Chapter Twelve
I pressed my lips together, staring at the empty side of the bed. I slowly sat up and looked around the room. The shower wasn't running. Maybe he was making us breakfast. Yeah, probably. I mean... before I got kidnapped we agreed to stay in bed together and he promised to stay till the morning. I don't see why last night wouldn't apply to the same rules. I had a terrible day yesterday and a breakdown in the middle of the night, but it was still kind of our do-over night, right?
I heard a loud slam and I jumped. Was that the front door? I rushed out of bed, leaving Stefan's room and heading for the stairs. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" Damon asked angrily.
"Caroline has an emergency I have to go help her deal with," I heard Stefan's voice and I froze at the top of the staircase.
My jaw dropped as my chest tightened. He was leaving me? Again. I shouldn't be surprised. He left for months. He left for her last time. He clearly didn't want to stay with me. I mean, why else didn't he ever just wake me and tell me he had to go?
"I don't care," Damon snapped. "You need to get back in bed with your fiancée. She wants to wake up to your face—god knows why—and I will not let you disappoint her."
"I'll be right back. If you would just move, I could go and be back before she even wakes," Stefan said and I scowled, still eavesdropping.
"I'm not taking that chance, Stef. If she wakes up alone she will be heartbroken. Haven't you caused her enough pain?"
"Look, you have no idea what she and I are going through right now—"
"And you have no idea how bad she's hurting! You weren't the one holding her while she cried all night. You didn't see her face when I saved her yesterday, she was torn apart when she looked around and saw everyone else there but you," Damon cut him off, raising his voice with every sentence. "She needs you, Stefan. You clearly have no idea how much she loves you or you wouldn't be treating her like this. I mean, the girl was smiling brighter than the sun when she said you guys kissed two weeks ago... I'm serious, brother. If she finds out you left her for Caroline... You'll destroy her. And your relationship. I think she's out of second chances for you, Stefan."
"Damon, I know," Stefan said. "I feel like shit. I know that I've fucked up. And I'm trying to fix things. The last thing I want to do right now is leave her. Okay? I wouldn't be going right now if it wasn't a matter of life and death. So please, just get out of my way. I need to handle this and then I'll make it up to Kenzie. I swear."
"Then go tell her that! Wake her up and tell her that! She's been wanting to wake up to you for six months now!" Damon yelled and I winced.
I wiped the tears that escaped my eyes and I made my way quietly down the stairs. "And I swear after today that she will, every day for the rest of our lives. Okay? I have to go though," Stefan said.
"Over my dead body, St—"
"Let him go, Damon," I spoke up. They both turned to see me at the end of the hall while they hovered close to the front door. Damon blocking the exit.
"Kenz," Stefan said softly. Then he sighed, running a hand down his face. "Um, babe, I can explain."
"I'm sorry," Damon told me before walking away. I stared at Stefan who looked guilty and like I was the one causing him pain.
"Just go, Stefan. No need to explain. I heard every word. And I completely understand that you have an emergency to take care of. It's fine, I have to go back to my dorm and get ready for volunteer hours at the hospital," I said, keeping brave face.
He sighed in relief, "oh, babe. Thank you for understanding. I'm so sorry though. I really was just going to go and come right back and wake you. I wanted to—"
"Lie to me? Pretend you stayed with me?" I scoffed, shaking my head. "And only thing I understand is you don't care about me. You don't respect me enough to tell me the truth. Nor do you want to be with me. That's f-fine. But you should've just said that instead of wasting my time, acting like—"
"Kenzie, babe. No. Listen—"
"No, you listen!" I snapped. "I've listened to your bullshit apologies and excuses for long enough. And all you've done is lie and hurt me again. So enough already. You need to make a decision. It's me or her. Because I won't share you. She has feelings for you. I'm not okay with that. You have a week to decide. You either start making an effort with me or we see other people."
"Kenz—"
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I asked, my tone final. I was done talking to him about this. He clearly had other things that took up his time. But I always should've been his first priority. I was his wife. And I was done playing the guessing game. I needed him to pick between Caroline and I. Because I truly didn't know whether he had feelings for her or not. Either way, I was not about be coming second to anyone. I wanted my husband or I need a divorce.
