Page 246 of The Night Shift
This time her smile is crooked and knowing. A little bit cruel. A little bit me. “Well, what do you normally do when you’re stressed out?”
“You know what I do.”
She hums, tilting her head again. Nods. “Then maybe that axe missing Theo wasn’t luck after all, huh?”
She must see the confusion in my eyes.
“I could’ve killed her,” she adds casually. “Didn’t want to. Thought I’d leave that to you. A good way to pass the time, no?”
A pause. Heavy and loaded.
“She’s still there,” Audrey says. “I just hope you can still drive with that shoulder. Don’t be afraid to make it hurt. Some people deserve it.”
She smiles. She looks beautiful in this moment. Hauntingly so. There’s something off about it. I can’t make sense of it. Nor do I get the chance to.
I blink and she’s gone. Forever this time.
Chapter 45
Camille
What the fuck is this wet shit on my face?
It takes a second to realize it’s my blood. Another second to realize this must mean that I’m not dead yet.
I try to blink. Try to focus on what the fuck is happening or where the fuck I am.
My head’s half-wrapped in a bandage that feels too tight, like it’s squeezing the thoughts out of me. Fluorescent lights hum above me. Something burns the inside of my nose.
Why is there so much blood? Am I sure I’m not dead? I try to lift my hand, but it doesn’t cooperate. Something’s wrong with my body. It’s heavy. Numb. I try lifting my hand again. It doesn’t help. Panic seeps in. I wiggle uselessly.
A familiar voice slices through the haze. “I’d stop doing that if I were you,” it says. “You’re going to need your energy for the next few hours.”
My eyelids unstick one at a time, gummy with congealed blood. My vision swims, but I can make her out.
Holly leans against the far wall like she’s waiting for a bus. I squint, trying to blink the dried blood off my lashes. Holly’s right shoulder is swollen like a balloon. There’s torn fabric hanging off it, dangling in shredded strips, but she doesn’t seem to care.
She’s here, I think. Finally, we’re alone. Just the two of us. My plan worked. Theo is dead and she is all mine now.
Something about that makes me giggle. Except the sound doesn’t come out.
That’s the first thing that scares me.
I try again. But nothing. The second I try to part my lips, this white-hot bolt of agony rips through my face. Scissors against skin. My tongue presses up and I feel something pulling. Thread. My mouth…it’s…it’s shut.
Oh my god. Oh my god, what the FUCK did she do to me?
I can’t breathe. I can’t scream. My arms are useless. I manage to peer down, my head barely moveable. I see the straps. My ankles. My wrists. They’re all strapped down to a…is this an operating table? Where the fuckamI?!
“Do you know what the onychodermal junction is?” Holly peels herself off the wall and walks forward slowly.
My eyes sting. Blood and panic and tears. My vision breaks in pulses.
She’s beside me now.
Her face is calm and empty. There’s no hate in her eyes. No fire. There’s nothing. Her eyes are soulless. A black hole in human skin. Demonic.
“It’s medical for nail bed.” She brushes a clump of matted hair from my forehead with the same tenderness she might use on a child. “Those are gonna go first.”
