Christian played with the wheels and turned himself around. “Afraid not, lass. My soul is banjaxed. Ruined. Dark and wicked.”
I wiped his arm with the towel where blood had run all the way to the elbow. “I thought you had self-control.”
He slumped in the wheelchair, his smile not showing a hint of remorse. “I never turn down a free drink. A bag is better than whiskers and perfume in my face, and I don’t especially like drinking from people. In fact, I only ever have the pleasure when we’re hunting outlaws. Even then Viktor frowns upon it. Can’t a man just be a Vampire?” He licked the back of his hand. “They could at least warm it up.”
“I thought you didn’t drink from the dead.” I tossed the towel into the trash.
“Neverdrink from a corpse or you’ll slowly go mad. Technically, bagged blood comes from the living. The only thing it’ll do is make you langered.”
“You’re a messy eater. Maybe next time exercise a little self-control and get a to-go bag.”
Christian laughed so loud that I slapped my hand over his mouth.
“How am I the sane person in this situation?” I pulled the thin blanket up to his shoulders. “Pretend you’re asleep.” I rushed to the door and pressed my ear against it.
Christian snickered. “I can hear everything. She’s rabbiting on about her favorite show. It’s the one about the devil. Don’t you find it odd that humans are so fascinated with Satan? They made him all… sexual.Jaysus.If there is a devil, I’d be willing to wager my life savings that he looks exactly like your da and dresses like Wyatt.”
I got behind him and pushed the wheelchair. “I’m gonna let that slide because you’re drunk. Now shut the hell up and play dead.”
After making sure the coast was clear, I hauled ass through the skywalk.
“You’re a terrible driver,” he muttered.
After the automatic doors opened, I coolly walked in and gave a worker a panicked smile when I saw the frown on his face. The elevator beeped the second I pushed the up button.
“Fuck,” I breathed when I saw we weren’t going to be alone.
I swallowed hard and pushed Christian inside, next to a man in a white coat.
Christian’s head bobbed up. “I can’t think with all that noise. Why won’t they invent silent elevators without all the mechanical parts? They could run on gravity using magnets.”
I tried to nudge his head down, but he reached up and slapped my hand.
The doctor flashed me a quick grin. When the doors opened, he reached for the handlebars on the wheelchair. “Let me get that.” He backed Christian up into the hall. “Do you need help finding something?”
I lifted Christian’s blanket up to his shoulder when it started to slip. “No. We just went down to the cafeteria to see if they were open. My brother fell down a flight of stairs. Uh, thanks.”
“Brother?” Christian scowled at me. “Is that the best you can do?”
I tapped my head with my index finger. “They’re keeping him for observation. Thanks, Doc.” I parked Christian’s wheelchair at the end of the elevator hall. “Look, I’m gonna get my dad. Can you sit here? I’m serious,” I said, wagging my finger in his face.
Christian licked the tip of my finger and winked.
I tucked the blanket around his neck like a bib to hide his shirt and underwear. As I hustled back to my father’s room, I glanced down at my hands and noticed bloodstains.
This wasn’t in the brochure.
Once the door shut, I sprinted to the chair and grabbed my father’s clothes. “Get up. We gotta go.”
“I just ordered eggs and sausages.”
“Really? That’s the healthiest you can do?”
He swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I’m in the right place if anything happens. What’s going on?”
“I can’t explain.” I peeled off the tape from his finger that held the pulse oximeter. While he put on his pants, I found bandages and helped him remove the central line from his hand. Hopefully nothing would trigger an alarm at the nurse’s station that would make them rush in right away, but what were they gonna do? Arrest him for declining medical care?
“You’re shittin’ me,” he grumbled, holding up his ripped shirt. “Where the hell are my coveralls?”