Stefan left with a defeated sigh. I waited till I heard his car leave the driveway. Then I went up to his room and showered. I had clothes and toiletries here still from living here after I burned my house down. And it was still early enough to stop for breakfast then head to my dorm to change into my hospital uniform.
***
I was walking down the hall towards Jo to thank her for the daylight ring Damon gave me last night. I stopped when I saw her holding her hand out and chanting under her breath. I looked down to see a nearly dead plant. Jo stopped chanting and sighed. I guess it didn't work. I've seen Bonnie grow and save flowers. This was not saved. "Should I call it?" I joked, continuing to her.
"Time of death, anybody's guess," Jo frowned, picking the plant up from the hospital cart and tossing it in the trash can next to her.
I grinned, holding up my right hand. "Well, in the magical win column, I just walked across campus without bursting into flame. So, there's that."
"At least something worked," she said, smiling.
"So what do you have for me today? And is Elena here?" I asked.
"She is and—"
"I need help!" A very familiar voice shouted. I spun around in record time to face Stefan who was carrying a very tired, weak looking man.
"What the hell?" I gasped, rushing over to him. The man had a blood stain on his hoodie, over his chest on the right side where I stood. And he was wheezing for breath. I slid under the man's other arm so it rested on my shoulder and I could help carry him. I looked at Stefan in disbelief and he gave me a very grim expression. So I turned to Jo instead.
"There's an empty room over here," Jo said, pointing to my right. Stefan and I rushed to get the man inside and on the hospital bed. Jo immediately came forward to start assessing the man. While Stefan was quick to shut the door behind us.
"He's a vampire," Stefan stated. Jo stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him questioningly.
"Then why is he sick?" Jo asked.
"It's a long complicated story," Stefan sighed.
"Well, shorten and un-complicate it. Who even is this guy?" I questioned, crossing my arms.
"Yesterday Caroline and I went to North Carolina to speak to an expert on Liz's glioblastoma. Well, they said there was no hope like the doctors here. And when I left Caroline alone, she found him. That's Collin. He was a cancer patient who was only alive due to life support. Chemo didn't work. He was a lost cause. So Caroline used him as a test subject. She fed him her blood. He woke up, was walking and talking again. Happy as ever. Then we left and came home. And then he showed up on her door step this morning. Turned vampire and now still sick," my husband explained, running his hands over his face then through his hair. He was stressed.
"Oh, my god," Jo and I both said.
"I didn't know what else to do so I brought him here. He needs help. Then so will Liz Forbes—"
"What?" I growled. "No, tell she didn't."
"She did," Stefan whisped.
Jo sighed, nodding. "Okay, okay. Kenzie, you, um, check his vitals. Stefan, I'm going to need to know more information. What's his full name? What hospital?"
***
"I had Duke send over Colin's medical records," Jo informed us. We were in a lab room because she was showing us Collin's X-rays. The three of us plus Damon who I called to come down. "This head scan is from earlier this week," she said, placing the scan on the board then another one. "This one was taken right here, ten minutes ago. See all that red?"
"Well, I'm no doctor but that guy is screwed," Damon said.
"So the blood didn't heal him, it sped up his cancer and killed him," Stefan concluded.
"So now, I have a stage 10 cancer patient," Jo sighed. Clearly distressed. "Which, by the way, doesn't exist. Who is beyond terminally ill and a vampire, meaning all of his emotions are heightened and he can't die."
"Hey, no offense, but could someone tell me why I was called down here to listen to the story of Collin the Cancer Vamp?" Damon asked.
"Because Caroline fed me her blood last night. So the same thing is gonna happen to me," someone else answered. We all turned to Liz who was in the doorway standing there with Caroline. My eyes narrowed on the very guilty looking blonde. I tried to keep my cool. I was livid with her. I couldn't believe she could be so stupid!
"Hey, sheriff," I smiled kind and reassuringly. Jo and I already discussed the plan for Liz when she came in. But she was my friend, family to me. I wanted to take care of her. "We have a room set up for you. They're going to take your labs so we can run everything and see what the damage is."
Liz smiled back, "okay." They moved from the doorway so I could exit the room. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leading her to her hospital room Elena and I prepared for her not too long ago.
"How are you feeling?" I asked her.
"Not too bad, considering," Liz chuckled.
"Good," I sighed in relief. "I just need you stay that way while Jo works on a plan to fix this." She nodded back. "Okay, well, get comfortable. A tech and a nurse will be right in to get working on you. If you guys need anything, um, Caroline text or call me."
