“The hospital. Quick,” I growl, cradling J’s head. She feels warm to the touch. What the hell is wrong with her? Why is she pushing herself like this?
The crazy girl in my arms groans and says something incoherent.
Hayato starts the car.
“No,” J protests. Flinching with every movement, she sits up in my lap. Her entire face is red, and she’s holding a fist to her heart. Tendrils of her silky blonde hair stick to the sweat on her cheeks.
I pry the blonde locks away from her skin. As I do, my fingers brush her face. It’s not my imagination. She truly is burning up.
“The hospital, Hayato,” I order when the lieutenant hesitates.
“Finn…please.”
A hot, scorching sensation fills my chest. I glare down at her, and she flinches as if I hit her.
“Kelly—I mean Gina—she wants to meet me. I need to know what… what I’m up against.” Even speaking exhausts her, and she flops into my chest.
My eyes drop to the yellow color on her watch. “You can’t even finish a sentence right now, and you want to expose a scammer?”
“Gimme… a sec. I’ll… take my pills.”
My eyes widen when I see that she has an entirely new bag of pills. “Did you finish the last bag?”
She nods.
“J, how many of these have you been taking a day?”
“Water.”
I scowl. Dr. Kenji hasn’t updated me about what’s inside the pills, but even I know that she shouldn’t be treating strong prescriptions like her chocolate bars.
I reluctantly hand her the bottle.
J takes one of the pills and sighs. “One more stop. Just one more stop, and I’ll go to the hospital.”
Hayato glances at me in the rearview mirror.
My teeth clench together. I want to tear someone apart with my bare hands, but I have no target. No sparring partner. How do I punch a sickness in the face until I break its jaw? It’s impossible.
“Do you have directions?” I grind out.
J’s eyes are closed, but her lips form a tired smile.
“Don’t smile,” I order, digging my fingers into her arms to adjust her in my lap. “You have ten minutes to talk to Gina’s parents.”
“Thirty.”
“Five.”
“What?” Her eyes burst open. “Fifteen minutes.”
“Hayato.” I divert my attention to him. “The hospital.”
“Okay. Okay. Ten minutes.” She scrunches her nose and mutters, “Butthole.”
I ignore the insult and take her phone from her.
“Did Courtney send the address?” J asks faintly.
