Page 8 of The Assassin
I refused to go onwithout Remi.
“All you need to worry about is getting better, bro. Let that head rest. Let it heal.” I leaned over him, staring at his closed eyes in their bruised eye sockets. There were cuts and scrapes, tiny wounds all over his face. “I’ll keep you safe, you and Eli. You just get better.”
My gaze hit the heart monitor again. Had he heard me? Did he know he was safe? Or was he locked in thedark, unable to fight his way out? The dark held too many dangers, too many monsters; we’d learned that as kids.
But I couldn’t think about that. And if I wanted to help Remi, eliminate the threat to him, to Eli, I couldn’t let emotion get in the way. I’d locked most of it inside me, down deep, too long ago to remember. Only my brothers sparked emotion, but now that had to go too. Nothing coulddistract me from the mission ahead.
I curled my fingers into my palm and stroked the backs of them along the back of Remi’s hand. “Eli will be here, all right? He’s got your back.” I had it too, but in a different way. “Just heal up, Jeremiah. You got me?” I gave a sick chuckle. “Stay away from any fucking bright lights in there.”
One last stroke over his skin, one more glance at his face, andI turned blindly toward the door—
And collided with a small body coming in as I was leaving.
“I’m sorry!”
It took me a second to register the face; I was that far gone.
In the field you’d be dead.A second was all it took for a knife to slip between your ribs, a finger to tighten on the trigger.
Fuck off, inner voice.
The blonde nurse, the one I’d noticed earlier, stood in front of me. Hergaze flicked from me to Remi and back again as if she couldn’t resist the pull of her patient. I cataloged the thought in my head, along with my other observations, including her tone of voice and the name tag on her uniform:Marrone.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
She gave me a faint smile, her eyes drifting to Remi once again. “Of course.”
“I was just leaving.”
When I slipped by her, she barely seemed to notice, already moving as if to go to Remi’s bedside. My hand on her arm stopped her. Wide eyes dropped to my grip, then rose to mine.
“Thank you.” I nodded toward my brother. “For taking care of him.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but I was already turning away. Already turning my focus to the mission, to the next step. Remi was in good hands fornow; that was all I needed to know. I could leave him with Eli and Nurse Marrone.
There was someone else I needed to focus on now.
