Bones, p.14
Bones, page 14
“Do I need a reason to be here?” she drawled.
Sam stepped around her and handed me my mug and bread. “Just ignore her. She’s in a mood.”
Raven laughed, sauntering through the clinic and eyeing everything. “I just want to see what all the fuss is about. If I gotta follow all of Mac’s new rules, I should at least get to see why.”
I didn’t know what she meant, and I didn’t like it.
“What rules?” I asked shortly.
She met my gaze again. “Oh you know, keep Bones safe. Report any chatter about Bones. Make sure Bones has her special broth every day. Have eyes on Bones at all times.” Her eyes cut to Griz who glared at her.
“Watch it, Raven,” Griz warned.
“What?” She widened her eyes innocently. “I’m just trying to do my job, Griz.”
"You know Madame's orders," Sam said, and from his expression, this wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation.
“All I know is we used to be the top pick for missions and now we just sit around watchin’ her.” Her lip curled. “I’m fucking sick of Hawk’s crew getting all the good jobs. We haven’t left this shithole in weeks.”
“You want to complain, go take it up with Mac,” Griz growled. “Or better yet, go tell Madame how you feel.”
She smirked. “Yeah you’d like that wouldn’t you, Griz?”
The door opened and Trey walked in. He stopped at the sight of so many people and scanned everyone. “We havin’ a party?”
“If only,” Raven said.
“We’re all just leavin’,” Sam said.
Raven rolled her eyes but strode out the door without another word. Sam and Griz exchanged a look with Trey and followed.
“Night Bones!” Griz called over his shoulder.
Trey gave me a wary look. “What was that about?”
I shrugged and went back to sipping my broth. I actually appreciated Raven saying all that. I didn’t want to be involved in their hold politics, but if my presence caused drama in the crew, I wanted to know about it. I didn’t want to get caught unaware again.
“Did Raven say something?”
“Raven said a lot of things.”
“Like what?”
“Like you all have better things to do than watch me and the clinic.”
"Oh." He looked relieved, and I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what he'd been nervous about. "Well, she can take that up with Madame."
I finished my broth and moved on to my bread. I hated this nauseating mental back and forth where one moment I thought maybe they cared and the next I thought they were just following orders.
“Oh I brought you something,” Trey said.
I eyed him with suspicion.
He pulled out a slightly crushed handful of dandelion flowers from his jacket pocket. My breath caught. He laid them on the exam table, and I knew he’d continued talking, but I wasn’t listening. I stared at the small, cheerful yellow flowers, overwhelmed with the flood of emotion sweeping over me.
“Bones?”
I glanced up at Trey, startled when I realized he'd moved closer. He looked at me with concern.
“You ok?”
I nodded, gazing back at the flowers. My heart ached, and I didn’t think before I whispered, “My brother used to bring me these.”
He stayed quiet for longer than I expected, and I then remembered with a lurch of terror that I’d told Madame and everyone else I didn’t have any siblings. My mind raced with how to fix it. Maybe he didn’t remember that.
“Sounds like a good brother,” Trey said.
I looked up at him warily, but he just smiled. I couldn’t tell if he remembered or not, so I just left it. His eyes warmed, and something in my chest cracked like a seed breaking open to take root.
“They’re my favorite,” I confessed before I could think better of it, and his smile widened.
“I’ll keep an eye out for them for you then.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said, fidgeting with the leaves.
He stepped even closer and nudged my shoulder with his. “I want to.”
I gave him an exasperated look. “Why?”
“Cause you like ’em.”
I scoffed and picked up the little flowers. The fuzzy yellow petals flooded me with memories, Wolf’s teasing smile as he held out the flowers, trying to coax me into forgiving him, Wolf promising he’d be back soon from his hunting trip and that he’d bring me a dandelion.
“You want to go for a walk?” Trey asked, startling me back to the present.
I looked up at him. We stood so close, but it didn’t make me panic. His eyes held mine, so open that it seemed like everything he felt was right there, laid bare like windows to his soul. I couldn’t hold his gaze for long, terrified of what I might see. My rationale that his kindness had to be some sort of act was wearing thin.
He still watched me, waiting, and I remembered he'd asked me a question. A walk? This seemed like a question where the answer meant a lot more than just taking a stroll. The panic surged through me like a splash of cold water on my face. I took a few steps away, pretending to straighten the drying tools on the counter.
“I think I’ll just go to bed,” I said without looking at him.
“Ok.” He sounded disappointed and it bothered me more than I liked to admit. “You need any help closing up?”
I shook my head.
“Alright then. I’ll step out so you can change.”
I slipped out of my pants and shirt, pulling on the oversized ragged T-shirt and thin shorts I slept in. I climbed into bed and then sat there, unsure if I should call out and tell him he could come back in or not.
Before I could decide, he knocked and called, “You good?”
“Yep.”
He came back in and gave me a slight smile before retreating to his own mattress, kicking off his boots, and taking off his shirt. I tried to pretend I didn’t notice his strong arms, the golden brown of his skin from the sun, and the way the lean muscles in his stomach formed a V that disappeared into his pants. My heart beat faster, ignoring me as I tried to calm it down. Trey turned toward me, and I barely remembered to stop staring before he caught me.
