Chapter 189
- Kaysi -
The hospital's air was thick with the sharp, familiar sting of cleaning agents and antiseptics, piercing my nose with every breath. Whether on the surface or deep within Shell City, beneath the ocean, the same familiar scent and atmosphere lingered unsettlingly.
Too clean.
Too quiet, it didn't match what we have been facing to survive.
This was Evan's first time in the hospital since I've known him. He lay facedown, shirtless, with the burns across his back.
For a second, I just stood there watching his back rise and fall.
His breathing is slow and shallow.
But alive.
My chest tightened watching him in such a vulnerable state.
I moved closer before I could think myself out of it.
"You really don't make this easy..." I murmured under my breath.
The nurses had not come back; they had to get busy with paperwork or other emergencies. She was in the middle of something when she left the burn cream on the table.
They can't just leave him here like this... I hesitated, thinking to myself.
I sat beside him on the bed, slowly twisting the jar lid off.
My hands had finally stopped shaking a bit.
Gently dipping my fingers into the cream, I gently pressed it into the raw skin of his back, slowly and softly rubbing it across the burns.
He flinched just a bit as the cool cream melted from the heat still burning across his skin, but he remained unconscious.
"...Sorry," I whispered as if he could hear me.
The damage was worse up close.
It was not just on the surface; some burns looked deeper. There were some spots that looked as though they came from inside something he was not meant to hold. Was this the result of his lightning being overpowered?
My fingers slowed.
Tracing carefully along the edges of the worst.
"You always do this..." I said quietly.
My eyes burned a bit.
"You jump in first this time. It was my fault because I knew you were the only one who could save them, but this isn't the first time you've bulldozed your way into danger regardless of the consequences."
My hand paused against his back. I could still feel the burning heat pushing back into me.
"You're always there."
"Fr...for everyone."
My chest tightened a bit more, and my heart raced... No, it skipped.
A moment in my mind caught my attention, and I froze for a second.
"...for me."
I hate to admit that I felt something overwhelming me, feelings for the first time, I don't think I felt for another person.
"I do...don't want to lose you..." My throat was tight, and I could barely whisper the words.
I swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure as I continued spreading the cream across the last section of his top, the right shoulder blade of his back.
Evan's body tensed sharply.
A breath hitched out of him.
I froze.
"...Oh—"
His eyes opened as he looked right into me.
We both stopped.
My hand was still on his back.
I was too close.
"...Sorry," I said quickly, pulling back just enough. I...I was finishing for the nurse. I didn't want to leave you like this. "I could barely talk, still shook up a bit." I didn't mean to—"
"It's fine," he muttered, his voice rough. "Just—yeah, that one hurts the most."
A small, awkward silence fell between us.
Then —
He slowly sat up.
"Here, this may help a bit."
He turned his shoulder to me more.
He looked at me.
Really looked at me this time.
"You're okay," he said. "How are you feeling?"
I let out a quiet breath that I had been unconsciously holding.
"I should be asking you that."
He shifter slightly at my comment and immediately regretted it.
"...I've been better."
"Slow down..." I whispered.
I almost smiled.
Almost.
"Don't move," I said, softer now.
This time, he listened, looking back down, showing he was ready again.
Silence settled again, but this felt different now.
I leaned in closer so I could see the wound carefully.
I resumed, slower than before, more careful not to hurt him again.
"You saved them," I said quietly.
He responds at first.
"...We did," he said.
I shook my head slightly.
"No"
My finger stilled again. Oops, I thought as I continued.
"You did everything..."
I paused my words to take a shaky breath. I didn't know why I felt so nervous. Was it because this was the closest we had been since almost dying, being trapped with him in the warehouse where he...
"I've been thinking about it," I kept talking. "About how many times have you done that?"
Green eyes shifted slightly back up to mine.
"You may not lead, but you always show up."
That comment made his eyes fully return, locking back on mine.
I pushed through.
"No matter what."
My voice softened.
"Even when...I don't ask it of you."
There it was; I let slip the thing I thought I would never admit out loud.
His breath left him.
"...That's kind of the problem," he admitted.
I frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
He hesitated.
Which—by itself—was rare.
"I crossed a line," he admitted softly, his voice trembling like a shaky confession.
My chest tightened.
"When?" I asked.
His gaze held mine.
"...That day at the warehouse."
I knew immediately what he meant.
My heart skipped again.
"You couldn't breathe," he said.
"I thought you were—"
He stopped himself.
"I didn't think," He continued slowly.
"I just... reacted."
A pause.
"... I gave my breath because I wanted you to live..."
I swallowed.
"I...I remember," said quietly.
His expression shifted.
"Oh," he said. I am guessing he didn't know I was still conscious, but barely.
"I didn't mean to make it..." he trailed off. "...Anything more than that."
I could feel my heart beating out of my chest.
Silence...
I leaned a bit forward without thinking.
"I wasn't..." I said softly.
He searched my face.
Like he didn't fully believe me or understand.
"You were trying to save me," I added, trying to reassure him.
My heart skipped a beat.
"And I get that."
He leaned in closer now. His eyes looked through me as though he wanted to know every thought in my mind right now.
"I don't want to lose anyone I care about...either." My words hung there. Not fully said, but clear.
We were so close, and it was as if they both held their breath.
"Kaysi...I"
I couldn't look away.
"You don't have to hold back," I said quietly. I wanted him to tell me everything on his mind as well; somehow, my heart longed for it.
"I know you've been... distant," I added.
"Like you're trying to fix something that was never broken."
He let out a small breath. I didn't even realize how close we were until—breaths apart.
His eyes flickered at my lips, then back.
My heart picked up. I could feel all the heat in my face.
I froze. I didn't pull back. Nor did he.
His voice dropped. His fingers barely touched mine on the bed as we drew closer.
"Kaysi...I don't want to lo—"
BOOM.
The hospital door slammed open so hard it rattled the door frame and vibrated the wall.
"You got some nerve, kid." Duke's voice cut through the air like steel.
"You got lucky; I told you never to use that power in a less extreme emergency."
"Duke!" I jumped up.
Evan groaned and, lowering his head, rubbed the back of his neck as if he expected Duke to hit him.
Duke went to the window, but he was not any closer. Crossing his arms and ankles as he leaned into the window.
"We are evacuating the city," he said flatly.
Evan exhaled, eyes closed briefly.
"I know—"
"No, you act as you do, but you don't seem to hear my warnings!" Duke stepped forward sharply.
The air shifted heavily.
"Every time you use it," his voice low and firm, "you shave minutes if not hours off of your life. Use it too much, and you won't have any life to spend, kid!"
He spoke like an angry, concerned father.
My stomach dropped.
Evan looked back at me for a second, then back down. I could tell it wasn't something he wanted me to know. Was it because I would blame myself?
I looked at Evan, waiting, hoping he would do something.
"I told you before. What else do you expect me to do...One of me over hundreds of them."
"So that's it throughout your life for a couple of decades," Duke gritted his teeth. "You can help thousands more by living, not throwing away your life."
Evan locked eyes with Duke, angry now.
"It's what a Waymaker is supposed to do. Sacrifice for humanity, no matter the cost or outcome; they're above us. Isn't that what you taught me, Duke!"
Evan stood up, ripping his IV from his arm, and walked out.
"EVAN, GET BACK HERE! YOU'RE NOT HEALED."
"MY SPEED WILL COVER THAT TOO!" He finished as the door slammed.
As I finished rubbing the last bit of cream on his shoulder blade.