"Okay," Care mumbled.
"Thanks, Kenzie," Liz said.
"No problem. I'll be back soon to check up on you," I promised. I then stepped into the hall and went to the nurses desk. Jo assigned her one. "Hey, Cheryl. Liz Forbes is ready in room 208 for you. Can you page an X-ray technician for her scans?" I asked.
"Yes, ma'am," the curly red headed woman grinned at me. She was my favorite nurse. So sweet. She was 5'1 with a huge attitude and ass—her words not mine. She was 49 and she changed her hair color every couple of weeks. It was lavender when I started working here. She had blue last time I saw her. And now here she was with a beautiful deep burgundy.
"Thank you," I grinned back before heading to the waiting room where Elena was supposed to meet me so I could update her. She's been busy attending to patients Jo assigned to her for the day.
"Did you know that Caroline was going to give her mom vampire blood?" I heard my twin ask as I was rounding the corner to the small hall that only led to the waiting room.
"Yeah, I was there when it healed Collin," Stefan answered her.
"And then you left... and then he died, so it didn't actually heal him; it did the opposite."
"Caroline had every reason to think it would work."
"Yeah, but you didn't, Stefan. You're what? Like 165-years-old? You worked as a paramedic at hospitals," I commented, joining the conversation.
"So that makes me an expert in supernatural cancer-treatment?" Stefan scoffed, turning to face me in the doorway.
I shrugged, "no. But apparently you and Caroline became experts yesterday, right? That's why you decided to risk her mother's life, like it was a very meaningless gamble? Oh, wait, no. You're still not experts. What you are is a couple of idiots, meddling with something you both had no business being in."
"Wow," Stefan scoffed, shaking his head.
"I just wish that you'd done a little bit more research. Or waited like, a day," Elena chimed back in.
"Because you were thinking so rationally when Damon died. Right?" Stefan quipped. "Her mother is terminal, girls. You didn't see the hope in her eyes when she thought that maybe her mother didn't have to die. And I didn't wanna be the one to take that away from her."
"But look at the repercussions!" I exclaimed. "You spared her feelings, let her have hope, and didn't tell her your true opinion. How do you think she'll feel if Jo can't fix this? If she has to blame herself for killing her mother? Let me know how you're going to sleep at night knowing you're to blame too—"
"Kenzie," Elena tried to stop me, placing a hand on my arm to calm me down.
"I'm sick of your lies and your secrets. Maybe this will teach you a damn lesson," I spat. "I don't think you ever spared anyone's feelings before... And I wouldn't want you to in a matter. So. Fucking. Huge, Stefan!"
"I get it, Kenz!" He snapped. "Okay? I fucked up too. I should've stopped her or waited. You guys are right. I don't need you to guilt me anymore."
Then he walked away angry. I sighed, facepalming. I shouldn't have don't that. I meant what I said, but there were better ways to talk about it. Or, I could've just kept calm and kept my mouth shut in general.
"Hey, Jo has an idea," a new voice came. Elena and I both looked over at Caroline before following her back to Jo and Damon who were outside Liz's room.
"Medically speaking, this is our best option. If vampire blood is the issue, then a full transfusion of human blood might stabalize her condition," Jo was telling him.
"That's the idea?" Elena and I both choruses.
"Please, sound less confident, Doc," Damon said sarcastically.
"Yes, that's my idea. But, look, we are in uncharted territory here. This isn't just a medical problem, it's a magical one," Jo told us all.
Damon smirked, "Well, then you're uniquely qualified. Witch-doctor and all."
"Now you believe in my magic? Gee, thanks. Unfortunately, this goes beyond any witch ability I've ever heard of. But please, if anyone has a better plan, I'm all ears," Jo said.
She got silence in return then everyone cleared out. Jo went to get set up and Elena went to help her. Then Caroline went back into the room with her mom. Damon walked away angry so I followed after him. "Are you okay?" I asked him.
"No, I'm not okay," he snapped, turning around to face me. "How could Stefan let this happen?"
"Well, first off, I already gave him hell for it. So you don't need to say anything. Second off, we're going to wait until we know if this transfusion works or not before we lose our cool," I said.
Damon nodded. "She and I are really close. You know?" He mumbled.
"Yeah, I know," I whispered softly.
