started spinning. Suddenly he was standing over her, looking down on her. He lifted her oxygen mask and placed it gently over her mouth and she tried frantically to twist her head away, convinced that he was trying to suffocate her.
He moved back away from the bed and her breathing settled, though the machine was beeping fast enough to make her think she was about to have a heart attack.
The door burst open again.
‘What the hell are you doing in here? Get out!’
It was Cyrus. He strode the two paces to the bed and planted himself between her and Victor. ‘I said, get out,’ he repeated. ‘Or you’re going to be the one needing the hospital bed and the transfusion. Do you understand me?’
Victor stared at him for a few seconds, then turned and strolled out of the door.
Cyrus spun to face her, his face pale but the relief at seeing her awake clear in his expression.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked, his voice soft all of a sudden, his eyes searching her face.
Evie dragged the oxygen mask off. ‘Like I got bitten by an Original and lost eight pints of blood.’
‘You did. I thought …’ His voice cracked and she noticed his hands gripping the bed rail as though it was the only thing holding him up. ‘I thought for a moment I’d lost you.’
Lost her? She hadn’t known that he’d ever found her.
‘Where are the others?’ she asked through cracked lips.
Cyrus crossed to the table and poured her a glass of water. He brought it back to her and, sliding one arm under her shoulders, gently lifted her head so that he could tip the glass against her lips.
‘Flic and Jamieson are downstairs. We’re all trying to avoid the cops.’
‘The cops?’ Evie spluttered, water splashing down her chin.
Cyrus nodded at two dark shapes that had materialised out of nowhere on the other side of the door. He laid her gently back down on the pillow. ‘I snuck in. The doctors told me only relatives could see you.’
‘Didn’t you tell them something about being my boyfriend?’ she asked.
Cyrus looked away. ‘I, er, thought they might let me stay with you if they thought we were, you know, together.’
‘You couldn’t have gone with brother? They might have actually let you stay if you’d said that.’
He frowned at her, then shrugged.
Evie pushed herself suddenly up onto her elbows. ‘Get me out of here,’ she said.
‘You’re not going anywhere.’ Cyrus smiled and shook his head ruefully.
‘There are cops outside the door. They’re going to start asking questions soon, Cyrus. Won’t they have your prints from before? You’re an escapee from a mental hospital.’
Cyrus frowned. ‘I’m not leaving you.’ But simultaneously he seemed to be realising that he couldn’t stay either.
‘Then take me.’ She sat fully upright, trying not to sway at the sight of the red IV bag hanging over her. ‘I’m feeling better. They’ve put enough blood in me to tank up a dozen Thirsters.’ She swung her legs off the side of the bed, noticing for the first time she was wearing only an oversized hospital gown. Her legs were bare. In fact - she did a quick check – she was completely naked beneath the gown, bar some fetching paper underwear. Cyrus, she noticed, was staring openly at her legs.
‘I don’t want to stay in here,’ she said, pushing herself off the bed and yanking a handful of wires off her chest. The machine flatlined behind her. ‘They might come looking for me. I mean, I would, if I were one of them. I’d come straight here and finish the job.’
Cyrus shook his head. ‘They won’t.’
She saw the uneasy way he swallowed though and glanced at the door.
‘You don’t know that,’ she said. ‘Were there others? How many did we kill?’
‘A few.’
She paused. ‘It’s too dangerous and I hate hospitals. If you don’t take me I’m going to leave anyway.’
‘I’d like to see you try,’ Cyrus said, his eyebrows raised, but she could see him glancing again between her and the door, as if weighing the options.
‘I will,’ she said, staggering slightly against the side of the bed as she started looking for her clothes. She could only find her shoes, which had been stuffed in the locker beside her bed. She knelt to put them on, feeling the ground rushing up to meet her.
Cyrus looked down at her. ‘OK, OK, I believe you. Man, you’re stubborn. Give me two minutes, OK?’