Eric sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. “That’s from the airbag. You didn’t take your own advice to wear a seat belt, so you bounced off the airbag and got smacked all over the place after we crashed. If it weren’t for the fact that those assholes went off the cliff, we would have been in serious trouble…and I’m glad you can admit you were shot instead of insisting it was a graze.”
I vaguely remembered insisting on that while we were in the car. “I wasn’t thinking. I thought it was.”
“It wasn’t deep, thank God, but there was a bullet. I managed to get it out, clean you up and do what I could with the wound. It’s not terrible, but…I wish we could get you to the hospital,” Eric said, biting his lip.
“Probably not a good idea, considering we have two gangs and probably the police force looking for us,” I said with a wry smile.
“I know,” he said, and I could see the wear and tear of the past couple of days. There was a paleness to him I wasn’t used to seeing, and the dark circles under his eyes had grown bigger. “I just wish we could. I’m not a doctor, Dyl.”
I reached out, placing a hand over his and squeezing. “Hey, I trust you more than anyone else in this city. Don’t put yourself down. You’ve been amazing, and I’m sorry I put you through all of this.”
Eric gave me a wobbly smile. “It’s been…pretty crazy.”
“It has,” I said, then looked around the room. “Where the hell are we anyway?”
“Um.” He coughed nervously. “Some house.”
“Some…house. As in, you don’t know?”
“It’s for sale! It was empty, and I didn’t see any scheduled tours when I looked up the listing,” Eric said with an air of desperation. “It was the only thing I could think of after I got us out of there.”
“How did you get us out of there? No offense, but I’m pretty heavy.”
“Stole another car.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Got it back to the wreck, got you in the backseat. Drove around until I saw this place, looked it up, and got you inside. After I got you stitched up, I took the car several blocks away, then grabbed the bus back to near here…and some food for us too. Kinda had to use some of your money to do that, though. Sorry.”
I stared at him with wide eyes. “Are you kidding me? That was fucking brilliant. You pretty much covered everything I might have thought of. Wait, your phone? The cops could—”
“I thought about that once I got here,” he said with a shrug. “Smashed it to pieces. Saved the SD card because fuck you, I have some great pictures and videos on that, but everything else, SIM card included, smashed and thrown in water in the tub.”
I could see the tension on his face and reached out, brushing his cheek. “You can take a breath. You did great.”
“I’m okay,” he said, even as I saw the last remnants of the panic he must have been holding off for hours in his eyes.
“No, you’re not,” I said, brushing my thumb over his chin. “You’ve always been shit at hiding your emotions.”
Eric rolled his eyes. “I swear, no matter how many times you tell me that, I’m never going to not—”
I watched as his face went slack, and he stared at me with wide eyes that looked haunted with his pale face and dark circles. “W-what?”
He grabbed my hand roughly, pulling it close. “You said I’ve never been good at hiding my emotions!”
“Well, I said you were shit at them, not—”
“Dylan!”
“What?”
He leaned in closer. “Are you…remembering more?”
“Oh,” I said in sudden understanding and let out a nervous laugh. “I’m, uh, not sure. I was…dreaming the whole time you were saving our asses.”
“About the girl you were in love with?” he asked. “And me?”
“I didn’t dream about Katya,” I told him with a shake of my head. “I guess this time my brain decided to let me remember more things about you and me.”