"I mean, as far as humans go, she's... tolerable."
I chuckled at the joke while he tried not to smile too much. "I can see how much you care about her, but we all do. So if there's anything we can do to fix this, trust me, we will," I assured him.
Damon sighed, "Yeah."
***
"Hi, it's Caroline. Leave a message," her voice came through my phone. Ugh.
"Caroline, where are you? Call me. Or better idea, just... just come back," I said before hanging up.
"Hey," Elena said to Liv who was woken up. I was standing outside the room, trying to call Caroline who took off upset. Stefan's the one who told me about it.
Apparently, Collin was in his room starving himself with a metal rod. He was crying that he wanted to die because he could feel his tumors growing. And then Damon came in, ripped his heart out to grant him his wish. Damon was mad and told Caroline and Stefan in the worst way possible that the blood transfusion didn't work. Damon's words according to Stefan was 'the blood transfusion didn't work so you didn't just kill him, blondie.' Then she left the hospital. So of course Stefan has to run out of here to go find her. Elena surprisingly was the one who told him not to, but he didn't listen.
Now Damon was in timeout. He was back at Alaric's where he was supposed to be watching Kai who was drugged up so much that he was staying asleep in some induced comatose. But he needed more meds periodically so someone had to be there with him in case he woke up. Something about that seemed like a bad idea waiting to happen.
"So, what's the verdict? Did the blood-swap work?" I tuned in to Liz waking up.
"We're not sure yet, I mean, Jo's still doing some tests," Elena replies and I furrowed my brows. Okay, really, sis?
Liz nodded slowly, "you shouldn't lie to sick people, Elena. It's bad karma."
"They thought it would slow down the cancer cells from replicating. But it didn't work. I'm sorry," my twin corrected herself. I let myself in the room as Liz was holding back tears now. I sat on the edge of her bed, taking her hand in mine.
"How's Caroline?" Liz asked us.
"She's good. She just ran out to get some food—"
"Elena," I hissed. "She took off. And now we can't find her. I've called. I can't get ahold of her. But Stefan is out looking for her right now."
Liz squeezed my hand then, "She's not going to forgive herself for this, is she?"
"Hey. We're going to find her. And if anyone can get through to her, it's Stefan. Then she has us, we're not going to let her suffer. I promise," I told her.
"Thank you," she smiled weakly. My phone started ringing then so I got up, excusing myself when I saw it wasn't Caroline. But Damon.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Kitten, I have an idea," he said.
"I'm listening," I replied.
"So your wolf boy was here trying to kidnap Kai when I got in. And then it hit me. Why can't we use Kai's magic sucking powers? Vampire blood is a by product of magic, right?" He questioned.
"I guess so, but Damon, don't you think that's a little dangerous to use Kai? How are you going to convince him to help us? I don't think it's a good idea," I said.
"I'm going to bargain with him," Damon said.
"Bargain what?"
"He can merge with Jo after he helps us. That's the only thing he wants so I'm going to give it to him."
"Excuse me?!"
"Calm down, its a lie."
"No. You bring him to Liz, then Jo is around the corner. He will have powers after helping Liz and then he will stop us from stopping him."
"But it's the only way to help Liz!"
"Damon," I sighed. "It's dangerous."
"What if the merge happens while Kai is helping us?"
"What?" I asked. "Oh, no. No, no, no. I promised Ty I would help him protect Liv."
"Why? You don't even like her."
"But—"
"Tyler's unconscious. I'm going to call Liv. She's at dinner with her dad. All I have to do is tell Papa Parker to merge the blonde brats. Then when Kai goes to merge with Jo, it'll be too late."
"They need a celestial event—"
"There's one happening now. I just googled it."
"Bullshit."
"Mercury Venus conjunction. It's a Hail Mary. I have to call now before Kai wakes up. So either I'll see you at the hospital with him if Papa Parker agrees, or I'll have Tyler call you when I take the needle out of his neck to put back into Kai. Okay? I won't let Kai merge with Jo. I swear, kitten."
"We're trading a more time with Liz for Liv's life."
"Liv or Luke's life."
"Damon," I sighed.
"When Tyler freaks out, don't tell him you knew. It was my idea. He can hate me. Bye now."
***
"All right. I need a 12-gauge needle, stat. I don't know what I'm gonna do with it, but I need it," Kai said while washing his hands.
