Page 64 of Atone in Darkness
Devlin kissed his wife. “I’m going to go stretch out in the testing room for a while. Let me know if there’s any change.”
Before walkingaway, he looked at Marisol. “We’re protective of our own, Dr. Riggs, and we have good cause to be extra worried about Chase. We’ve been rough on you, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t grateful for what you’ve done for him, both here and back in that hellhole. However this plays out, we’ll help you get settled somewhere safe.”
He walked away before she could figure out how to respond. Finally, shemustered up a small smile for the other doctor. “Chase does seem to rest more easily when he hears my voice, but I’ve run out of things to talk about. If you want to take notes, I can fill you in on what kind of tests I was running and why. I can also tell you a little about the other test subjects, although I don’t know their names or where they are right now.”
No, that was wrong. There wasone she could identify. “Actually, that’s not true. Edgar was killed by the other guards up on the mountain. He said he had been test subject Number Three.”
Laurel started taking notes while Marisol held Chase’s hand and told the Handler every fact and figure she could remember. They were about thirty minutes into the discussion when Chase jerked awake with no warning, his eyes wild and faintlytinged with orange. His hands and feet flailed about within the limits allowed by his restraints.
She captured his hand in hers and fought to stop him from reinjuring his wrist. “Chase, stop it. You’ll hurt yourself.”
As soon as she spoke, he focused his eyes on her and slowly relaxed. His voice was sandpaper rough as he whispered, “Sorry, sorry, sorry.”
She brushed his hair back off his forehead.“No apologies necessary. Would you like something cool to soothe your throat?”
When he nodded, she gave him a spoonful of ice chips. “Feels good.”
Laurel made some notes in his chart. She patted Chase on the shoulder. “How are you feeling?”
“Like death warmed over.”
Marisol winced. If that was an attempt at humor, she didn’t much like it even if the description was an apt one.
He blinkedup at her, his eyes appearing more normal. “How bad was it this time?”
It was Laurel who answered. “You were able to regain control much faster.”
Did that mean he’d turned the corner? The sudden resurgence of orange across the whites of his eyes answered that question. His body tensed as if ready to explode in violence again. Out of desperation, Marisol did the only thing she could think of—shekissed him.
