Page 62 of Slicer

I snort before noticing her downing shot after shot out of the corner of my eye, and I message back,

Me—definitely not pregnant; she just downed a few shots.

More texts come in,

Gunner – bitch, is trying to trap him.

Hawk – we need to look into trying to get rid of her; she's trouble waiting to happen.

I nod at Hawk's message because it’s true—she's obsessed with Flame. It didn't help; she was his main girl, a bit like Clitter with me.

We brothers are fucking stupid.

Dagger – Is it bad that I laughed at this?

I chuckle and shake my head, but full-blown laugh at the next message,

Ink—oh no, I laughed so hard I had coffee come out of my nose.

The last text, though, yeah,

Flame – you fuckers are assholes.

Flame – and I haven't fucked her in a year, so fuck you fuckers.

Laughter bursts free from my chest, and I shake my head before I take a deep breath. I look at the time; it's been twenty minutes since Doc forced me away from Meghan, telling me I had to give her an hour's peace.

I nod. Yep, that's long enough. I'll just tell Doc I waited the full hour; he'll never know.

I get up and walk to the medical room, but come to a stop, seeing her bed empty and her IV sitting on it.

Shit,

I hear a shower running, and I swallow.

Is she finally back?

I quickly rush over to the door and open it to hear her mumbling over and over.

"Please, please, go away, please."

Realization hits; she can see his ghost; it's haunting her. That's how I felt after my first kill; fuck, I should have realized she'd be seeing him everywhere.

I rush over to the shower stall and climb in, clothes and all, including my cut, before I gently lift her up.

She starts to struggle: "No, please, please. I'm dirty, I'm full of blood, and I need to be clean. Please, please."

Fuck.

I quickly sit her on the counter and cup her face as Mel and Doc rush in, their eyes wide.

I lean forward and gently rub my nose against hers as she squeezes her eyes shut.

"Look at me, Wildcat."

She shakes her head, and I move my right hand, cupping the back of her neck while my left cups her chin, my thumb stroking her neck.

"Open your eyes, Meghan."