Page 156 of Monstrous Urges

Orange.

Pale peach.

Two dots of blue…

“Drazen!”

With a choking rasp and a wrenching pain that almost kills me, I lurch up to a sitting position, inhaling smoke and grit. Instantly, I fall backward again. But this time, when I blink, the blurriness fades.

The world stops rocking back and forth.

And suddenly, I can see.

“Drazen!”

My heart lurches as Taylor comes into focus, leaning over me, screaming my name through the deafening ringing in my ears.

And yet… Something’s wrong. My thoughts are jumbled, my memory crooked. It’s Taylor leaning over me, pressing something soft against the wetness on the side of my head. But it’s also…

Not.

Her hair is shorter. She’s changed her clothes. She’s found a medic’s bag, which she’s slung over one shoulder.

When did she get that tattoo on her arm…

“Drazen!”

She’s still screaming my name as she rips my shirt open, scattering the buttons. I want to tell her that I’d like to be able to fucking speak before we get to that. I also want to ask her about the tattoo and her hair.

“I need you to get the fuck up, Drazen!”

I blink again, my jaw opening and closing, making something pop in my ears. The ringing fades a little.

Suddenly, I can hear.

“GET UP!” she screams at me. Her eyes drop to my chest, a worried look on her face as she grabs something out of her bag: gauze, and a needle and thread.

What the fuck…

With a groan, I force my eyes to focus and lift my ringing head, looking down to see where her hands are moving.

Fuck.

My eyes land on the jagged piece of metal sticking out from between my ribs. That would explain the agony and hellish pain.

“What are you…”

“Shut up,” she snaps coldly, frowning and pushing gauze against my body. “Just don’t talk.” Her eyes snap to mine.

Taylor’s eyes. Taylor’s face. Taylor’s voice.

And yet not Taylor.

“Who…?”

She jams a piece of splintered wood between my teeth.

“Bite down,” she rasps out hurriedly. “Or you’ll bite your tongue off. Do it now.”