Page 24 of Healed

“You stupid, idiotic, soon-to-be-dead little bastard!” she screeched, slapping me around the face.

My vision went white.

“Fuck me,” I wheezed, clutching my cheek. “Is everyone taking turns?”

“You absolute fucking prick,” she hissed, and then her eyes filled with tears, which was far more terrifying than the slap. “Do you have any idea what you put us through?”

“Vaguely.”

“Vaguely?” she repeated, her voice rising.

“Was this better or worse than the time I let Axel fall off my motorbike?” I asked.

I swear smoke came out of her ears.

“Nice going,” Dante hissed in my ear.

“You’re really going to bring up the time you almost killed my son as a comparison?”

“Should I bring up—”

“Quit whilst you’re ahead. Jesus fucking Christ,” Dante said, stomping on my foot.

And then he stepped closer to Rachel, murmuring something low enough that I couldn’t hear it. The fire went out of her, and her expression softened.

“Her mum?” she whispered, then sighed heavily.

For all the chaos in her, for all the fire and sharp edges and violence she wore so comfortably, Rachel understood grief better than most. She looked at me then, really looked at me, and for the first time since I had known her, she didn’t have a single insult ready.

“Well… shit,” she said.

“Yeah.”

Dante cleared his throat. “Gather the men. We’re leaving.”

Rachel nodded, the softness vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. “About fucking time. This place is depressing.”

“That’s one word for it,” I muttered.

She fell into step with us as Dante started moving again, and I tried to pretend I wasn’t leaning more heavily against him with every step. Judging by the way Rachel’s eyes kept dropping to my feet, I was doing a shit job of it.

“Doc is going to have a field day with you,” she said.

“Doc loves me.”

“Doc once said you were the reason he drinks.”

“Exactly. Bonded for life. But for the record, Doc once said you were the reason Hell exists, sooooo… I win.”

“Doc said you were the reason people take drugs.”

“He said you were the human equivalent of genital warts.”

“He said that about you!” Rachel hissed. “He said I was the human equivalent of an anal fissure.”

She said that as though it were something to be proud of.

“Your face is swelling,” she said after a moment of silence.