Cardinal Tower (Trinity Central Book #1)

Chapter 22

"How's she holding up?" Kai asks, waking me from a refreshing nap. It's grown darker outside, and Kent seems to have left the room for dinner. I can't say I blame him, he has been sitting in the same seat since early this morning.

I squeeze her hand, not bothering to acknowledge the man in the room. "Like you care, you can always find another product later," I scoffed quietly, not really in the mood to hear his capitalist, self-induced melodrama. He doesn't seem to be in the mood for another one of our spats either, as he turns around and starts to walk away.

It's as he's leaving that I realize how accustomed I've grown to having people around, and how soft I must be getting to consider giving him a proper response.

"She'll be fine," I call out to him while silently cursing myself. I can see him stop out of the corner of my eye, and he tilts his head down, his hair falling with a slight shake.

"Good, I was hoping." There's a pause before he continues, hesitating as to whether or not he should ask. "And you? How was your first day?"

"Well," I think, trying to find something to say without saying too much, "I think that Jacoby hates me."

Kai chuckles, amused by my situation. "Don't take it personally, he doesn't like me either."

"And why is that?" I ask, honestly not really that curious.

"No other reason besides we have different views on things." As an ex-Stafford employee hating the ideals the company ran on, I can relate with Jacoby more than I thought. "Hopefully nothing you'll have to worry about," he mutters under his breath, assuming I was out of earshot.

I choose not to press the topic further since it seems like it's not something I need to worry myself with.

He turns around, and finds a seat across from me, both of our gazes lingering on Aria.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, I decide to break it. "What are you doing here, Kai?" I ask, slightly ready to be alone again after this stimulating minute of conversation.

"Am I not allowed to visit one of my assets?" he spits the word mockingly. I look at him with a cold glare, and he looks back with an unapologetic raised eyebrow. "You can't possibly think that that's all I view you as."

"I'm not sure what to think with you anymore." I squeeze Aria's hand a bit tighter, biting my tongue to make sure I don't say more than I need.

* * *

I sat by Aria's side for the rest of the day until early the next morning. Kai left soon after he arrived, and soon before Kent came back. She didn't have any more episodes, mostly due to the fact that the sedatives she was given were in a dose too large for her frail body, meaning it would take longer for the effects to wear off.

I thought it'd be easy for me to fall asleep after the day I had, but the surge of adrenaline still hasn't left my system. Instead, I sit slouched over her cot with Kent snoring a foot away from me. He took off his tattered jacket a few hours ago, and swung it over his back so it acted like a makeshift blanket. It covered his torso, making him seem like a small child, more so than the actual child sleeping between us. With her hand still clasped between mine, I whisper soothing words to myself more than anyone, praying that when she does wake up, she'd return to her normal timid self.

Late at night, Kent sits up, blinking away the grogginess shrouding him. The window is black, but the infirmary is still lit up by slightly dimmed overhead lights, giving off an ominous orange hue created to relax patients enough to fall into sleep peacefully. The entire medical wing is dead silent, so I can't tell how many people are occupying the area outside of the closed curtain.