Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 116263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Finally, she gathered herself, and she swallowed deeply as she murmured quietly, “We’ll get this cleaned right up. Don’t worry.”
She removed the rest of the bandage, then retrieved something from her tray. “This might sting a little,” she warned.
It did, but again, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything but remain motionless as she tended to me.
After she applied a new bandage, she helped me into a pair of pajamas. She shuffled me around and drew up my covers, shushing me in a motherly way.
“There you go, sweetheart. Get some rest.”
She pushed back the curtain, then moved over to Jenny, her voice coated in the same compassion. “Wake up, Jenny. You need to take your meds before you go to sleep.”
Jenny groaned as she stirred, exhausted as she sat up to accept two paper cups: one with water and one with pills. She tossed them back and chased them with a drink.
“Thank you,” Jenny mumbled.
“Of course.” Jill tossed the paper cups into the trash, then pushed her cart to the door. “You two get some rest. Let us know if you need anything.”
Jenny offered an almost inaudible “’Night.”
Jill slipped out, leaving the door open a couple of inches. A sliver of light streamed through the crack, barely illuminating the room enough so that I could make out Jenny’s silhouette where she was tucked beneath the covers.
She rolled onto her side, facing me, her words garbled and slurred. “Do you think it’s weird they make me take pills when that’s the reason I’m here?”
It took every last ounce of willpower to focus on her in the dim light. I was so drained I could no longer move my limbs. “No. They just want to help you.”
She nodded against her pillow. A few seconds of silence passed before she muttered, “Thank you for earlier. For letting me talk. You made me feel a lot better.”
“It was nothing.”
“It felt like . . .” She paused, her brow twisting in the shadows. “It felt like something.”
Moments later, her breaths evened out. They were long and deep, a monotone lullaby.
Lying on my side, I closed my eyes and drifted somewhere between consciousness and sleep.
I chanted his name as lights flickered and flashed, my spirit fluttering in anxious anticipation.
Pax. Pax.
Just at the edge, I heard my name somewhere in the distance. It held me in this realm, my spirit hovering at the cusp.
I realized Jill was talking about me.
“Have you seen her back?” Her voice echoed from somewhere outside my door. Concerned frustration underscored her tone.
“What are you saying, Jill?” an unfamiliar voice asked. “Her chart clearly states there is no evidence of someone else inflicting those injuries.”
“I don’t know what I’m saying. It’s just that I saw something similar once, back when I worked in Des Moines. Something is off . . .”
Their voices faded as they began to travel farther down the hall, becoming indistinct as I felt myself detach.
Aria floated, her spirit beaten and broken, her soul calling out to her Nol to be saved. She spun what felt never-ending until she flashed from the mortal world and the moist dirt of Tearsith was suddenly firm beneath her feet. A lush paradise welcomed her, grew up on all sides, the trees dense and their leaves thick.
He was waiting in the middle, like she knew he would be.
Stumbling, Aria took five steps out into the meadow before she crumpled to the ground.
Chapter Nine
Pax
Tearsith
“Aria!” Pax shouted.
Fear streaked down his spine as he watched his Nol stumble out from the dense forest and drop to her knees, collapsing onto the ground.
His heart raced at warp speed, and terror ripped through his consciousness as he ran to where she had collapsed just inside the boundary of Tearsith.
The entire day, he’d known she was in trouble.
Through time and space, he’d felt her turmoil. Had heard her calling his name. Louder than ever before, which he knew was something he shouldn’t be able to do.
He wasn’t supposed to be able to feel her while they were awake.
But he could.
He swore he’d always been able to.
The hours of the day had haunted him as he’d warred with the nearly irresistible urge to look for her.
To seek her out.
Find her in the day.
He knew better, though, didn’t he? The rule that it was forbidden.
A knot formed in his gut. Somewhere inside, he knew the rules were there for a reason. Logically, he understood why. He would only put her in danger. Make him somehow turn against her, though the thought of that seemed like complete bullshit to him.
He would never hurt her.
But he also couldn’t imagine putting her more at risk by going to her, either.
That didn’t make any of this less unbearable, though, did it?
He dropped to his knees at her side. His stomach twisted in agony while his spirit coiled in hatred.