Page 6 of Iris' Lying Eyes

“Yes.” The soft tone eases my racing pulse, and I lay my head against the dirt when she says, “Who are you?”

After a moment, I say, “I’m no one.”

Chapter Three

“He’ll be in touch.”

Nodding, I step gingerly from the vehicle. It’s been five hours without the shit John infected me with. I’ve alternated between puking my guts out and praying to die. Time had no meaning while I wrestled with my demons, fading in and out of consciousness while my body screamed for mercy.

I’m nowhere near the other side of it, but at least I can walk without dropping to my knees and praying to die.

With a paltry wave, I force my shaky limbs forward, ignoring the fact that the douche didn’t bother to wait around once my ass was out of the vehicle.

Nice. Fucker.

The bell tinkles overhead as I enter the lobby, and I wrinkle my nose at the smell. Dirty socks mixed with greasy food is not what my stomach needs right now.

The woman at the counter gives me a once over with raised brows before saying, “Pay upfront.”

Under normal circumstances, I’d have more than enough to say, but instead, I sway. Her crazy bouffant becomes blurred, and my earlier assumption that I could walk without falling to my knees falls flat—literally.

“Ma’am?” The one word is all I hear before I start to tremble. I feel my body flop like a fish, and shadows dance through my head.

∞∞∞

“Miss O’Malley?”

“Huh,” I say, opening my eyes. My brain explodes with pain, and I blink against the harsh light with a whimper.

“You had a bad episode, Miss O’Malley. We couldn’t find a contact for your parents, so we called the number listed as an emergency on your phone.”

“Where am I?” I croak, my mouth as arid at the desert.

The nurse cocks her head with a smile, and my throat burns. Her bright eyes and slicked-back ponytail remind me of every cheer bitch in high school. But, let me guess. She’s here to save me. Skank. If it just took a pep talk, I’d be free already.

Fuck, I hate do-gooders. They make my rotten skin crawl. Shit, even the cartoon cats decorating her scrubs annoy me.

“You’re at General, Miss—”

“It’s Iris,” I mumble. “Fucker doesn’t deserve for me to use his last name anyway.”

After all, he split when the going got tough. Mom’s need for revenge was a pathetic excuse because Levi O’Malley stopped giving two shits about us long before being shot in the head.

The nurse frowns, and I roll my eyes. Sorry to burst your bubble, but this isn’t an afternoon special. This is hell, and if she’s smart, she’ll leave before I suck her into the abyss with me.

“Okay, well, Iris. We had to pump your stomach. You’re hydrating now, but we need to discuss your options.”

“Options?”

How the fuck did I get here? Oh yeah, another bright idea gone wrong. Did this at least buy me time? How long before John knows what I did? Shit.

If I ended up here, I must have been really fucking out of it. Not exactly what I was aiming for. Where is he, and how is this going to go down?

“Yes, but first. Can you explain this?” She points to my bed, and I glance down, spying the words written in thick black marker on my arm.Wherever you go, there I’ll be.

Shit. I forgot he wrote this on my skin a couple of days ago. Maybe he sensed my coming rebellion?

Ironic. Even here, the dick has to hold the upper hand. In other words, don’t fucking think about leaving.

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