“He looks better today.” A feminine voice breaks through the shroud of fog. I groan and hear a sharp gasp.
“Oh my God.” The voice says, “Get the doctor right now.”
Doctor? What the fuck?
I pry my eyes open. They feel like they’re coated in glue and when they finally focus on the room around me, I notice the blinding lights illuminating a hospital room and an IV jammed into my left hand.
I let out a guttural groan as pain washes over me with the effort to sit up. Nausea bubbles up in my stomach and I feel like I’m going to hurl.
“No, no, no. Lay back down.” A nurse says, pushing at the tops of my shoulders.
“What happened?” My voice croaks out.
“You’re in the hospital, you were poisoned, and we had to place you into a coma to let your body heal.”
The nurse says while whipping off her stethoscope and pressing its cool metallic tip against my skin.
“Oh my God, Sloan!” Garrison yelps from the doorway.
I manage a wave as he makes his way into the room.
“Christ. I thought you weren’t going to pull through.” He says looking down at me, a frown pulling at his brows.
“Can’t kill me that easily.” I cough out.
“Mr. Hayes, please leave the room. We need to perform some tests.”
“Good to see you alive, bud.” Garrison says with a smirk while he clasps my hand, before heeding the nurse’s instruction- which is probably a good thing because she looked seconds away from using her stethoscope as a nun chuck to get him to leave.
* * *
After being poked and prodded for two days, I am finally given permission to leave the hospital. Garrison, Graham, Walker and Skye have all been by in shifts to check on me and fill me in on what went down. The poison did a number on me, and my body is still feeling weak, as my legs shake under me with every step I take. Numbness creeps over my toes and prickles up my ankle. It’s annoying, but it’s better than being dead. It puts my life into perspective with how I’ve been wasting the time I’ve been given.
Pierce and I weren’t close, but I respected the hell out of him for trying to do something about these fucking demons that we’ve been shackled to. He did something about it instead of wasting his life away on the couch like me, even if he did end up getting killed for it.
Garrison drives me back to the house, where everyone, except Emmet, is waiting in the living room.
“Oh, come on guys, do we have to do this right now? He just got out of the hospital.” Garrison says, while throwing off his jacket.
“Do what?” I ask, hobbling to the nearest empty chair. All I want is to shower off the stench of the hospital, but my weak legs will only carry me so far. The stench of antiseptic wafts up into my nose.
I’m met with a medley of anxious looks and bored expressions that coat the faces of my housemates as I take my seat.
“We’ve put it off for long enough.” Skye says her face sporting twin circles under her eyes. Her hair is down, framing her round face.
“She’s right. We deserve answers. I need to know what the fuck Pierce died for. It’s been eating at me for days, and I can’t do it anymore.” Salem adds, sitting squished between Skye and Walker while wearing Pierce’s tattered jersey. The sight sends a pang right to my stomach. I haven’t processed that Pierce is no longer with us, but his boisterous presence is noticeably absent.
The guys and I look around at each other, unsure of where to start. Lukas pulls at his sling avoiding everyone’s gaze, until Garrison stands up.
“For fuck’s sake, if no one else is going to explain, I will.” Garrison pulls at his school issue tie, looping the white and black stripes around his thick fingers to yank it off. “I might as well be comfortable for this shit.” He sighs.
“Two years ago, we came to this school under the impression that we would be initiated into this fraternity. Many of us had families that required that we join.” He starts.
“We know all this already. How about you skip to what the fuck happened.” Salem spits out.
Garrison glares down at her, his jaw ticking with annoyance. “So, there we were, being pulled into the woods thinking it was a normal initiation. Maybe there’d be some pranks, some hazing. But we didn’t know that when we drank from the chalices, we would become possessed by the seven deadly sins.”
Skye and Salem look at each other, silently communicating with their eyes. I don’t know how the fuck girls do that.
