.

The doctor steps up to the side of my bed. “Well, I’m sure we can arrange that,” he assures me as his fingers press into my arm.

I sit there what feels like forever as the doctor checks me over. I remain silent, intensely aware of the man standing against the wall as he watches on with ill-contained emotion. The second the doctor pronounces me perfectly fit to leave, Viks leans over and opens the door.

“Out,” he growls. The doctor doesn’t say another word as he practically bolts from the room, leaving me alone with him.

I wait, but several seconds pass without another word as Viks lets the door swing shut. “Are you going to say something?” I ask after a moment.

He crosses his arms. “Eventually,” he hedges. “First, I’m debating on what your punishment should be.”

“My punishment?” I gape at him. “For what?”

“I believe I told you explicitlynotto approach him,” Viks states.

“I wasn’t—”

He doesn’t let me finish. “But do you listen to me? No. You don’t.”

“I was just going—”

Viks takes a step towards the end of my bed. “Do you have any fucking idea what it was like?” he demands. “Walking into that room, not fucking knowing what I was going to find? You could’ve fucking died last night, Haley.”

“You think I don’t know that?” My hands start to tremble, fine little shakes. I ball them into fists and shove them under my thighs as I try to formulate a response.

“No. I don’t think you know,” Viks replies. “Because if you did, then you wouldn’t have done exactly what I told you not to.”

Silence stretches between us. I don’t know what the fuck to say, but that’s probably because I recognize that he has a point. I fucked up.

A knock sounds on the door, disrupting the uncomfortable, awkward quiet in the room. Viks opens the door and steps to the side as an older woman bustles inside with a clipboard and round glasses perched on her nose.

“Alright, sweetie,” she says, rounding the bed, “let’s get you all ready to go, shall we?”

I look up as Viks turns and takes a step into the hall. “Where are you going?” I say before I can think better of it.

He pauses and looks back. My eyes must be playing tricks on me or something because I swear I see just a small fraction of compassion enter his eyes as his face softens for a brief moment. “I’ll be right out here,” he says. “When you’re done, I’ll take you home.”

With that, he lets the door shut behind him, leaving me alone with the nurse. “Protective one, isn’t he?” she smirks my way.

“Oh, no,” I start. “We’re not like that.”

She chuckles. “Sweetie, if you’re not yet, you will be soon.”

“What?”

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