“That’s a shame.” Wade sighed. “It would have been nice, wouldn’t it, to have been done so easy? All fixed. Not sick anymore. No pain. You can’t remember what happened to you. All better. Boom. Time for your happy ending.”
I made myself stare at the not-Wade. “Neither Wade nor I are the type to particularly believe in happy endings. We’re too real for that.”
“That’s a shame.” Blaze sighed. “Singing men in rainbows or whatever seems like a nice existence. Guess we’ll see you soon.”
Pain assaulted my senses, and I screamed, the operating room in Artemis coming into view. Sweat was all over my body, and I flailed against the restraints that held me down.
“She’s up. Again.” Dane shook his head, a sympathetic look in his eyes. “It’s so hard to keep them under with the nanos.”
Wade squeezed my hand but wasn’t looking at me, his gaze upward on the machine. “Yes, but it’s working. I’m sorry. This is hard, my love.” He leaned over and kissed me. “But the machines we put in you, the nanos, they are actually making you better.”
I screamed again. There was pain everywhere. I hadn’t known that anything could hurt this much. Every joint, every muscle, aches and waves of agony rode through me like it was going to drag me under and never let me go.
“We have to give her something.” Ari stepped away from the table. “I can drug Super Soldiers. I can drug her. She has less of what makes them, them.”
Wade slammed his hand on the table. “I don’t want her to hurt. I want it less than anyone alive. But it’s working. If you give that to her now and screw it up, this whole thing will have been for nothing.” He took a visible breath. “Can you hold on, my love? Can you?”
Waverly squeezed my hand. “She can. I know you can. Because you’re strong and everyone here is doing this with you. I know only you have to endure it, but The Farm is all holding their breath and waiting for you to get through this. There are Super Soldiers pacing in the hall in terror—and they’ve taken on the universe in battle. You can do this. I know you can.”
Her words helped. I drifted away, back to that place with the dancing unicorns. Or whatever it was. Singing something or other. And then there was just nothing.
The next time I woke up, it was on a medical bed with machines beeping everywhere. Yep, that seemed real to me. Wade’s back was to me as he looked at a machine. The room was filled with the doctors and Waverly in the corner talking to Amber on a screen in a low voice. I couldn’t hear what they said.
My love turned around. “Hey, how are you doing? We just gave you something for the pain. It should help.” He wasn’t doing that lovey gooey thing he did in my dream where he pushed my bangs off my forehead. I wanted that. But my throat hurt, and I wasn’t sure if it was worth it to ask for it.
“Pain?” He winced. “I’m sorry. I was worried about the meds screwing up the nanos, but I think we have that sorted. So you should start to feel better soon.”
Finally, I found my voice. “I had a dream about you smoothing the hair off my forehead.”
He blinked. “Oh… I…”
Dane strode over. “I think that sounds like a good idea, Doctor. You’re relieved of duty, so to speak. Good work. If this happens, it’s because of what you did in there. But now you need to be her guy and not her doctor. So sit down and smooth her hair off her face. Women like that.”
Wade moved fast. He grabbed a chair and pulled it over before he sat in it and started to do just what I asked of him.
“There were singing men in bubbles. Or something.”
He nodded. “Very screwed up things happened in your mind, I imagine. I can’t tell you what it means to me to be here with you right now. That your eyes are open and you’re here with me.”
I stared at his face. It was good to be here, too. I hoped. “It worked?”
“We’ll know soon.”
Yes, this wasn’t that fake world where everything was just fine. That had never been my reality and never would be.
I must have slept on and off. I didn’t feel pain, it was like there was nothing at all. When I opened my eyes, Wade was there. I never saw the others. They must have been kept away because someone had convinced them it was truly a good idea. I knew for a fact they weren’t great at obeying rules when it didn’t suit them.
The room was quiet. Only Dane stood in the corner, watching machines and tapping on his tablet. He smiled at something and tapped again. Wade snored gently, his head at a strange angle, his face not restful in sleep. I hated to think of him not being comfortable.
Dane met my gaze and winked at me. “You okay? Thirsty?”
I wasn’t anything. Not thirsty. Not hungry. Not… anything. “No, I’m okay.”
He walked over. Wade stayed asleep, small sounds releasing from his open mouth. Dane checked the monitor. “That’s the meds. When we let them up, you’re going to be hungry, thirsty, and in pain. So I’ll leave it for just a few more minutes. It’s hard to knock you out. I think that’s a good sign this worked. Super Soldiers are notoriously hard to keep unconscious.”
I lifted my wrist and looked at it. It read zero. I gasped, and Wade opened his eyes. “What’s wrong?” He grabbed my free hand. “What can I do?” He shook his head. “Someone tell me what’s going on?”
I touched his cheek to make him look at me. “It’s zero.”
“It better fucking be.” He shook his head. “Dane, where is the readout?” He got to his feet. “I don’t see it.”
“On my tablet where it will remain not your business for the moment. You were out cold. I don’t trust you to take care of her right now. When was the last time you slept? Don’t tell me. I can imagine. I didn’t sleep for a decade, worrying about Melissa. And then there was the time I thought she was dead. That was about eight months. That was a special kind of hell.”
Wade’s face fell. “I don’t ever want to know that pain.”
“Nope, you don’t.” He patted Wade on the arm. “Sit down. And be her guy, or I’m going to let those men in here. I think they’re only obeying because it suits them to believe it’s a good thing for her. Otherwise, they’d bust down the door. I’ve seen it with Sterling. I don’t know how it is with five of them, but I can imagine. You know what?” He snapped his fingers. “That’s a good idea. You need a break. Go get a shower and some food. Then come back. Let one of them in.”
The door flung open, and Corbin strode in fast. How had he beat the others out? I smiled. It didn’t matter. I was glad to see whichever one of them wanted to be here.
“Son.” Dane stopped him with a word. “She is going to be in a lot of pain any second. If you’re not the guy to endure that silently while being supportive, go get another one of her loves. I’m that guy for Melissa. Cooper is not. We all have our strengths. He gives her better advice. So, are you? That guy?”
Corbin visibly swallowed. I’d never seen him thrown like he looked in that second. Dane had thrown him off his game. He stood slightly straighter. “Sir, I can be whoever she needs me to be. You saved her life. I heard it. When things went a little bit sour, you and Wade saved her. Whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do it. I’m going to get my ass kicked when I leave her because I just strode in while they started to debate who it should be. So, yes, I’m that guy.”