I stop her hand, pulling it away from me. “It’s real. I told you this is done, Teena.”
“You’ll change your mind. You two can barely look at each other now.”
“It’s been over a year. I told you, move on to someone else,” I tell her, not commenting about me and Beth. There’s nothing I can say to that. Fuck. There’s not a damn thing I can say about it.
“Let me fucking die,” I tell the bitch as she injects me more with her steroids and whatever else she puts in that fucking syringe that somehow keeps me going.
“But I cannot. You’re helping to keep him distracted, giving him something to keep his mind on.”
“If he knew what an evil bitch you were…”
“But he doesn’t.”
“I could tell him if you don’t let me die,” I tell her, wheezing.
“You haven’t yet, and your time is almost done. You won’t weaken now.”
“I might,” I bluff.
“No. You won’t. To do so would mean the death of the one person you have ever cared about. You know, Pistol, that’s kind of sad, if you think about it. A man living as long as you have and not having one thing to show for it. Would you like me to tell your sister how you suffered for her in the end? Would she hate you less then? I wonder…”
“Leave Hayden alone. You fuckers said you’d leave her out of this if I…”
“If you kept your mouth shut. Exactly. But don’t piss me off, Pistol. You’re helpless here. I could kill you and kill your sister and there’s nothing you could do about it,” the cold fucking bitch says. She’s right. I’ve been swinging for weeks. Hell, maybe months now, and there’s not a goddamn thing I can do about it. If I told Skull about Hayden, he’d probably just kill her too.
I say nothing else. I let the evil bitch do what she does to keep me alive and be a slab of meat for Skull to torture longer. When I meet Torres in hell, I will make sure she pays. That’s my last thought as unconsciousness claims me.
“What are you doing hiding in here?” Katie asks when she opens the door to my room.
I’m sitting on the floor with Gabby playing with her blocks. I’m not actually hiding; I’d just rather not see Skull again for a day or, you know, maybe ten. I may have held onto my cool for the most part during our confrontation last night, but this resolution I’ve made to stop running is not coming easy.
“I’m not hiding. Your beautiful niece and I are playing blocks,” I tell her.
“Kaydee!” Gabby cries out and pulls her wobbly little butt up to run to Katie, who bends down to scoop up Gabby and plant kisses all over her.
“I swear she gets bigger every day,” she whispers. Sadly, I can’t argue. The days are going by so quickly. I busy myself with picking up her blocks, trying to shake off this mood I seem to be stuck in ever since my run-in with Skull. “Are things not getting any better?”
“Not especially, though we did have a nice shouting match last night with that fucking Dr. Torres around to hear it all.” I sigh, wincing as I curse in front of Gabby, but I can’t help it. I swear I want to kill that woman. I don’t know for sure she had anything to do with the package I got when I was in the hospital, but I feel like she did, and I just keep remembering that look on her face last night.
Dr. Torres is hiding shit. I’m almost positive …
“That fucking bastard, he still has her here?”
“Sweetness, watch your language before my girl hears you,” Torch says, coming into the room with his lazy grin. It’s so strange to watch him and Katie together. I may have worried when she told me about him, but it was for nothing. He’s completely in love with my sister. Gabby squeals when Torch takes her away from Katie. He blows on her stomach and she giggles, letting her little hands sink into his hair and pull. Torch doesn’t seem to mind, blowing more raspberries against her stomach so she cackles even louder.
I set the container of blocks to the side and rise from the floor, coming to Katie’s side. Torch settles Gabby in his arms and looks over at me with an easy smile.
“How are my favorite girls today?” he asks.
“I thought I was your favorite girl?” Katie speaks up.
“Greedy woman. You’ve had me in your bed last night and this morning and you got to ride on the back of my bike. I even flexed my muscles for you. I know you’re good, Katy-did,” he tells her, bending down to kiss her and seeming unaware of the way Gabby is tugging on his beard. “Come on, Beth. Time to get out of this room. Come with us into the kitchen and I’ll cook breakfast for all three of my women,” Torch says, and I’m not really hungry, but it sure would feel good to get out of here. Especially if I’m not alone.