Endgame (Book 3)

Chapter 11

Even more so, what would I do about Ms. Loving? I said I would protect her with my life, but there was so much one could do. Who would stop Jeremiah from going after her again with me out of commission? I didn't want to put my friends in danger by charging them with the task.

"Hey, you."

I turned in my bed.

Sage stood uncomfortably in my doorway. Two crutches supported her. He right leg was wrapped up in gauze, and she held it suspended above the floor. It looked a lot better than it should have after a day.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I got out of surgery a couple of hours ago." She used the crutches to get her into the room. "So yes, but what the nurses don't know can't hurt me."

The thought that she would need surgery on her leg had escaped my mind. She must have been in a lot of pain.

"You shouldn't even be able to get up," I said.

"I heal fast. And the painkillers wore off early."

"Lucky you," I said dryly. Since I was the only one of us two that cared about her well-being, I told her to leave.

"Please."

Her eyes moved to the floor. She looked unsettled. She seemed a little more quiet than usual, just like yesterday after I made it back. "Jay, I have a confession to make."

Here we go, I thought. If she tells me she tried to kill me, I don't know what I might do. But she won't, right?

The answer didn't present itself immediately.

"Aren't you going to say something?"

"Keep going," I said brusquely.

"Phew," she said, her chest moving in and out in a relaxing breath. "Alright. When we thought you died, I was happy."

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, waiting for a reaction.

Okay. That wasn't a pleasant thought at all, but definitely not what I expected. 

I didn't allow my surprise to be shown on my face. I waited for an explanation.

When I didn't say anything, she took the opportunity to continue, words spilling out of her mouth fast enough to sound like gibberish to anyone but me.

"You see, I still haven't gotten over what you did to me and the rest of the team. Not completely. I know I made it seem like it was nothing, but it really took a toll on all of us. The way the whole thing happened was horrifying- I  wish I could forget what happened almost as easily as you did. But now I don't know what to do. I was just so elated when I thought you could be dead, and when you came back, I realized that I still hated you. I still hate you for what you did."

Her cheeks were flushed, and she was breathing heavily. This had been weighing her down for a while.

"But why?"

"What?"

Anger began to build up in me. Whether or not I had betrayed them, I wasn't that person. Before Jay and After Jay were two separate beings. And Sage knew that the moment Zero had stopped her from trying to kill me.

I threw the covers back and forgot about the pain in my chest, standing up violently and clenching my fists.

"Why do you still blame me for that?!" I screamed, the tendons in my neck straining. "I can only apologize so many times, Sage! And for something I can't even remember doing, nonetheless! You need to get over your hurt feelings and broken mind and figure out that I'm your brother! And that's all I am. I'm not a killer. I'm not a betrayer. I'm your family! And the fact that you tried to take my life-!"

Her crutches moved back two tiles. Her face transformed into an expression of fear, of worry. 

I stopped. Yelling wouldn't help anything. I had to think about all of the people outside that could be listening to us.

But she didn't deny it. She wasn't trying to explain how she didn't do it. She didn't react to the name Zero, either. She was a liar and a coward, that's what she was.

"Leave," I said. "Before I do something I'll regret."

Her mouth flopped open and closed like a fish out of water. Then, she looked down in shame. Her crutches rotated in the air and helped her make her way out.

After she was gone, I sank to the floor. I used the side of the bed to support my frame.

My sudden strength was gone with my fury. And with it, so was Sage.