Rise [Bruno Mars]

Chapter two

Chapter two

I'd been sitting beside the bed, a wineglass poised to my lips, when Bruno pushed himself upright. Like it had been with Joseph, Bruno's veins vanished down his skin after being injected with the medicine. Bruno just stayed unconscious for a little while longer. My heart sparked as he slowly scanned the room. Finally, his gaze landed on me.

“How are you feeling?”

“You disrespected me.”

Crossing my legs, I licked the taste of grape off my lips. His dark eyes followed the slow movement of my tongue before flickering back up to me. “I'm sorry you feel that way, but I'm not sorry for what I did. Except for hitting you.”

Anger flashed across his features. “This is my life, Adrian, and I choose whether to—”

“Your body fights for you to stay alive, why can't I?” My voice rose, grip tightening around the glass. “You think that if you ask your body to stop fighting off diseases it's just going to listen to you? No, baby, it doesn't work that way.”

He looked away, twisting the ring on his finger. “That's the first time you ever called me that,” he mumbled. By his voice I could tell his fury diminished. Still, he didn't sound happy.

“Do you want some?”

I grabbed the wine bottle and poured more into my glass. I gave him the cup before retreating to my seat and pulling my knees to my chest. “Do you feel better?”

“Better than I have in awhile,” he admitted, gulping the wine as if it were water. “How long was I out?”

“About fifteen minutes.”

He inspected his bandaged hand, then lightly touched his face with it. “Nice slap, by the way. I think I can still feel the sting.”

“I've been waiting to do that ever since I met you.”

“I've heard many things about my face,” he said, “but slappable wasn't one of them.”

“But it looked so good on you.” 

“As all things do.” I fought a smile. Bruno changed in some ways, I knew, but apparently his charm wasn't touched. “I'm glad to be alive,” he added quietly, staring down at the blood red liquid.

My feet slid to the floor. I meant to come near him but thought better of it and leaned forward. “You scared me. You went unconscious and I thought—I thought I was too late.” 

After I'd injected him, the needle dropped from my hand as if it burned. Bruno was limp. I clasped a hand over my mouth, a scream too broken to be immediate. I sobbed into his chest when I saw it rise and fall. Then I gathered myself together, dressed his wounds, cleaned up all the blood, and waited.

Bruno pressed his index finger and thumb to his lids. His chest shook with something between a laugh and a choked sob. “God, what did I do to deserve this?”

“Nothing.” A pang of guilt stopped me from easing the yearn to wrap my arms around his aching figure. A part of me feared he felt betrayed by me, for injecting him. “You did nothing to deserve this. Life just enjoys being shitty, B.”

He swore, wiping his face with his arm.

I twiddled my thumbs. “Do you want to know more about the AI?”

“Yeah.” He tipped his head back, downing the rest of the wine. “But Joseph can tell me.”

My eyes widened. I grabbed the bottle of wine and when I handed it over I perched on the side of the bed. “You want to meet him?”