“This is hard,” he said.
My eyebrows pinched together as I frowned.What did that mean?
He shook his head. “I’ll tell you another time. For now, you need to take it easy. We’ll get you back to your room tonight, andif you’re feeling up to class tomorrow, then you should be clear to go.”
He waved someone over, and I finally got a look at my surroundings. There were at least ten beds and a mixture of staff wearing scrubs and others wearing robes like our professors.
“You’re in the hospital wing.”
A nurse wearing scrubs with cute cartoon characters rushed over. Rylan stepped back to give her space but didn’t take his eyes off me while she checked my vitals and gave me a cup of ice water.
“Everything looks good. Being awake is a sign that the venom has metabolically burned out of your system. You’re free to go whenever you feel comfortable. Drink lots of fluids, and rest as needed.” She signed something on a tablet before giving both of us a curt nod and leaving.
The ice water helped my headache, but it made me realize I needed to pee.
Rylan was back at my side, ready to assist as I stood.
“I just need to use the restroom.” I rolled my eyes and had no chance of arguing as he wrapped his arm around my waist a second later.
“Humor me.” His voice dipped lower as we started walking. With each step, the fatigue in my muscles grew, and I ended up being grateful for his help.
Despite that, I scrambled away from him to enter the bathroom by myself to take care of business. There’s no way I’d let him hold me while I peed.
The bathroom resembled what I’d imagine a prison cell would. There was a metal railing next to the toilet, a trashcan, a pedestal sink, and the paper products, but oddly no mirror. Was the hospital wing set up in the old dungeons of the castle?
Hopefully, I looked better than a sleeping princess waking up from a hundred-year nap.
This time I didn’t even roll my eyes when I exited the bathroom cell, and Rylan helped me back to the bed.
“So…” I tucked my legs under the thick blanket and looked around.
“So.” Rylan sat in the chair beside mine, kicked off his boots, and rested his sock-covered feet on the end of my bed. Clearly, he wasn’t going anywhere, and I didn’t like the way my stomach fluttered seeing his eyebrow arch. Like he was daring me to tell him to leave.
Spoiler alert, I didn’t.
As my body slowly gathered strength, we talked about our classes and familiars. Rylan connected with a crow that he named Russel.
Remy showed an hour later with two to-go cups in her hand. “You’re up. Ready to go to the room? We’ll grab a pizza on the way.”
“Yeah.” I looked at her and gasped. My jaw dropped so fast and so hard that I heard something click in my head. She handed me the drink and stared at Rylan with an expression that I couldn’t figure out.
“Remy… why is your hair pink?” And not in the fashionable way she’d styled it the other day. This was more of a…mistake.
I inhaled the scent of coffee and guzzled half of the cup in seconds.
“You didn’t tell her, did you?” Remy asked Rylan while shaking her head as I found my footing. The billionaire stood with me but didn’t hover like a mother hen.
“It’s cute.” He shrugged and started putting on his shoes.
“Ourhair is pink from the cotton candy smoke. The magic nullifier didn’t get rid of it. We’ll have to wait it out.”
As Remy broke the news, I grabbed a chunk of my hair to examine.
Yep. My fucking hair was cotton candy pink.
“Like I said… cute. Call me you if you need anything ladies.” Rylan waved as he bolted out of the room.
“Never seen him act like that,” Remy mused.
