I sob, completely unable to control myself as the cinderblock wall comes closer, swallowing up everything in my field of vision.
“Fight it, lass. Fight the cold dark. I know it well. Stay with me.” Hook releases my shoulders and pulls me close again, cradling me in his arms like I’m a little lost lamb. “The worst is over.”
I don’t think that’s true, but I can’t say it. I can’t do anything except sit beside my mother and die slowly, the rot spreading at a steady pace.
He rocks me gently as the pain from my leg begins to lessen, a tingling taking its place. But I still ache. Everywhere all at once—in my body and my heart. I can’t put together a thought, a feeling, a desire.
The tingling sensation spreads up my leg, easing me as it goes. Maybe this is me dying. Maybe the infection from the bite is claiming me molecule by molecule until I’m just gone.
I sigh as the cinderblock wall goes fuzzy and starts to fade.
Hook holds me tighter and continues to rock me slowly.
“It’s working.” His voice whispers along my consciousness. “I can feel her relaxing.”
“She’s not out of the storm yet.” The stoic voice counsels from somewhere nearby. Maybe he’s an orderly at the mental hospital or a particularly attentive doctor.
“That was the last of the fairy salve, then?” The raspy voice.
“Yes.” The doctor sounds resigned. “It was quite helpful while it lasted.”
“Aye. Come now, Huran.” The raspy voice softens a hair. “You’ve done your best. Let’s leave them be. We’ll see if she makes it through the hour.”
“She will.” Hook’s voice rumbles through me.
“She’s strong, but she was already drained when she got the bite.” Huran’s voice, the doctor, hovers closer. “I’ll be back to check on her soon.”
“Thank you.” Hook says it almost grudgingly, but it also has the ring of gratitude.
The cinderblock wall is gone, and the tingling has spread all the way through me. I feel like I’m floating. Not on water. God no. No more swimming for me. But maybe on a golden cloud, something with glitter in it. Lots of glitter.
“Glitter?” Hook asks.
I must be talking, though I don’t feel my dry mouth moving.
“You’re going to be all right. Huran is the best healer in the waters off Neverland. Hell, he may be the best in all the waters I sail.” Hook kisses my hair.
I want to claw his eyes out, but I can’t. All I can do is listen to the steady thump of his heart as he rocks me gently. It’s a seduction. It has to be. Hook doesn’t give a shit about me. It doesn’t make sense that he’s going to such great lengths to keep me alive, but perhaps he wants to kill me in some horrible way. It’s a reasonable explanation. Maybe he wants some public display of my death just to spite Peter and the Lost Boys. Coy would take it the hardest. I get a flash of his eyes as the life goes out of them. Right, Coy’s dead.
“It couldn’t be helped.” Hook doesn’t stop rocking me. “The Lost Boys are just that. Lost. It’s a mercy to release them.”
I force my eyes to open, and I see the dark scruff on Hook’s face, the sharp line of his jaw, the tanned skin along his throat. A beautiful monster, a murderer of the loveliest design. If I could end him, I would.
“Many have tried it, lass, make no mistake. None have managed it.” He pulls back and looks down at me, his blue eyes holding mine prisoner. “Though you just might.” When he hoists me higher and settles back into a bed—one in an open, airy room with windows and a soft breeze, I realize we aren’t on the Jolly Roger anymore.
But I can’t keep my eyes open long enough to figure out where I am.
“Rest. I’ll keep you safe.”
I want to laugh, and I swear a giggle bubbles from me, but maybe it’s more of a sob, because the pirate reaches up and swipes some tears away before pulling a blanket over us.
“Shh, lass.” He begins to hum, the sound deep and smooth.
I try to pry my eyes open again, but I can’t. That tingling feeling has changed over to almost numbness. I don’t feel pain. It’s still there, though, lurking beneath whatever magical mixture Huran slathered on my leg.
When Hook sings, his voice so smooth and melodic—that’s when I know I’ve fallen into some other reality, one where villains sing lullabies and heroes can’t save you. “Dreams to sell, fine dreams to sell, Angus is here with fine dreams to sell. Hush now wee bairnie and sleep without fear, for Angus will bring you a dream my dear…”
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