The heart of Cleopatra

Breakdown

Chapter sixty

Cleo sat with her pounding head in her hands, as she listened to every tick the hospital clock made. The quiet yet deafening sound constantly reminded her of every painful second that she was away from her brother. The usual standard hospital stench was cancelled out by the choking smoke smell Cleo, Jax and Lola had obtained from the accident. Cleo stayed silent since she had arrived, except for her heated argument with the doctors and nurses about taking Zeus to the trauma ward, without her. Cleo had never felt her heart being ripped out until she saw a team rush her lifeless brother away. The start of her worst nightmare had begun, she just hoped it wouldn't be completed, because she knows she wouldn't be able to walk this earth without Zeus by her side.

"We're back." A soft croaky said. Cleo lifted her head, enough to see the small blonde return next to her.

"We're stuck with smokers lungs for a while, but it could be worse." Jax added, doing his best to lighten the mood.

"We could be Zeus. Hell, I wish I were." Cleo admitted. She would do anything to swap places with her brother. He didn't deserve this.

"Don't say that." Lola scowled. "You know more than anyone Zeus would do anything to save you."

"I know the feeling." Cleo whispered to herself.

Hade arrived shortly after Cleo refused to be checked for the hundredth time. Until she knew Zeus was okay she wasn't concerned about herself. Cleo watched their Dad crash through the door with a face so stern she feared for everyone he would encounter. Cleo stood to her feet, preparing herself for the ultimate telling off, but when he reached his daughter he embraced her. Cleo took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her Dad's arms are the safest place in the world to her, but she didn't feel like she deserved it.

"I'm sorry." She told Hade.

"You don't need to be. This isn't your fault." He knew there was nothing in the world anyone could say to reassure her that she was innocent, that she didn't have part in potentially killing her bother. Even if Zeus suddenly burst through the door and told her she wasn't to blame, she wouldn't feel any less guilty.

"He shouldn't have been involved. He's not on the list." She said holding back tears. From the beginning she wanted to keep him out of danger, and yet he's in the worst situation.

"We all knew Zeus wouldn't step back. He'd take a bullet for you Cleo. It would destroy him more if you were in there." Hade pulled back from Cleo, taking a good look at his daughter's smoke stained face with a small cut on her eyebrow. "Now you need to get checked out, while I go threaten some doctors so see how our boys doing." He said squeezing her shoulders. He managed to lure out a small smile onto Cleo's sad face.

Even with the instruction to get examined Cleo remained in the waiting room. She was broken but that didn't make her any less stubborn. Hade was gone for quite some time, Jax and Lola did their best to comfort Cleo but nothing was going to help. She was still counting the seconds, the longer she sat with no news the more she lost her mind. She rested her heavy head on the wall behind her, the thought of closing her eyes and slipping away from this cruel reality seemed perfect. But a buzz in her jacket snapped her back into that same cruel reality before she could escape. Cleo slipped her hand in to see it was Dalton's phone instead of hers.

'That's one down. The tip off was right. I'm laying low at the blackton Unit. Be ready for the drop'

Cleo's heartbreak was pushed to one side as her anger boiled over. Nothing could describe her rage, all she knew was whoever was responsible only had a matter of minutes left of their life. "I'm going to kill them!" She shouted with gritted teeth. Cleo launched to her feet, with shaking hands and a pounding heart. Jax and Lola shouted for her, chasing the dangerous Valencia down the hall, but Cleo was on a mission. She had complete tunnel vision. The ding of the incoming elevator made her believe somebody was on her side, but when a hard body crashed into her, that theory came crashing down.