Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 68 - OUR LAST HAVEN

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It felt like we'd been waiting a very long time. And yes, I understood, in theory, that it would take time for Mam to make her plans with the raiders, but didn't she understand how difficult it was to just sit here? And worse, to convince Hayden to continue sitting here when the man who'd killed his father was in his home and so very, very close to his mother too?

I'd walked around to the ward just for something to do. Ellis had crept down there at some point, and he was sat in the ancient armchair, watching over our sister as she lay slumped against the pillows, her blonde hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. I was told that she'd had a seizure with no clear trigger this morning. And she'd woken up again mostly fine but so exhausted that she could barely sit up.

"Thought you were only having absences since you started this new shit," I mumbled as I perched on the bed beside her and put an arm around her. She leant her head against my shoulder. I couldn't get over how guilty I felt for being away so much. Not that there was anything I could do to help her even when I was here.

Eira shook her head wearily. "I wasn't even having absences. It was working. And usually, if they work, the tremors and the other neuro problems get worse instead, but with the Pregabalin, it didn't."

"What do you mean didn't?" I asked sharply. "Are you off it now? How come?"

"Lost the drugs when we moved camp. They're prescription-only ... and not easy to get hold of," she mumbled.

Excitement bubbled up inside me. Because here I could actually be useful. "I can get some for you! You met Seth when he came to the camp, right? He's an actual doctor. Like, with qualifications and everything. He can write you a prescription."

"That would be pretty cool, if he could. Because then we wouldn't even have to pay for them," Eira said, smiling properly for the first time.

Our little brother was on his feet and hunting for snacks on the counter. He must have been growing, because I had scarcely seen him without food in his hands these last few months. But he still found the time to pause and frown at me. "Well, we might, actually. Is Silver Lake registered as a private practice?"

I wrinkled up my nose. "I've got no bloody idea, El. But it doesn't matter much. Liam and I will cover the cost. I have a piece of plastic now that contains infinite money. I think. Honestly, I still don't really understand it."

"It's called a credit card, and no, it does not contain infinite money," Ellis informed me. He opened his mouth to add some more snideness, but I was spared when his snack-obtaining efforts became too clumsy, and he knocked a tray of medical equipment onto the floor.

I sniggered. Eira, tired as she was, managed to produce a jeering sound that had him glaring at both of us. He puffed out his cheeks as he surveyed the mess that he'd made. A glass beaker had shattered, and there was blood splattered everywhere from a half-used transfusion bag.

I was expecting panic from him, but he just shrugged and then trudged back towards his chair. He sat down again, curling his legs under him.

"Ain't you gonna clean that up?" I demanded.

He didn't even look at me. Just opened his book in his lap and smiled down at it, like there was some private joke that I didn't get. It made me edgy. Ellis was always so quick to fix his mistakes. There wasn't much rogue in him, I didn't think. He hated being told off.

But I didn't get a chance to push the matter. Because a few seconds later, the ward door opened. And Aunt Fion came in, doubtless to check on Eira. She eyed the mess and then turned to look at us all with a frown on her lips. One reading, one bed-bound, and one unoccupied dumbass who had been much, much too slow to understand.