Liam walks out of a hallway marked PCU, his head down, a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. His posture is tense, off, looking like he’s deep in thought. But before I can get a good look at his expression, he turns—walking in the opposite direction.
My stomach twists. Why would he be here?
Is he sick? Hurt? Is someone he knows unwell?
I don’t know much about hospitals, so I have no idea what a PCU even is. But something about this feels wrong. Off. I should call him. Say something. Ask.
I open my mouth—
But Kai, the wall, steps in the way right when I’m about to. Suddenly, he’s just there, standing in front of me, effectively blocking my entire view. My head jerks up, eyes still wide from what I just saw.
Kai, however, looks annoyingly unfazed. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I just saw Liam,” I blurt, still craning my neck to see around him. No luck. He’s literally a human barricade.
Kai doesn’t react at first. Just stares. “Liam?”
“Yes, Liam,” I say impatiently, trying to shift in my seat for a better look. No sign of him anymore. “He just walked out of that hallway over there, holding some piece of paper. He looked… I don’t know. Weird?”
Kai exhales, tipping his head back slightly, before he gives me a kind of forced smile. “And you’re certain of that?”
I frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re sure you saw him?”
“Yes, I—” I cut myself off, eyes narrowing. “Wait. Do you think I—”
“Maybe,” he says before I even finish the sentence.
Oh my god.
“You seriously think I hallucinated it?”
He doesn’t deny it. Which, honestly, is so on-brand for him.
“I mean,” he gestures vaguely to me, “head injury. Blood loss. It’s not the craziest theory.”
I gape. “It’s also not the correct one!”
Kai doesn’t look convinced. He just lifts a brow, arms crossing, already deciding I imagined the whole thing. “Right. Because Liam has so many reasons to be lurking around a hospital on a random Friday afternoon.”
I’m about to say something, but I shut myself up because he makes a fair point.
Maybe I actually did imagine it? It’s not entirely out of character for me.
Kai straightens, tone shifting. “Up you get. We’re getting you checked.”
I blink at him. Confused.
“Wait. How did you manage to get us a slot so quickly?”
Kai just shrugs, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I told them my name.”
I stare at him. Waiting for the rest of that sentence.
Nothing comes.
“That’s it?”
