𝐒𝐲𝐧 ┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

128. 𝑆𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒

Queen

I heard voices around me.

Hot air fanned my skin, almost too hot to handle until I realized how freezing I was inside. I opened my eyes, anticipating harsh bright lights but was met with a dimness that only made me blink a few times to adjust.

My eyes skirted across the hospital room. An IV was inserted into my left arm- a thick red fluid oozing through the line and disappearing into my skin. I looked up at the blood bag, almost empty. About a dozen empty ones hung behind the one and I furrowed my brows. What happened?

I felt something warm tighten its hold on my right arm and I swung my head in the direction. Syn. His arms were folded over mine, our hands clasped in the nook. His soft breaths warmed my hand as he slept and a sad smile passed over my lips. He must've been tired.

Glimpses of memories passed through my head as I looked at him. I remembered Aiden-- the basement...the scream that left my body when I saw Syn's eyes roll to the back of his head. The fear I felt...the anger-- the need to save him completely controlled me yet for some reason my body moved before I could process it. And I trusted in it.

There were black and red blotches in my memory when I thought about exactly what happened afterward. I remembered the pain. I fought Aiden, and he fought back. Hard.

My free hand instinctively landed on my stomach as phantom aches flicked over my skin. I was completely healed.

A beeping went off on the infusion machine beside me and I cringed. Crap. I thought I had done something until I realized that the blood bag was empty.

I looked over at Syn who was stirring beside me. He sniffled, running a hand through his dark hair making his black hoodie fall back. I thought he was tired when I saw him sleeping, but he looked exhausted. So exhausted that he didn't even notice I had woken up. He rose from the chair beside me, a deep yawn leaving his mouth as he walked around the hospital bed.

I watched him. His tired eyes were focused on the machine. He turned off the beeping, grabbing another blood bag from a nearby cooler. It was like his body was moving on instinct. As if he'd done it one hundred times. He was almost sleepwalking.

It was then that I noticed that I hadn't seen any doctors or hospital staff. The blinds were drawn, the door closed-- it was just us. Had he been the only one here? A sinking feeling settled in my gut at the thought. I didn't want to burden him. After everything he had been through, he needed to be in a hospital bed beside me.

Not playing doctor.

He put on gloves as if being unsanitary would do anything at all to me. His fingers moved with a focused precision against the inside of my arm. They were delicate against my skin as he removed the needle and applied pressure for a few seconds.

I watched him discard the needle and open a few drawers. He laid a few things down on the bed beside my hip and once he had everything he needed, he cleaned my arm with an alcohol wipe. It stung the sensitive area and I winced. He froze briefly before shaking his head as if he had heard it yet deferred it to his mind playing tricks.

My head tilted, my brows raising as he opened the new IV set. My eyes landed on the needle and I immediately shook my head. My hand moved to his, stopping him. "N-no, I don't need more blood. I'm fine." I couldn't deal with needles, ironically.

He hesitated, looking at my hand on his before meeting my eyes. The items dropped from his fingers as the tension left his body. Relief flooded his green eyes and they shined with a wetness I never wished to see from him. His shoulders deflated as he leaned into me, cupping my face with his shaky hands.