Page 77 of Hades

I fit myself under his arm right where I belong.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Hades

We’ve spent the rest of the day at home together. The TV is on, but neither of us is paying attention. She is so lost in her head while I’m lost in her.

I wish there was a way I could fix this for her. I wish I could convince her that this isn’t her fault, which it isn’t. The only one to blame for Melanie’s death is Dansworth, but words don’t take the heartache away.

“I’m going to order lunch. Do you want something specific?” I ask, breaking our hours-long silence.

She startles, looking over at me. “No. Whatever you order is fine.”

I nod, going on my phone to order our favorites. Before I can finalize the order, her phone rings. That’s not unusual, but the way she tenses has me giving her all of my attention.

“Hello, Betty,” she answers.

I see her face growing pale.

“Yeah. I’ll be there. You said at five?”

I can’t hear what the woman is saying, and it’s killing me. I remember that Betty is the HR representative that told her I couldn’t visit anymore.

“Okay, see you then.”

She hangs up the phone, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“They want to see me to discuss what happened. It seems there have been questions raised about how I handled it.”

“It’s not your fault. No matter what they say, it isn’t on you.”

“I’m scared,” she stammers.

I squeeze her tighter. “It will be okay. They will see what I saw in that video. A doctor desperately trying to save their patient. They can’t fault you for that.”

She shakes her head, her hair getting caught in my stubble. “I want to think that, but I doubt I’ll be that lucky. I swear it’s like he’s ten steps ahead of us. I’m sick of it.”

She doesn’t have to say who he is. I know she means Dansworth. Somehow he is involved in this.

“We all are,” I murmur.

She pulls back and looks at me with watery eyes. “I don’t understand why he hurts them like that. Why he would allow her to die. Or I guess if Reaper is right, he killed her. Why? I thought he liked to keep his toys. Isn’t that why he is going after Natalie so hard?”

“Because she was trying to get away, and she probably knew too much. You know how badly he treated Natalie. Imagine what he would do with someone who heard the wrong thing. He’s escalating, which means he’s bound to get sloppy. That we will find a way to tie this to him.”

She laughs sarcastically. “That’s great and all, but it’s my medical license on the line. Best-case scenario, I cost the hospital a lot of money, and it’s only one black mark against my license. Worst case? The hospital lets me take the blame, and I lose my medical license. I’ll never be able to practice medicine again, Hades. Who am I if not a doctor?”

“You’re a woman, a sister, a daughter. You’re a living, breathing human who will be able to change directions. Will it suck if it comes to it? Yes, in ways I can’t understand, but I know you, Evelyn, and you won’t let this ruin you.”

“I’m not so sure,” she murmurs, resting her head back against my chest.

I squeeze my eyes tight, feeling helpless.

“Have you ever heard what made me decide to become a doctor?” she asks.

“No, tell me.”