Page 16 of Bossy Grump's Secret

"It's my fault." I hear him grunt.

"Wha..."

"I shouldn't have let you wander the halls alone." He takes a big breath and adds, "This is supposed to be a two-person job."

"It's not your fault, so don't blame yourself. "

"What was I thinking!?" he moans. The blood dripping down his eyelids paints his light grey shirt crimson.

"You need to go to the emergency room," I breathe. “Now.”

Dylan

I should have been more rational... more judicial with my assignment of tasks. Why on earth would I allow one woman to wander the halls alone?

"Dylan? Dylan, listen to me. We need to go to the emergency room! Now!"

Look at her head. There's a cut there and a swelling. I could have prevented that. If I had done the hall patrol, shifted myself or gotten Maverick to handle it...

"Dylan!" I shook my head and brought myself into the present bubble.

"We need to close this opening." Her hands shiver as they near my face. I let her touch me, and her soft touch brings me some weird calm. She withdraws and shows me her hand coated in viscous crimson metallic-smelling liquid.

"Lead the way." I croak.

A sharp pain in my side causes me to flinch on the first step. Her face turned pale. She seems more affected by the predicament than the person objectively experiencing the pain…which is weird but quite endearing.

I separated Lily and her. Lily is the small one…the timid one from my observation, yet she hasn't shown a bit of spite toward me or hesitation to change my decision. Ava took it upon herself to express the vulnerability that Lily felt. I get beaten up badly, but she's the one wincing.

"I should pair you and Lily together," I say as we hobble.

"No, you shouldn't," she replies.

What? Wasn’t that what she wanted some time ago?

"Policy is policy," she says and shrugs.

"Is this Ava talking?" I chuckle, but she dismisses me with a sigh.

"Besides, I can't bear that Lily might have been in that mess. We'd probably have split up to cover more ground, and she might have ended up there instead of me..." Ava shudders.

"On that note, can you do me a favor?" she asks when I remain silent, pondering her words.

"Only if it's within my power."

"Can Lily not be on hall patrol… ever? We'll just be here three months... if you can..."

"Yeah, yeah. She won't." I give her my word, feeling like a corrupt politician for agreeing to the compromise. But only because I'm learning from my mistakes and don't want to repeat all this. I tell myself this more than her. I'm more terrified that I might not have gotten here in time to prevent the ugly event that might have happened but for my regular patrols.

I think back to the many patrols done solo by ladies previously. Might they have encountered a similar fate? I feel like I deserve the beating I received because of the guilt I feel.

The hotel is in shock at my current state as I move through the halls, especially when a cuffed maniac comes a couple feet away with more people holding him than me. Some of the staff offer to relieve Ava and support me. You can feel the sympathy radiating from the hotel customers and mild concern for their safety.

A post on the official hotel blacklist would keep them up to date about everything they need to know.

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"This is definitely going to need a few stitches," one nurse says and goes to retrieve the equipment.

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