Re-dressing Taylor’s wounds means undressing her, so I excuse myself before it gets awkward. “Delilah, could you point me in the direction of Mason? Is he awake?”
“He may be sleeping, but he’s conscious,” the doctor confirms, scanning Taylor’s chart. “He’s downstairs in room two-oh-four with a woman.”
“Maria,” Delilah says. I remember her being fairly inconsolable when Mason went back to Detroit after they were safely transported to Lansing. “Tell her I said to go home and sleep. I want you to do the same.”
“But I—” But I what? I don’t need to be here. Taylor has to recuperate and I can’t help her. I can’t help anyone. “Okay.”
Mason’s room is sterile compared to Taylor’s plush accommodations. White walls, white sheets, white curtains. A young woman lies slumped in a chair next to him as he slumbers in his bed when I enter. His right arm is over the blanket and his left arm…his left arm is gone below his elbow.
Maria startles out of her sleep and blinks a pair of dark, bleary eyes at me. Once she realizes who I am, she’s not happy about it.
“Hell no,” she says, practically pushing me out the door. After glancing at Mason, she gives me a hard up-and-down. “What are you doing here?”
Apparently, getting accosted. I bite back the remark. I’m sure this girl is stressed out. I understand. “I came to check on Mason. How’s he doing?”
“Like you care.”
“Of course I care.”
“None of you care about that man until he can do something for you,” she says with an accusatory glare. “He never should’ve gone to Detroit after that idiot. But no, he has to follow her into the fire. Nearly get killed. Meanwhile she’s sitting pretty over there, Delilah’s darling in her executive suite.”
“I can assure you she did everything she could. She nearly died getting them to safety.”
“Oh, right, she did everything she could.” Maria laughs caustically. “You know, everyone acts like she’s this brilliant solider. Even Mason can’t do nothing but be nice about her. And for what? What she done that’s so special? She fucked up your daddy’s assassination. She attracted tons of attention at Thorne’s place. She got Faith killed. She got my boyfriend’s hand blown off. And yet we’re supposed to worship her because she’s Theia’s girl? Fuck that. Fuck her. And fuck you too.”
Closing my eyes, I inhale deeply through my nose to calm down. The primal, hereditary urge to protect and attack is suppressed. “If you don’t want me to see Mason, I will respect that. He’s always been kind to me, right from the beginning, even when he had no reason to be. I want him to know I’m here for him too.”
Maria stares me down, big eyes taking me in, sizing me up. “Fine. I’ll clean up, try to sleep. If you wanna go in, fine. It’s real hard when the most important person in your life isn’t treated as important by anyone else. And now he’s gonna get sent back to HQ alone, forgotten again.”
“What if you went with him?” I pose. “If I could clear it with Delilah and Theia, you could go back with him.”
Maria appears as if she wants to take hold of the hope I’m giving her, but she eyes it warily. “You think so? Could that happen? He’s got no family. I know he’s got friends back home, but everyone is busy as hell.”
“I can’t promise you they’ll agree, but I can promise you I will ask and do my best to convince them both.” I pause. “Delilah won’t be a hard sell, but Theia likes me about as much as you do.”
Maria looks up and finally a weak smile breaks through on her face. “I’d appreciate it a lot.”
“No problem. Are you sure you don’t mind if I sit with him?”
“He’d want to see you,” she admits with reluctance. “I’ll come back later.”
I watch her go before entering Mason’s room. Occupying the chair she vacated, I give his shoulder a squeeze to rouse him. He awakens quickly—Taylor does that too—and finds me with a smile. “Luce.”
“Hey, Mason. Can I hang out?”
“Sure.” He uses his good arm to turn on the television. “Where’d Maria go?”
“She stepped out. Get some sleep, maybe bring you back sustenance other than hospital food,” I say, nodding to his pathetic tray of gruel.
“She give you a hard time?” The wince in his eyes makes it obvious he knows the answer.
“Yes, but I’ve gotten a lot of practice in the last few months with tiny, ferociously stubborn women who don’t like me.”
Mason chuckles. “She doesn’t mean it. She’s a good person.”
“She must be to get you to settle down, lothario.” I nudge his shoulder. “Delilah and I had a lot of late-night chats. Some of which included the ongoing drama of you and your trail of broken hearts.”
“Damn, she doing me dirty, airing my laundry out like that. I was always a gentleman.”
