She stiffened like she was back in that corridor. The comforter shifted where her fingers curled into it.
I moved closer to the bed and set my hand on the frame, steady and solid where she could see it. “You’re here,” I said. “This is club land. No elevators. No suits. No Watcher. Just idiots with bad coffee and loud bikes.”
She drew in a breath. Held it. Let it out slow.
“I know,” she said.
“Your body doesn’t.”
“Yeah, well. She can get on board any time now.”
She looked at my boots, then up to the chair shoved back from the bed. “You slept there all night?” she asked.
“Wasn’t tired.”
“Sure.”
“I wasn’t.”
She hummed. “Neck says otherwise.”
“My neck is fine.”
“You’re an awful liar.”
She pushed herself up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet searched for the slippers, found them, slid in. She moved like everything ached, but there was stubborn in every line of her spine.
“I should be in the ops room,” she said. “You should be sleeping. Or on a bike. Or out there doing something that isn’t watching me breathe.”
“You are my something,” I said.
That came out rougher than I meant it to. Her eyes flicked up, sharp.
“Yeah?” she asked quietly.
I cleared my throat. “Doc wants you off screens for a bit. Your brain needs rest. We got Ghost on the feeds and Ariel running backup. You are allowed to take a day and not carry the whole damn op on your shoulders.”
“I am not taking a day,” she said. “You saw that video. They’re still moving girls. That elevator is still running. Scoutis still missing. I am not sitting on my ass while everyone else works.”
“Finally,” I muttered. “Was wondering when you’d start yelling at me.”
“I’m not yelling.”
“You’re close.”
“If I was yelling, you’d know.” She pushed herself to her feet, swayed, then corrected like she was insulted at her own balance. “I need a shower. Then coffee. Then a laptop.”
“The shower, sure. Coffee, maybe. Laptop, no.”
“Wrecker.”
“Doc’s orders.”
“You outrank Doc in club business.”
“This isn’t club business. This is you still seeing that elevator every time you close your eyes.”
Her jaw locked. She looked away, toward the small window where light was starting to creep in. The line of her throat jumped.
