Page 102 of Vicious
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We cover ourselves with our damp clothes and lie together, not speaking, until we hear somebody shouting.
“Chase? May? You’d better be here because Hunter wants to murder both of you!”
Chase snorts. “Hunter’s a doctor! He’s not allowed to murder!” he shouts back.
I snort. “Unless you tell yourself it’s to save four other people with shiny new organs and you get paid for it, so hey, why not?”
Chase’s arm around me tightens. “Well, Hunter isn’t going to hurt you.” He looks down at our bodies and grimaces. “Do we want to get dressed? I don’t know that I need Hunter and Drake seeing me naked, but…”
I shudder. “No, I don’t want them to see me naked.” The cat “costume” had been bad enough. I get up, wincing as the cuts burn a little more, blood trickling down from all the activity. The adrenaline has mostly worn off, and everything just hurts, but I start to struggle to get at least my shirt and underwear on. “I don’t think I can get my jeans on, though,” I admit.
Chase hands me his pants. “Here. I’ll just get into my briefs.” He makes a face as he shimmies into the damp briefs. “Maybe I need to wear swim trunks everywhere I go.”
I snort at that, pulling on his pants. The damp fabric resists, but I finally manage to get them on. They’ll fall off, given the opportunity, but it’s better than nothing.
By the time I have them on, Drake and Hunter are approaching. I eye them, staying close to Chase.
Chase waves to them. “Hey. Tell me you brought a vehicle of some sort. May isn’t in any state to go trekking back to civilization.”
Drake eyes me, his eyes lingering on the bloody part of my shirt. “How bad is it?” he asks. “I can always carry her. I know you’re too skinny and weak, but I’ve got muscles.”
I glance at Chase, somewhat alarmed at the idea, but at the same time, I don’t think I can walk back. Just the idea of it has my wounds throbbing in imagined pain.
Hunter approaches me, carrying a medical bag. He scowls at us. “What the fuck were you doing? Rolling in the mud?”
Chase scoffs. “Running for our lives, you dickbag. May’s got two nasty cuts. If you’ve got some way of disinfecting and bandaging them, that’d be a good start for now. We do need proper medical care later.”
Hunter rolls his eyes. I don’t like him and how cold he is, especially when he comes up to me and points at the bloodstained shirt. “Lift it up so I can see what I’m working with.”
I huff and lift my shirt, looking down at the cuts. They’re already an angry shade of red; I doubt the run, trip through the river, and the subsequent fuck had done them any favors. “She was going for my kidneys,” I say helpfully. “She only got two cuts in. It looks worse than it is, I think. They just keep bleeding.”
It’s almost like the thought of it reminds my body of how tired it is, how in-pain and wounded, because I stagger. Chase catches me as the wave of dizziness washes over me, and I lean hard against him.
Hunter shakes his head in disapproval, but he starts rummaging through his bag for something. “I’ll do what I can for now, but one of those might need stitches.”
I close my eyes and lean against Chase while Hunter does his thing. I hiss in pain when he cleans the wound, and I don’t think I feel better once he’s done bandaging me. But it does mean we can finally get moving.
Chase and I are slower than the other two, since we aren’t wearing shoes and are exhausted, but thankfully they lead us to a nearby dirt road, where an SUV is parked. There’s a man I don’t recognize in the driver’s seat, who only gets introduced as “Slayer.”
I want to make fun of the name, but I don’t have the energy.
As soon as we’re all inside the SUV, I sigh and close my eyes. Slayer starts up the car without a word, driving us out of this forest.
I’m disgusting and in pain, and I’m ready to get back to Chase’s. But then it hits me, and my eyes fly open, and I sit upright fast enough to make me hiss in pain.
“Baba?” I ask, already feeling sick at the thought of having my worst suspicions confirmed.
Chase pulls me against him again. “Simon is dead, May. I’m sorry.”
I swallow hard, letting him keep me close. Tears prick at the corners of my eyes. “I was so… so mad at him. And cruel. I didn’t even get to tell him I loved him.”
“You showed him that all your life with how you cared for him,” Chase whispers.
I bite my bruised and bloodied lip, trying to center myself with the pain. “He saved me. He saved us.” I wipe away my tears. “What about…” I shudder. “What about the doctor? And Jake and his people?”
I sort of hate myself a little for hoping they’re dead.