“Night, Bones,” he said as he flicked off the light.
It took me a long time to fall asleep.
9
I woke up to the sound of screams.
I jerked upright, scrambling to get out of Juck's tent before whoever was attacking us lit it on fire. My feet hit the freezing hardwood floor, shocking me awake. The sliver of sky I could see through the windows was still dark.
“Hold on,” Trey said to me, holding out one hand for me to stay put. He hadn’t put on a shirt, but he had his gun drawn as he cracked the door open to peer out.
“Trey!” I heard Mac shouting. “Fire in the slums!”
“Fuck.” Trey holstered his gun and grabbed his shirt.
He glanced at me as he threw it on, but I was already moving. I pulled my pants on and stuffed my feet into my boots. When we darted out of the clinic, we could see the flames even from this distance. Most of the hold seemed to be running toward the south end of the Vault. Trey and I joined them, coughing as thick smoke filled the air. When we finally reached the slums, I gasped at the sight of at least half the homes burning. Screams echoed from more than one of the burning buildings and Trey’s head snapped in that direction.
“Bones!” Sam yelled from where he crouched over a body on the ground.
I looked back at Trey to see him looking at me, even as both of us moved in opposite directions.
“Be careful,” I blurted out, and he paused for half a second, something soft flashing through his eyes.
“You too,” he said, and then he ran.
I had to force myself to focus, pushing past the huge swell of fear that swept over me at the sight of him running toward the fire. I ran to Sam to see him holding a severely burned woman who was sobbing.
“Get all the injured in one area,” I said to Sam, shifting into a familiar medic mode. It wasn’t the first time I dealt with a large disaster with multiple people injured. At least this time I could actually save people’s lives.
“Got it.” Sam leapt to his feet and ran.
I crouched beside the woman, taking her hands. My healing power eagerly rushed down my arms and into her body, and the blisters and burns healed before my eyes. Griz appeared, carrying an injured man, and I switched to him as soon as the woman’s injuries healed. The woman sobbed her thanks as she sat up, and I gave her a short nod before focusing on the man’s burns. More people started bringing the injured over to me, and I lost myself in the work of healing every single one. The many injuries ranged from small burns or smoke inhalation to people gasping their last breaths, their bodies barely recognizable. I focused on the latter and tried to get the severely injured healed first.
Sweat trickled down my face. I could feel the heat of the fire, even from a safe distance away. Most of the hold had formed a bucket brigade from the nearest outdoor water spigots and worked together to pass and throw buckets of water on the fire. It didn't seem to do much until several of Madame's men showed up with long thick hoses that they connected to the spigots to spray water on the fire. They seemed reluctant to help, muttering things about “fucking rusters,” which made my blood boil.
Even with the hoses, it wasn't until sunrise that the fire began to finally die. I kept finding myself searching the nearby faces for Trey, but I didn't see him anywhere. I tried to ignore the worry that settled like a stone in my stomach. I finished all the severely injured and moved on to the moderate to mild injuries. It hurt now, like the final times when I healed Hojo. I swiped my sleeve across my running nose to see blood and bit back a curse.
“Bones!”
I glanced up to see Sam running toward me, and my heart sank when I realized he had an injured child in his arms. I quickly scrubbed my nose with my sleeve, hoping I got most of the blood.
“She tried to hide under the bed,” Sam gasped, his voice hoarse. “Trey got her out. We never would’ve found her if her sister hadn’t seen her go under there.”
Trey. He must be ok, then. I quickly grabbed the girl’s burned hands. It hurt. My healing power had dwindled to a thin thread, but I gritted my teeth and kept going.
“Your nose—” Sam started, alarmed.
“I’m fine,” I snapped, ignoring the blood trickling from my nose again.
The golden warmth inside of me flickered. The little girl was healing, but slowly—too slowly—and then my power sputtered, leaving only wisps of smoke. Panic started roaring through me as I tried again, but there was nothing there. It was gone. The girl started crying, a thin wail that sounded like it came from far away. Her disfigured face blurred in my vision.
No! I can’t run out now. Gods, please!
I reached for that power again, desperate, but everything tipped sideways and—
I shivered so hard my teeth rattled in my head. Something about this felt familiar.
“—drink something. C’mon, Bones.”
Mac’s angry face came into focus. He always seemed angry when he looked at me.
“Bones,” he said sharply, “try to drink.”
I realized I was lying on my mattress in the clinic. Mac's hand slid under my neck, lifting my head as he brought a mug of water toward my lips. I managed to get a few swallows of water down. Daylight streamed through the windows of the clinic. My throat and lungs burned as though I'd inhaled a shit ton of smoke—
I stiffened in horror, my eyes snapping up to Mac’s face. “Did she die?” My voice came out raspy.
Mac lowered my head and removed his hand from the back of my neck, seeming to hesitate as he stared at me with those dark grey eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut as they flooded with tears, already knowing the answer.
“It’s not your fault,” I thought I heard Mac say, but I must have been dreaming because it was my fault.
