38. OBSIDIAN: THREAT FREE..FOR NOW

Ezra passed out from exhaustion, not because of his injuries, although his wounds were worrying me. The ones he got from the bear attack should’ve been healed by now, instead, they were infected.
*Badly infected.*
Vanya was unable to handle the sight of Ezra’s wounds, so I sent her away with Devrim to get us some snacks from the machine down the hall. I wouldn’t be able to handle her puking.
Now that the pus had been cleaned from the wounds, it should start healing.
With that taken care of, I started cleaning the burns. They weren’t as bad as they looked which was a relief. We had no reason to call in a doctor.
*What the hell happened to him? Why hasn’t he been taking care of his wounds? *

Pursing my lips, I shifted in the chair to try and find a more comfortable position. The smell of disinfectant and antibiotic cream that filled the room was starting to make me feel sick.
I stood and walked over to the window to push it open. Leaning forward, I sucked in a deep breath. I could smell the rain in the air. A part of me wished that we were on our island, in Darial’s house where we could enjoy the storm together.
All of us together.
I stood at the window until I heard Ezra stir.
His breathing hitched and his fingers clutched the sheets as he slowly regained consciousness. I fought the urge to smile because I knew how much it would piss him off.
Ezra hissed, eyes snapping open. He blinked up at the ceiling with unfocused eyes until I stepped closer to the bed. His eyes snapped over to me and narrowed.
“What…did you do to me?” he sneered.
“I cleaned your infected wounds,” I told him. “If you had kept them clean they would have been healed by now.”
“I was busy! There was no fucking time to stop and worry about my wounds.” Ezra sucked in a breath and then sat up. “Fucking hell,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “It feels like you used my back to practice your knife-throwing.”
I smirked at him. “I was tempted.”
Without asking for help, Ezra moved until he sat on the edge of the bed. He stayed in place for a few seconds before he stood. He tumbled forward but managed to catch himself before he hit the ground. Breathing heavily, Ezra clung to the chair I had vacated earlier with shaky arms.
“Stop being stubborn and ask me to help you,” I ordered.
He growled.
The longer he stayed in the same position, the more he started to shake. I tensed, waiting for his legs to give way beneath his weight. *Any second now…*
“I need to use the bathroom,” Ezra breathed. “H. . .help me, please.”
I instantly moved forward. Wrapping an arm around his waist, I helped him to guide his arm over my shoulders and then straighten.
“Do you—” I started to ask him when we entered the bathroom.
“No!” he hissed, interrupting me. “I don’t want your hands anywhere near my fucking shaft. Just don’t let me face plant the toilet.”
I moved behind him and hooked my hands under his armpits to hold him steady as he took a piss. A few minutes later I helped him back to the bed where he took a seat on the edge again. I handed him a glass of water before I retook my seat. My eyes darted over his face as he drank.
“Why did you stay?” I asked him. “You should have gotten on the plane with Vanya. She wouldn’t have gotten so sick if you—”
“I’m not in the mood for one of your lectures, Obsidian.” He glared at me. “Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for someone we love which is something you wouldn’t understand.”
I scoffed. “There’s a difference between doing something stupid and—”
“Stupid? I fucking took care of a threat and got burned in the process. I made sure that Vanya has a chance at happiness even though I knew I might not walk away alive.”
“Do you want me to thank you?” I asked him. “When Vanya got on that plane, did you stop to think about the danger you placed her in instead of being a hero?”
“Red was with her!” Ezra yelled. “She was—”
“She could have been kidnapped!” I got to my feet and glared down at him. “Joy is still out there! She’s still a threat!”
He was silent for a few seconds. “What was I supposed to do? Let her stay on the island and burn to death?” His eyes flashed. “Vanya already hates the fact that her body is covered in scars; should I have added to that? Your blood might flow through her veins but it will never make the scars you put there disappear.”
His words hit me harder than he knew.
Did he really think that I wasn’t aware of how much she hated those scars? Didn’t he know that I hated myself for it? Didn’t he know that it tore me apart every time she avoided looking at herself in the mirror?
“Got nothing to say, Obsidian?” he mocked.
The bedroom door opened and Vanya stumbled in, arms loaded with packets and a big smile on her lips. Devrim was right behind her, carrying some drinks and chocolate bars.
“Guess what?” she exclaimed. “They have chocolates!”
“Chocolates are not food,” Ezra said, frowning down at the chocolate bars Devrim dropped to the bed. “Is that what you’ve been eating?”
“It’s a safer choice than the room service,” Devrim answered.
Ezra’s eyes darted over to me. “If she’s recovering, she should be eating proper food.”
My lips pulled up into a sneer. “I will not risk having our food be drugged.”
I looked at Vanya when she crawled onto the bed and took a seat next to Ezra. She crossed her legs and leaned forward to search through the things they got. Finding what she was looking for, she leaned back and tore the packet open. After taking a bite herself, she started feeding Ezra.
It felt like the walls were starting to close in on me. I needed to get away. I needed fresh air.
Devrim caught my arm when I passed him. Without a word, he pulled me into the bathroom and pushed the door closed.
“I need air,” I told him.
“What happened?” Devrim frowned at me. “I could smell the tension from down the hall.”
“Nothing happened.”
“Ob—”
“I said nothing happened, Dev,” I growled. “Don’t fucking push it.”
Running a hand through my hair, I turned my back on him and breathed in his scent. Their mixed scent calmed the demons a little but it still felt like the walls were closing in.
“I’m going out,” I muttered. “Won’t be gone long.”
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Out.”
I wasn’t planning on going far, just for a walk around the block to try and calm myself. *Maybe the storm would hit while I was out and lightning would strike me down.*
“You can’t leave,” Devrim said. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on inside that head of yours so I can help.”
“So you can keep me here, you mean?” I turned around to watch the colour flood his cheeks.
Devrim avoided eye contact. “You’re safer here with us.”
“I can take care of myself,” I told him.
“That’s what you said the last time you went on one of your trips and you ended up being kidnapped.” Fear flashed through his eyes. “We have already been through so much, Obsidian. There’s no way—”
“You need to stop worrying.” Closing the space between us, I gripped the back of his neck and pulled his lips closer to mine. “Come with me.”
“Vanya…”
“I’ll ask Red to stay with them until we get back. His room is a few doors down.”
He swallowed. “Where are we going?”
I smiled. Pressing a kiss to the corner of his lips, I pulled away and gripped the door handle. Devrim frowned but he stepped aside and allowed me to pull the door open. Vanya’s eyes snapped up to us.
“Dev and I are going out. We won’t be gone for long but I’m going to ask Red to stay here with you until we get back.”
“Where are you going?” she asked softly, eyes darkening with concern.
“To get some fresh air,” Devrim answered her. “Will you be okay for a few minutes?”
My eyes darted to Ezra. I was waiting for him to make a crude comment but he remained silent. I frowned and turned my attention back to Vanya and Devrim.
His lips were pressed to her ear but whatever he was saying to her was too low for me to hear. Pulling back, he kissed her and then turned his attention to Ezra.
“Is there anything you want us to get for you?”
He shook his head.
I winked at Vanya when she caught my eyes. “Behave, sweets.”
“I should be telling you that.”
Whatever reply I was about to give her was forgotten when Ezra said something I never expected him to say.
“I killed Joy.”