I climb back into bed with ribs aching and what’s unmistakably nerves heavy in my otherwise empty stomach.
I’ve only settled in against the pillows when there’s a tap at my door.
Daisha enters first, closely followed by Monroe. If I thought I’d escaped the tense staredown in the corridor, I’m obviously proven wrong.
The pair have come to me. They immediately feel like the warmth I’ve been missing for so many weeks.
“Jin baby, we were actually just coming to see you,” Daisha says in her usual motherly tone. She produces a cluck of disapproval with her tongue. “What are you doing out of bed? I saw you standing in that doorway like you were about to take a stroll. You need to rest.”
She fusses over my pillows, adjusting them out of maternal instinct, and I let her because I don’t know what else to do. No one has fussed over me like this in thirty years. It’s disorienting and awkward and strangely comforting all at once.
“Do you need anything?” she continues, smoothing the blanket across my lap. “Water? Another pillow? I can go find a nurse if you need medication?—”
“I’m fine, Daisha,” I cut in. “But thank you.”
She waves a hand. “More like I should be thanking you. You went through hell to save Moni. You have no idea how grateful I am. I don’t know what I would’ve done if...”
Her eyes begin to water with unshed tears, and the nerves in my stomach ripple even more intensely.
“She’s safe now,” I say tensely. “That’s all that matters.”
She nods, wiping at her eyes and then gently squeezing my arm. With a glance back at Monroe, she seems to realize we might need a moment alone.
“I’m going to go find some coffee,” she announces. “You two... take your time.”
She slips out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her. Suddenly, Monroe and I are alone in a space that feels more compact by the second.
The silence between us stretches on for a while. Neither one of us sure what to say.
Despite the many things on our minds, it’s so complex it feels like an impossible task.
“You… you look well, Tokki—Monroe.”
She almost smiles, the corner of her mouth quirking slightly. “I can’t lie and say the same, Jin. You’re looking rough right now.”
I let out a short laugh. “How can you tell? Was it the shattered cheekbone or the swollen black eye? Maybe the giant bandage on my chest from the knife that was jammed into me?”
“Jin…” She shakes her head, dropping her gaze. “I can’t believe you… you found me and then defeated him. You jumped into that water after me.”
“What have I told you? I will always take care of you. If you were going to die, we were going to die together. I was going to be beside you doing what I could to save you.”
“I was so scared. I thought… I’d never get to see you again. I’d never get to tell you…” Her shoulders quake as she draws in a deep breath and quickly wipes at her eyes. “Thank you for always being there for me.”
My chest clenches tighter. “Monroe?—”
“There’s something you should know—if you don’t already, I guess—Myeong-su poisoned me. The tea he gave me was part of his revenge against you, and I drank it. I… killed our baby.”
The tears she’s been preventing by staring down at the floor and wiping at her eyes can no longer be denied. They slide down her cheeks as she still refuses to meet my gaze.
…as if she’s ashamed.
“That’s not true,” I say. “Monroe, how could you have known he’d poisoned the tea? Myeong-su was a wolf in sheep’sclothing. He deceivedeveryone—you, me, your colleagues at the school. You couldn’t have known what he was.”
“But I should’ve been more on guard,” she insists, her features scrunching up from grief. “I should’ve dealt with the nausea on my own. I should’ve questioned his intentions?—”
She interrupts herself with a sob that bubbles its way out of her. Her hand comes up to her mouth, and she shakes her head and turns her back to me.
Watching Monroe cry has always been extremely difficult. Even when I was still pretending I was on my mission to eliminate her at Jae-hyun’s behest, it was like torture watching her tear up and get so upset.