“No.” Mac’s voice came out even sharper, startling my eyes back open. “You saved thirty-six people, Bones. You healed until you fuckin’ passed out. You did everythin’ you could.”
“She was just a kid,” I choked out.
“You did everythin’ you could,” he repeated, and he sounded like he believed that.
He had a bandage wrapped around his forearm. I reached out, intending to wrap my shaking fingers around it, but he grabbed my wrist and yanked my hand away. My eyes shot back up to his face.
“No,” he snapped, glaring down at me.
Tears started rolling down my face, and the angry lines of his face softened to confusion.
“What’s—” he started to say, but words bubbled out of me.
“Please let me heal you,” I sobbed. “Please. I know you don’t like me, but I gotta…I gotta…let me do somethin’, please—”
“Bones!” His voice was a quiet command as he leaned in, holding my gaze. “You need to rest. It’s just a small burn.” He hesitated for a moment, and I felt his thumb ghost over the inside of my wrist. “And I don’t dislike you. I just don’t want you to burn out again.”
The clinic door opened and shut, and Mac released my wrist and moved, his form blurring as the room spun. My tears trailed off as I shivered. My fingers fumbled for my blanket, but I couldn't find it, and then warm hands wrapped around mine.
“I know you’re cold,” a gentle voice said next to me, “but we gotta bring your fever down.”
I squinted to see Trey kneeling next to me, his eyes soft and concerned.
“Why are…what…what—”
I paused, trying to remember what I’d been about to ask. I focused on his face and suddenly realized he was safe. Tears filled my eyes again as relief overwhelmed me.
“You’re ok,” I whispered.
He smiled, his eyes warming. “I’m ok.”
“You scared me,” I mumbled, my eyes drifting closed. “I didn’t see you.”
“You worryin’ about me now?” he asked, his gentle voice teasing.
“Yes,” I replied, exhaustion crashing over me.
“I’m alright, Bones,” he murmured.
I couldn’t decipher the intense emotion in his voice. I wanted to open my eyes to see his expression, but my eyelids were too heavy.
“Don’t leave,” I tried to say, but shivers violently wracked my body.
A gentle hand smoothed my hair back from my sticky, sweaty face. "I'm not goin' anywhere, darlin'."
I startled awake at a loud crash.
“Ah fuck,” someone groaned.
“Sam!”
I turned my head to see Trey sitting beside my mattress looking away from me with an exasperated expression.
“Did you seriously just break that?”
“Well, I thought the lid would stay on!”
I followed his gaze to see Sam standing by the exam table, holding a glass lid and looking guilty. The jar I kept clean rags in lay in pieces on the floor. He met my eyes and was visibly startled to see me awake and staring back at him.
“Sorry, Shortcake,” he sighed. “I’ll find you a new one.”
“Hey,” Trey said from my other side. “How you feelin’?”
I looked back to find him studying me. “What happened?”
“You saved a shit ton of people, and then you passed out.” He paused. “You had a high fever again. I’m wonderin’ if you sorta burn out when you use up all your power and it makes you sick. Cause this was just like last time.”
Last time, when I helped Madame torture Hojo to death.
“Did that little girl die?” I mumbled.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes, guilt sweeping through me.
“Bones,” Trey’s hand curled around mine and squeezed, “you saved so many people. You did everything you could. It’s not your fault.”
I still failed.
”Would you blame me for her dying?”
My eyes popped open. “No.”
“If I’d found her sooner, she might be alive,” he countered.
I set my jaw. I knew what he was doing, and I didn’t like it. “It’s not the same thing,” I muttered.
“Why not?” he pushed.
“You did all you could.” The whispered words tumbled out of me. “I couldn’t do enough.”
"Bones," the gentle way he said my name made my eyes well up, "you might have remarkable power, but you're still human. You have limits."
“It’s never enough,” as soon as I said the words, I wished I could take it back.
“What would be enough?” he asked slowly, studying me.
I swallowed hard. This was headed toward dangerous ground. “I want to get up,” I said instead.
He hesitated but then nodded. "Ok, just take it easy."
I sat up and realized Sam must have left. Just the two of us remained in the clinic. I frowned, a hazy memory floating through my head. “Was Mac here?”
“Yeah, earlier,” Trey answered. “Why?”
My eyes narrowed. “Was I sayin’ shit?”
Guilt flashed across his face, his eyes widening. “No.”
It was so obviously a lie I almost laughed, but the fact he lied made it pretty clear I’d said something I wouldn’t be happy about. I glared at him, torn between wanting to demand he tell me and wanting to pretend it never happened.
“Come on,” he said, getting to his feet and holding his hands out. “I bet you’ll feel better if you get some fresh air.”
I knew he wanted to distract me, but being distracted sounded kind of nice. I gave him my hands, letting him pull me up. I didn’t miss the delighted surprise that flashed across his face, but then the room spun as I stood, and I gripped his hands tighter instead of letting go.
“Dizzy?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Let me know when it passes,” he said, holding my hands and waiting.
“I’m ok,” I said after the room seemed to settle.