"You're not a doctor, so stop playing games," Elena sighed. Kai walked over to us surrounding Liv's bed. He stood next to me while Elena and Damon were across from us.
"I'm only going to warn you once: I am a vampire and I will rip your head off if you screw this up," I said, turning to face him.
"What she said. So do your stupid little magic-suction trick and suck the magic out of her. Right now," Damon added.
"I get why you two are such good friends. It's very dys-FUN-ctional," Kai laughed. "See what I did? Stressing the 'fun' in dysfunctional—"
"Just get on with it, Kai. Listening to you talk makes me wanna die," Liz said and I laughed.
Kai hummed, nodding while letting out a soft chuckle. "That's good," he noted. Then he placed his hands on her body. One on the side of her face and the other on her arm. Liz gasped in pain.
"Is it working?" I asked worriedly.
"I have no idea," Elena mumbled.
A gasp filled the room then. I looked to see Jo had joined us. Elena and Damon turned around to face her. "What the hell is going on? What is he doing here?" Jo questioned, already frantic.
"Hey, sis. Little busy. Be with you in a jiffy," Kai smiled evilly.
"Kenzie? Elena?" Jo frowned.
"I'll let you guys explain," I said, pointing at Damon and Elena.
"Yeah," Damon agreed, leading Jo out the room. My twin glanced at me and I nodded at Kai.
"Go. I'm staying here with him," I said. She nodded and left the room too. Kai smirked at me then.
"You're cute when you're all bossy. Are you single then? Damon has Elena, right?" He asked.
"And I have his brother," I said. His brows raised in shock then.
"Seriously?"
"Very," I smirked.
Kai shrugged. "Well, there. All done."
I leaned down towards Liz who was opening her eyes now, "Sheriff, hey. How are you feeling? Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said then she started to smile. "Yeah, I think so." I smiled too, sighing in relief. "Ahhh!" She screamed suddenly, clenching at her chest. Then the heart monitor started beeping and going crazy.
"Oh, my God. I think she's having a heart-attack," I said, turning to Kai. I was panicking. My heart was racing now. What do I do?
"Oh, that is so tragic. You know, 'cause you guys jumped through hoops to get the magic out of her system, but then her ticker's just not strong enough to take a little siphoning," Kai chuckled.
"Kai, you have to fix this!" I snapped, turning to grab him by his arms and yank him threateningly. But then he vanished in a blink. "Fuck."
I went to walk around the bed to go get help but then I heard the monitor flat line and turned back around. Oh, no. Was it too late for help? Jesus Christ. I rushed back to her side and immediately started doing compressions. CPR. That's what you did when someone died. They needed to be revived.
I stayed as calm as possible counting to 30 before I have her the two breaths, pinching her nose and tilting her head back like I was taught. "Stay with me, Sheriff. Just... breathe!" I pleaded after, starting compressions again.
"Kenzie, hey. What happened?" Damon asked, coming into the room alone.
"It's her heart. I'm losing her, Damon," I cried.
"Okay, no offense, kitten, but I think we need to get a real doctor."
"So find one! Now!" I shouted. I saw him nod out the corner of my eye and then he was gone. "22... 23..." I mumbled, focusing on my counting. 30. Then two more breaths.
I was on my third set of compressions when a doctor came in, trailed by Damon and Elena. "How long has she been down?" The man asked.
Damon frowned, "What's the mean? Dead?"
"I-I don't know," I said, moving while the doctor started up the defibrillator. "Maybe a couple minutes... It feels like an hour."
"Clear!" The doctor yelled before pressing the pads to Liz's chest to give her the shocks.
"Come on," I begged, tears filling my eyes. Damon was holding Elena when I glanced at them. She was already sobbing in his arms.
"Clear!" He yelled again. Then another shock. And once more before he sighed, putting the defibrillator pads down.
"Uh-uh. Hey, I compelled you to save her," Damon growled, letting Elena go and pushing past me. He grabbed the shock pads, "Unless you want me to gouge your eyes out, I suggest you keep working. Here." The he shoved them into the doctors chest aggressively.
"I've done all that I can do. She's gone. I'm sorry," the doctor stated.
"Get out of here. Forget you're a total failure," Damon compelled him. The doctor then went to leave and Damon threw the shock pads across the room in his fit of anger.
