𝔸𝕧𝕒

Every inch of my skin is throbbing along with my heartbeat. I feel like I have the worst hangover of my life.

I try to remember if I drank very much last night.

What did I do last night? The bar, with Kieran and Finn, was that last night? I only had one drink.

Why does the bed feel so uncomfortable?

I feel like our mattress was replaced with a lumpy bale of hay.

I try to pry my eyes open and am finding it harder than usual. As I do, the light seems unbearably bright and my dry eyes sting.

The room is white and unfamiliar, with styrofoam ceiling tiles like the ones you'd find in a dreary office building. I try to turn my neck to look around, but it's stiff and achy.

Where the hell am I?

My eyes catch the top of a light blue, paisley-print curtain. Unfortunately, there's only one type of place that has curtains that garish.

Fuck.

"Ava?" a woman's soft voice asks.

Jen's face appears over me. My vision is still slightly blurry and adjusting. Her voice was so shaky and weak, I almost didn't recognize it.

"Jen?" I ask. My voice is rough and dry.

"It's okay, hon," she says. "You're in the hospital. You're gonna be okay. We're here for you."

"We?" I ask.

I'm hoping she doesn't mean Zane. Being in the hospital and looking like death is bad enough when your boyfriend isn't an immortal paragon of hotness.

"Tell me you didn't call Zane," I say.

"Ahem..." Zane clears his voice.

I strain my neck a little further to see him standing in the corner.

Fuck my life.

"Hey," I say awkwardly.

I examine his face as he takes a step toward me. His eyes are bloodshot with dark circles beneath them. His hair is tousled and his white button-up shirt is untucked and wrinkled.

He looks devastated.

What the heck happened? Did I pass out during something important?

This is so embarrassing.

"What happened?" I ask.

"You um..." Jen says, her voice shaking.

I've never seen Jen this distraught. That doesn't bode well for whatever she's about to say.

"When I got to your place, you..." she continues. "You wouldn't wake up. You were barely conscious and disoriented. You tried to talk but you weren't making any sense. I had to get you to the hospital."

I sit up slightly, groaning in pain as I do.

A man with dark skin and a beard enters the room. Judging by the white coat I think it's safe to assume he's my doctor.

"Hi, Ava," he says. "I'm Dr. Ellison. How are you feeling?"

"Um," I say. "Pretty bad. Everything hurts. My stomach especially."

"That's to be expected. You've experienced acute hepatic failure—liver failure. It's likely something you've taken or ingested. Have you recently taken any unusual medications or substances?"

"I already gave them your medications list," Jen says.

Jen is a godsend.

"Um, no not really," I say. "Besides my usual prescriptions."

"Your friend said you recently stopped an experimental medication, Lornalaprozem?"

"Um, yeah. The doctor didn't tell me it was experimental, but yeah."

The doctor raises an eyebrow at me before continuing.

"Well, that drug can be rough on your liver. It could certainly be worse in combination with other medications, even if you stopped taking it for a while."

Of course. That just figures.

"Do you drink much?" he asks.

"Not much," I say. "I had one drink last night"

"Thursday," Zane corrects. He looks to me and adds, "It's Saturday morning."

I've been unconscious for over a day? Crap.

"What about acetaminophen? It's also known as Tylenol or Paracetamol?"

"Uh, yeah," I say. "I'm not sure how many. I take them for pain."

"Hmm..." the doctor says, narrowing his eyes. "That's one of the most common causes of liver failure we see, actually. If you don't remember how many you've taken, it's likely you took more than you should've. The good news is we've already got you on the right medication for it. Now we just have to wait and see if it works."

"Wha-... why did you say if?" I ask.

"We have to take it case by case. Everyone responds differently and your case is very advanced. Most people experience extreme nausea and pain before it ever gets to this stage. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, you didn't get the normal symptoms until the liver failure had progressed."

Zane clenches his jaw and his eyes fall to the floor.

I immediately know what he's thinking—that this is his fault. That using his powers to take away my pain has somehow hurt me.

"So if this treatment doesn't work...?" I ask.

"Well, um..." the doctor says. "We have other options, but not many. We're going to do everything we can for you. I wouldn't give up yet."

What?

"What do you mean?" I ask. "I feel like you're saying that like I'm going to die or something."

The doctor's face is serious as he stays silent for a moment.

"Am I dying?" I ask.

"Not... I..." he stumbles. "The treatment could still work. We just have to wait and see right now."

Jen and Zane both have disturbingly serious expressions. This must be news they've already been given.

"You really shouldn't be taking so many medications," the doctor says. "You're young, you're healthy, you don't need all this."

"Um... no," I say. "I'm not healthy. I have chronic pain and I get dizzy a lot and nauseous. My doctors have been working on figuring it out, they just don't have a diagnosis yet."

"Uh huh," he says. "Well, you know, sometimes just getting sunshine can be really good for you. It's certainly a lot better for you than all those drugs."

Oh good. Why thanks, Doctor Know-It-All. You just told me I'm fucking dying, but glad to hear that sunshine can fix all my problems.

"What?" Zane says to the doctor.

"Well," the doctor says. "A lot of times these things are really just emotional problems."

"Emotional problems?" he asks, his voice getting louder.

"Well, the body is just very interconnected and women can be particularly sensitive."

"Really? Did you just say women are overly sensitive?" Zane asks.

"I didn't mean it that way."

"I think you did," Zane says, his eyes shifting to green. "You're telling her that her problems aren't real. Why would you be saying that? You think she's popping anti-inflammatories recreationally?"

"No, sir, I..."

Zane quickly grabs the man's arm in his hand.

"Don't talk," he says. "Here's what you're going to do... You're going to get us the best doctor in this damn hospital and you're going to insist he come down here and handle her case because you're too bloody incompetent. You got that?"

The doctor nods and quietly leaves the room.

"Wow," Jen says. "You told that dick! I didn't even have to bust out my slappin' hand."

"You two are bad influences on each other," I scold.

"You think I'm going to let him talk to you like that, baby?" he says.

I smirk and shrug. I don't really know what else I expected of him.

"Should I go grab Kami?" Jen says to me. "She's in the cafeteria. She's going to want to know you're up."

"Kami too?" I ask. "You guys, I don't want everyone making a big deal out of me. This is so embarrassing."

"Tough shit, whoreball. Lots of people love you so just shut up and accept our love."

With that, Jen makes her way out the door, blowing me a kiss before rounding the corner.

"So..." I say to Zane. "You don't have to stay here, I'm sure you have bet-"

Before I can register what's happening Zane is beside me, our lips colliding.

"I'm not going anywhere," he says, pulling away just slightly and letting his forehead rest against my own, "but we need to talk."

"About what?" I ask.

You mean about me possibly dying? Pshh... That's no big deal.

Except it is. It's kind of the biggest deal.

Fuck my life.

"I can't lose you," he says.

His eyes are so close to mine that I can hardly focus, but I can still read the pain in them.

I try to run through the options, but only one comes immediately to mind. I never imagined having any part of this conversation, yet here I am about to say the words.

"Is immortality still on the table?"