Page 173 of Rite of Unity

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The hospital corridor was empty at this hour, my footsteps too loud against the floor.The nurse at the desk had barely finished introducing himself before I was through the doors he’d buzzed open.

Please be okay.Please.

The room was dim, the only light coming from the monitor beside her bed.I stopped in the doorway, one hand on the frame, and made myself breathe.

She was alive.The slow rise and fall of her chest made something inside me unclench.

I crossed the room, sitting beside the bed, afraid to touch her.

The bruising on her throat was dark, purple bleeding into the pale skin of her neck.On the other side of her head, a gash disappeared into her hairline.

Lydia had done this.

My hands found each other between my knees.I pressed them together until my knuckles ached.

I was the reason Lydia was still in that Rite house.I had saved her after elimination—given her access to Maryn.

I sat with that for a long time.

When the doctor came, I stood.He shook my hand, going over her chart.She would be okay.Everything he said after that was a blur.

When he left, I sat, reaching for Maryn’s unusually still hand.Awake, she was always squeezing her fingers together or tucking them behind her back; now, her raw, bitten nails lay unmoving.

A sound escaped me as I closed my eyes, resting my head against the side of the bed.

I should have called for a chaperone.If Sera wanted ammunition, I was handing it to her.I stayed anyway.

“You scared me,” I whispered in the silent room.

Her fingers twitched in my grasp, and I looked up.Her eyes fluttered open and closed before settling on me.

“Elias.”Her voice was cracked and broken.

“Shhh,” I whispered, pressing my lips to her knuckles.I blinked, a tear escaping and sliding down my cheek.“Don’t try to talk now.”

She swallowed, but her eyes were already drifting closed again.

The next time she woke, she asked for water in a voice I hardly recognized.I pressed the button for a nurse, releasing her hand only long enough to hold her head up so she could drink.

She tried to speak again.

“Go back to sleep.I’m here.”

***

I blinked awake and pulled my tablet out of my pocket, checking the time.It was after midnight.I should go get some rest.

Maryn moaned in her sleep, and I tucked my tablet back in my pocket, settling back in my chair and closing my eyes.

When she woke a third time, her eyes were clearer, and her attention went to our fingers laced together.She tugged her hand weakly, and I released my hold.She tucked her fingers under the blankets.

“You don’t have to hide from me.”

Tears welled in her eyes, but I wasn’t sure if they were from the pain or my words.

“Do you need a drink?”