"Damon!" Elena shouted, pulling him away and to her to calm him down.
I gulped, wiping my eyes. "No. Nope. I will not let this happen," I stated. I started doing my compressions again. I wasn't giving up. I wasn't letting her die. Not like this. She didn't deserve this or to be dead. She was such a good person. "Wake up!" I pleaded.
"Kenzie," Damon called. "Hey, she's gone."
"Come on," I begged. 28, 29, 30. I leaned down to blow into her mouth twice. And nothing. An arm pulled me back then. Elena pulled me into her arms, hugging me. I struggled to get away but then Caroline ran into the room, past us.
"No, no! Mom, mom!" Caroline screamer, shaking her. "Mom, mommy! No, mom, no." Then she was crying. I turned in Elena's arms, hiding my face in her neck. I couldn't watch this. "Don't leave me, please. Please, no. Please don't leave me, mom."
Beep. Beep. My head snapped up at the noise. We all were staring at the heart monitor. Green. Steady. Oh, my god. Impossible.
"Mom?" Caroline croaked.
"It's okay, baby, I'm right here," Liz said and I sighed in relief before choking for air. Oh, my god. Thank god. Oh, she was okay.
"Mom," Caroline smiles wobbly, hugging her.
"Ohh, it's okay. I'm right here. I'm right here, baby. It's okay, it's okay," Liz said and then her eyes met mine for a brief second as if she knew I was just trying desperately to save her a minute ago.
I pulled away from Elena forcefully and stumbled towards the exit. "Kenzie, where are you going?" My twin asked me, but she wasn't stopping me.
"I need some air or some water or something," I said and then I left the room, rushing into the hallway.
"Hey, Kenzie—" I heard Damon's voice. I turned around to face him, catching Stefan exiting the hospital room.
"I got this," Stefan said, placing a hand on his older brothers shoulder. Damon glanced at me before nodding, heading back into Liz's room. "Kenz?"
"She almost died in my arms, Stefan," I stated. He nodded, walking toward me slowly. "Caroline's mom almost died in my arms." I scoffed lightly before moving toward him to meet him halfway.
I wrapped one hand around his neck and pulled him down so I could kiss him. It took him less than three seconds to realize what had happened and to start kissing me back. When he did, he lifted me off the ground and I wrapped my legs around his waist. My back hit a wall a moment later but I didn't care. I was kissing the man I loved like it was our last kiss.
"What was that for?" Stefan asked, when we parted for air. His forehead leaning against mine.
"Life's too short. Immortal or not," I said. He smiled beautifully, just staring at me for a moment, then he kissed me again. And I let him.
~Picture: Stefan pressing Kenzie up against the hospital wall while they kissed
So this was a very #stenzie filled chapter. Good and bad totally mixed. Fighting and kissing. Crazy. And there's still more to go and the book is already about half way done!
Who wants #Stenzie back? Who wants them to try something new? You'll see soon enough what they decide to do... 😏
Anyways, this chapter was full of hospital stuff. Back to regular supernatural drama and of course more #Stenzie drama next chapter.
SNEAK PEEK #1:
I was on the phone with Elena who had texted me first to ask 'what the hell? Yes, Stenzie! 😍🥵' So here we were discussing it. "Look I kissed him! I'm allowed to do that!"
Elena laughed then, "I'm not judging you. Are you trying to convince me or yourself that it was okay?"
"I don't know," I grumbled. "I just got home like ten minute ago and I'm filled with nerves. I think we're going to have sex. He told me to come over to finish what we started and now I'm freaking out."
"Why?" She snorted. "Don't you want to have sex?"
"Yes, but..." I trailed off.
SNEAK PEEK #2:
"Okay. I think we're done here. Come on," Damon said, walking over to remove Kai. I chuckled at my friend's anger.
"Actually, what if there's something he can do for us in exchange?" I grinned, placing my hand on Kai's arm to keep him going anywhere while Damon went to grab him by the back of his neck.
"Like what?" Damon growled, glaring at Kai.
"I like when you touch me," Kai smirked at me. I cringed, pulling my hand away and he chuckled softly. "Do I repulse you?"
"Yes," I answered. Even through his nice act right now and his obvious flirting. I couldn't see past the man who tortured me.
"How can I fix that?" He frowned.
"You can start by helping us get Bonnie back," I told him and he nodded.