Page 218 of Unhinged Omega

"I'm fine," I snap, but even I can hear the strain in my voice.

"Sure you are." He leads me around the debris to where a sleek black vehicle sits hidden from the road. "Now let me look at those wounds."

I bat his hands away as he reaches for my coat. "Just drive."

He sighs dramatically but doesn't push it. A miracle in the wasteland. I sink into the passenger seat, trying to ignore how the leather feels cool against my feverish skin.

Wait.

Feverish?

Fuck, that's the last thing I need right now.

Raven slides behind the wheel and starts the engine. The radio crackles to life, some pre-war song I vaguely recognize floating through the speakers. He starts humming along, just like he used to, and I try to be annoyed by it.

I really do.

But my eyes are so heavy...

"No, not like that," I hear myself saying. "You'll strip the gears. Ease into it."

Raven sits beside me in the driver's seat, tongue caught between his teeth in concentration as he wrestles with the stick shift. The engine groans in protest.

"Sorry," he mutters, cheeks flushing. "I've never done this before."

"I know." I reach over, placing my hand over his on the gear shift. "Like this. Feel the rhythm of it..."

His cheeks turn pinker for some reason.

The car hits a bump and I jerk awake. "Brake with your right!" I shout, disoriented.

Raven glances at me, confusion written across his features. "What are you talking about?"

I blink, reality settling back in. The wasteland stretches out around us, barren and familiar. Not the compound's training grounds where I first taught him to drive.

"Nothing," I mutter, turning to stare out the window. "Just a dream."

His humming resumes, but I catch him shooting worried glances at me when he thinks I'm not looking. The radio plays on, some woman singing about paradise lost, and I let the familiar motion of the car lull me back toward unconsciousness.

Just for a moment.

Just until we get back.

Just until I can make sure everyone's in the same place. Some idiot alpha instinct I can't shake.

A thought flickers in the back of my mind that maybe it's because I know I'm not doing too hot, and as much as I fucking hate him, Raven is the only person I trust to take care of Cosima if I'm…

I shake my head.

Fuck that shit. I've survived worse than a few bullet wounds. I'm not going down that easily.

Not when I just found her.

My mate.

Ourmate.

The thought follows me into darkness as my eyes drift closed again.

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