Mafia's collateral (M Book2)

Gut feeling

"What?" Seraphina was frantic, "How?!"

"That's something I would like to ask you," The doctor answered but his tone was suspicious, "Was there an incident where her bandages got wet or you changed them but didn't apply them back right?" His expressions were stern, "I told you to make sure to clean them nicely before rebandaging them."

"I did!" She protested, "And I haven't touched them after cleaning them twice, I applied new, clean strips, I did everything as you told me to do!"

Ah, shit

Did Eris's wound get infected then? When that twit threw water on her? She was soaked then.

Shit, it must be then.

I should have thought about something like this happening. My mind didn't even think about this possibility. I didn't tell Seraphina about this and neither did Eris. If we had, she might have taken care of it. But the reason we kept quiet was so that she wouldn't worry about Eris.

I bit the side of my lower lip.

That was a mistake on my part.

The doctor sighed, "Well, for now we've given her the required treatment,"

"Doctor," I reached them and they both looked at me. I'll talk to the doctor privately, since we didn't inform Seraphina before, it's better she doesn't know about it now either.

"Azef?" She looked at me in surprise.

"I'll take it from here," I approached the doctor, "You can watch over Eris,"

***

>>Seraphina

I watched Azef take the lead. He talked things out with the doctor in a distance from where I was, while I remained with Eris. I was sitting on a stool beside her bed while she was still unconscious. She had a drip attached to her arm and the doctor said everything had been taken care of, yet I couldn't stop worrying.

A few days ago she almost died in a fire, she hasn't even recovered from those injuries and now she's burning up like crazy. I brought my thumb to my mouth and began to bite my nail

Why does this keep happening? I keep trying to do things right but something always seems to go wrong. My heart was in a frenzy of worry. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I needed to see she was breathing fine. I needed to see she was still here. My eyes stung as my chest felt tight.

"She'll be fine," Azef said as he came over, "It's nothing to worry about," I was so lost in worry that when he spoke, it made me flinch. But it also snapped me out of my trance and I let out a shaky breath.

"Really?" I looked at him with fear drumming in my body, "She'll be fine?"

He nodded, "Nothing's going to happen to her." He came and stood beside the bed to look at Eris, "A fever like this can be brought under control very easily." He looked back at me, "She'll sleep through the hard phase, so you don't have to worry."

"Her fever hasn't broken yet," I wiped the corners of my eyes

"The doctor said it'll take some time, she's been given all the necessary things." He assured me, "She'll be fine in the morning."

I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. The tension that had been coiled tight within me began to unwind, which was odd. The doctor told me she'll be fine too, but Azef's words seem to calm me down more.

"I hope so," I whispered as I stared at Eris.

Azef walked over to me and stood before me, his gaze soft and understanding, "Hey, look at me," He snapped his fingers in front of my face and I turned to look at him, "I said, she'll be fine." His words were firm, "So, she'll be fine," His eyes were so clear and resolute, it made the doubt in my mind clear up. And then my heart warmed up, making me feel all cozy.

There he goes again. I gulped as I stared at my boss. He's helping us out like it's his duty.

My heart drummed oddly as I kept my eyes on him. He even left work to come and see us.

"She'll be fine," He reached out to wipe a tear that welled in the corner of my mouth but I had been so overwhelmed with emotion that I didn't think anything through. Without a second thought, I stepped forward and enveloped him in a tight embrace, my arms wrapping around him as if seeking solace in his embrace.

!!!

I felt his body flinch at my action but he didn't push me off or say anything about it.

For a moment, we stood there, locked in a silent embrace. It felt nice, my body against his seemed to provide me with a calming effect. I do realize this was selfish of me and I was acting very immaturely but I couldn't help it. It was something my body did without my brain.

And a few seconds into the hug, I realized how stupid my action was and I moved away.

"Sorry," I looked away in shame, "I don't know what got into me,"

He might think I'm weird and the only reason he might not have pushed me off could be because he pities me. My heart hurt at those thoughts but I had to accept that it might be true. Why else would he do this?

"How about we let her sleep?" He said, "I'll take you home for now,"

I shook my head, "I'll stay here with her, for the night." I sat back down on the stool, "I can't leave her on her own."

He watched me, but I was determined, so in the end he sighed, "Alright," He began to walk away, "I need to get back to work,"

***

>>Eris

There was something drumming in my head. A loud soundless voice. A vibration.

It was telling me to wake up. It was telling me something was wrong.

A weird feeling tugging at my body

WAKE UP!

I shot my eyes open. My skin was sweaty while my eyes darted around. I found myself on a hospital bed. There were white curtains around me, separating the beds in the form of cubicles in the general ward.

I gulped, my lips and throat were dry.

I looked around my space but no one was with me. Just an empty stool. My heart was beating fast and I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. The whole place was so dead silent, I could hear the sound of distant footsteps.

There was a bad feeling in my chest.

...

I hopped down from the bed and went to grab the white curtain. I didn't remove it, I only peaked through it to see who was outside.

!!!

But the only man I saw was a tall person, in all black, his face was covered and he was holding a gun with a silencer.

And he was walking towards me.