Last Night

Part 29

I'd expected to hear the full thing, but Patrick called over Janiel and had her escort me back up to the room. Apparently, he wanted me to like surprises, but the only kind of surprises I liked involved tacos. And they were fresh out of them.

When we got back to my gilded prison, Lisa was there and smiling in the usual creepy way that Patrick seemed to want. She rushed into the bedroom and returned with a pile of clothes in her arms.

"Everything was clear so I took it upon myself to get you another change of clothes." She offered the pile to me. "You looked a little uncomfortable in that dress before, but you seem much better now. I'm glad."

"Everyone was okay?" I asked, taking hold of her hand in hopes that it would help snap her out of it. "Did you see anybody?"

"I walked all the way up and the only doors blasted in were Ian's and Roberta's. How lucky." She giggled and pushed the clothes into my hands. Her eyes darkened as she glared at Janiel. "See? I was useful."

"That's nice." Janiel responded flatly then closed the door behind us and walked over to the alcove where Leo was typing away on the computer. "Any new developments?"

"Not since the failed ambush. I can't tell if he's been injured or if he's just planning out his next move."

Lisa turned to watch them, glaring at Janiel with unprecedented disgust. What had she done this time?

I shivered and noticed that my hands were trembling. My clothes dropped to the floor with a soft thump.

Janiel straightened back up and crossed her arms in thought for a moment. "I bet he's taking the time to recover before busting out of there in a full rage mode."

"I don't know," Leo responded. "He barely made it back without her help last time and there's the close quarters to consider."

"I think," I started mumbling, but paused as my body shook and goosebumps ran down my arms and legs. Why was everything so bright in here?

Lisa stalked towards the others and slammed her hands onto her hips. "Well, considering I'm the only one who actually got to see anything thing firsthand and based on everything I know about him, my money is on him not even being there anymore. He might have slipped out already knowing who put out the hit on him so you might want to start checking the security footage at the dental clinic and any others you may have access to now. We'll be in a lot of trouble if we don't keep him posted on Ian's whereabouts."

My mouth dried out and I took a few shallow breaths before I finally managed to wet my lips enough to talk. "Um, I'll be in the bathroom if anyone needs me."

The words weren't much louder than a whisper so it wasn't much of a surprise that no one responded. Thankfully, I didn't wait for their permission or I wouldn't have made it to the toilet before I vomited.

My ears rang, my head lolled to the side of the seat, and the rest of me shuddered as I tried not to relive everything that had occurred tonight, today even.

I retched again, not very quietly this time either as I held on to the toilet for support. This was definitely a true five-star hotel, you could tell by the state of their commodes. The only way it could've been nicer was if I'd been vomiting in my own, back home. But then again, the best option was not to be doing this at all.

Clearly, that wasn't an option because I did it again, nearly missing the target. My head slid down so my feverish forehead could rest on the cool porcelain.

As I sucked in a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself and settle my rampaging insides, there was a soft knock on the door.

I wouldn't have noticed if the room outside hadn't fallen silent. It made my heaving breaths echo off the tiled floor like a prolonged organ note in an old cathedral.