Page 133 of The Souls We Claim
I glance over to the woman, who shakes her head. “It’s uncomfortable.” She’s peeling tape from around my face. “This is just like ripping off a Band-Aid, Theo. We’ll have the tube out in a second.”
I begin to fight on the bed. The man looms over me. “I’ve got him. Just do it.”
“Theo,” the nurse says, holding her palm to my forehead. “Theo.” When she says the name a second time, it sinks in she must be talking to me. I stop and look up at her.
Kind eyes, the color of walnuts.
“I’m going to need you to cough if you can as I try to pull this out. Okay?”
I nod.
“On the count of three,” she says, and I do as she instructed. A long tube is ripped out of my throat through my mouth.
“There you go,” she says, wiping away drool from my mouth with a cloth.
I feel wrecked as I wheeze and gasp and suck in air.
The pressure against my chest releases, and I look around. The man who held me down kisses my cheek. “Welcome back, Switch. The rest of the brothers are on their way.”
He talks like he knows me, but I force five words through my shredded vocal cords.
“Who…the fuck…are you?”
