Page 56 of Red Obsession

Opening my eyes once more, I squint into the bright, warm light. It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the light before I’m glancing around the room. A blurry version of Gabriel sits beside me, his hand holding mine while Zion is standing at the foot of my bed. His hands are gripping the bar at the end, and even though I can barely see his hands, I can feel the tension in his grip.

“How are you feeling?” Gabriel asks bringing me back.

“Better than those beatings I got,” I croak out, only realizing that was probably a mistake when I feel the pressure of Zion’s knuckles.

“Well, uh, I’m not sure what to even say to that,” Gabriel breaks the silence. “Anyway, guess what?” He squeezes my hand, bringing my attention back to him.

"Hmmm?” I hum, my throat feeling sore.

“They took your appendix out. Honestly, it was pretty gross. There was a lot of nurses and doctors rushing around, and dude you should’ve seen the amount of throw u–”

“That’s enough,” Zion growled.

Gabriel’s head snaps in his direction, while I for some reason can’t bring myself to look at him. I don’t know why, but the distant memory of falling in his bathroom, Zion carrying me downstairs, and then, oh god… I was throwing up everywhere. All over the backseat of his truck.

Oh God, his poor truck.

I cringe, really not daring to look at him now.

“How are you feeling?” Gabriel whispers as if he doesn’t want Zion to hear him ask me.

"You just asked me, Gabby,” I remind him.

“I did, and you made a joke. It's a terrible joke, but you didn’t actually tell me how you feel.”

“I’m okay,” I reassure him. Gabriel is always the one who worries about everything, while I have to remind him that everything works out. “I promise, I’m okay.”

Gabriel only nods his head before a nurse opens the door.

“Oh, look who's awake!” She smiles, walking over to the other side of my bed. “How are you feeling? How's the pain level?”

I almost make another joke about being beaten by that psycho in the basement this time, but at the last second clamp my mouth shut.

“Uh, my body aches more than being in pain.” I shrug, which causes my stitches to move. Groaning I try to hide it, but of course Zion notices and narrows his eyes at the nurse. I raise a brow in a way that tells him to be nice, or I hope it translates to that.

“That’s wonderful, no more sharp pains or any of that?” She starts checking on the IV bags hanging above.

“No, just aches,” I mutter around a yawn.

“Alright, we’ll see about giving you some more painkillers so you can rest some more. We’ll have the doctor come in and check on you soon, and then see about getting you home by tomorrow.”

As soon as the nurse leaves, Gabriel follows, needing to find food. Zion on the other hand doesn’t move from his spot, his eyes locked on mine.

“Are you just going to stare at me the entire time?” I ask, fighting myself to not fall asleep.

Zion grunts at me but doesn’t say anything. Of course, he doesn’t. I know he doesn’t really give a shit about me or Gabriel. I’m just a warm body for him to have sex with and cuddle.

“Okay, well can you do it after I fall asleep? I can’t exactly fall asleep with you staring so hard,” I snap, irritated that I’m letting my feelings and emotions get the better of me.

I know I asked if things had changed between us, but that funny, annoying little voice in the back of my head tells me it was a lie. That he doesn’t truly give a shit about me, that he’s just using me. And though I can’t figure out why, he’ll soon get rid of us.

Zion doesn’t speak and just continues to stare at me. My eyes snag on the blurry cup sitting on the table, and my hand reaches for it. And in a split moment I’m throwing it at him. Now I never was good at sports. Honestly, I’m downright awful. I could miss the big circled target even if it’s directly in front of my face. So, it’s not surprising when I miss Zion’s giant form, and hit the stupid wall instead. And I also shouldn’t have thrown anything because now my side is completely aching, and I have to grind my molar not to cry.

“You done?” Zion finally asks.

This time I don’t say anything because what is there to say? I’m overreacting. Zion wouldn’t be here if he didn’t want to be here. I may not have known this man for long, but if there is one thing to know, it’s that he won’t do something if he doesn’t want to.

Zion moves fast until his fingers grip my chin, forcing me to look up at him. Tears gather in my eyes as I’m forced to look at him. Except this time, it’s not his face. The mask is back on and I’m looking into a pair of eyes that I can’t see the color of, and now all I want to do is cry. Not because I’m in pain or because I’m in the stupid hospital. But because I can’t see the color of his damn eyes and he has that god awful mask on again.

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