Nyctophilia

Chapter twenty.

I hope your guilt consumes you.

The exact words he said before he left. Stupid...

She was so fucking stupid for letting his words get to her.

"Does it hurt when you speak?" The doctor asked for the hundredth time, and Astrid was sure she was going to throttle him if he asks the same fucking question again.

She glared at the Doctor, but nodded nonetheless.

Leave behind no witnesses.

"Your wind pipe had been scarred, Astrid." The doctor informed, "We had to perform a laser surgery to widen the trachea, and we had to remove the scar tissue."

'Would it mean that I'd have trouble speaking?' She wanted to ask.

"You won't experience any pain," The doctor smiled with contentment, "However, I'd advise you to not speak resoundingly."

'Translation: you'd be in pain if you spoke too loudly,' that's what Astrid thought.

She nodded stoically, tired of the protocols.

Resisting the urge to groan, Ash fell back on the bed with an audible sigh before closing her eyes as soon as the doctor left.

Ryder and River. What happened to them? Were they alive or were they—

It was Astrid's fault. If she had just denied that stupid mission, she would have never had to fight the twins off every time they managed to track her.

Ajax was the older brother of Ryder and River. Being the heir of The Greek Crime Organization never stopped Ajax from being kind— Astrid knew that because of the way he had accepted his death.

And River and Ryder loved Ajax, so naturally, they wanted revenge. Obviously, Astrid wouldn't let them kill her, so she fought back... not to kill but to injure.

She owed Ajax that much. Maybe he hadn't done much, but... he didn't beg, didn't even blink—

Maybe he knew Astrid would never have the courage so he saved her the trauma...

Fuck, she shouldn't be thinking about it right now. She needed a distraction.

The sound of a window opening made Astrid snap her gaze open to the window. Quickly abandoning her need to stay in the bed— even if her bruised ribs protested— she jumped into her fighting stance.

"Hey."

♣︎

Astrid sighed in relief.

His familiar brown curls were entangled in front of his eye brows, and his tan skin was lighter than she remembered. His lean body was covered with an ocean blue t-shirt and grey denim. His brown eyes was the same color of his hair, and if she were being honest, she found them so pretty.

Pretty as in the way chocolate was melted, pretty as in the way fallen autumn leaves decorated the cobblestones at the park Eve took her and Aria to... or pretty in the way the embarking flames had danced across the bonfire her schoolmates had made when they were younger.

"Zane." Astrid rasped, "What're you doing here?" She did her best to cover up her accent.

"Al told me what happened," Zane smiled fondly at her, "I came to see what how you were."

Of course. How could she forget that all three of them were closer than brothers?

"You saw me," She said, in a dismissal way, "Now, leave."