Page 49 of Wings of Deception
I’ve been so focused on what him speaking up meant for me, I never considered what speaking up so publicly in my favor would mean for him.
I don’t waste a single second, discarding my studies and throwing on a sweater before rushing to see him. Why hadn’t he called me, or even Theo? Maybe the results would have been different if we’d been there.
The front desk of the infirmary is empty, so I ring the bell several times before a rather annoyed-looking angel appears.
“I’m here, I’m here. Quit your dinging. What can I help you with?”
“I’m visiting a patient named Gagiel. I need to see him, please.”
The nurse narrows her eyes as she sits down and flips through her chart. “Are you family?”
“No. I’m just a friend.”
“Visiting hours for non-family members ends in ten minutes. You’d be better off coming back tomorrow, dear.”
“Ten minutes is fine. I just want to make sure he’s alright. Please.”
She sighs, but stands anyway and motions me to follow her. We don’t pass a single other patient or nurse as we make our way through several doors. Gagiel must be lonely in here with no one to keep him company. Resolve settles in my gut. Coming here tonight was the right thing to do.
We stop at the end of a long hallway lit with bright lights when the nurse points to a door held slightly ajar.
“Your friend is in there. Ten minutes, understood?”
“Yes, thank you!”
My hand shakes as I reach for the door. Just how bad are his injuries if he ended up here?
I take a deep breath, steadying myself for the worst, and push the door open.
Gagiel sits on the bed, propped up by several fluffy pillows. His face is red and puffy, and I can see the developing bruises peeking out from beneath his hospital gown, but otherwise he seems unharmed.
He hasn’t noticed me yet, his eyes glued to the television secured to the wall across from him. The cooking channel plays reruns of a show my parents used to love watching before the provider started limiting channels on Fallen accounts.
“Hayliel?”
“Are you okay? I came as soon as I heard.”
He smiles, the movement pulling at the cut on his bottom lip. “The nurse assures me there won’t be any lasting damage, otherwise I’m just tired and sore.”
I grab a chair from the corner and bring it to the side of the bed, glad to see that he’s doing alright. “Why didn’t you call me? We would have come straight away and protected you against whoever did this.”
He looks away, picking at the edge of the sheet like he might find the answer there. “They wanted me to call you.”
Acid bubbles in my stomach until I feel nauseous. “What?”
“Well, I intended to call you guys as soon as I realized they were waiting for me, but then Cadriel kept making these sly little remarks, like he had a plan for you. I didn’t know if they were going to jump you or if they had something worse planned, so I kept silent.” He finally looks at me again, and this time there’s a little fire behind his eyes. “After everything you’ve done for me, I couldn’t risk you getting hurt.”
I grab his hand in both of mine, shocked at the sweet protectiveness of my new friend, even if I’d rather he called me. “Thank you. I appreciate your attempt to keep me safe, even though you shouldn’t have had to.”
“You would have done the same for me, Hayliel.”
“How about this. When you’re healed, we can work on strengthening your fighting skills so that if those assholes ever think to attack you again, you’ll put them in their place. Deal?”
Gagiel laughs, his brown eyes lighting up. “Deal.” He hesitates a moment before sitting straighter and asking, “A few of my friends agreed to come back to campus after midterms. Think you could help them too?”
“Of course! I’m excited to meet them. Plus, now youmustcall me if Cadriel and his idiot buddies ever corner you again, just so I can witness when you pummel their asses.”
There’s a soft rap on the door before the nurse from the front desk enters. “Visiting hours are over, miss. You can come back tomorrow when curfew’s over.”