The Bad Guy's Doctor

FIFTEEN

"I've been here for too long," Arsenio fiddles with the tubing that led into his arm, gazing up at me with clear eyes. "I'm fine, really." Jade glances down at her clipboard before nodding, voicing her approval.

"Your vitals seem fine. If you have any changes—"

"I have Althea, I'll be fine." Arsenio grins and I let out a sigh, accepting her words. I guess... this was enough to be let out. He did seem to be much better, yet a part of me couldn't understand how his body could've possibly repaired itself so quickly.

Jade slides the needle out of his arm and I press a bandaid onto the small bead of blood that welled up. "Thanks for your help. I hope I didn't bother you that much," She smiles at me.

"You saved my life recently, or did you forget?" She weaves her arm against mine, pulling me forward. "It's the least I can do to pay you back. Let's have a meal together one of these days, we have so much to talk about." Arsenio catches my wrist as we round the edge of the cot that he was on.

Jade and I both look at him. "Can I talk to you? Alone?" His eyes flash over to Jade and she detaches herself from me. Nodding quickly, she smirks at me over her shoulder before pulling the door shut behind her. The silence is desolate and it hangs in the air for a few seconds. "I've missed you."

"You saw me yesterday, pretty boy." He lets go, swallowing. "What is it?"

"What did Jasper say to you?" My eyebrows rose slightly, the only indication of my shock. How did he know?

"What do you mean?" I turn to face him completely. He knew? No, he knew about our meeting, not... How did he know?

Arsenio was in this room the entire time, how could he have known about our conversation?

"You feel... odd. Different." He pushes himself to his feet, his fresh changed clothes smelling of linen. He stops in front of me, slightly ruffled hair overshadowing his eyes as he gazed down. "Love, did he say something to you?" Some part of me feels like he's trying to intimidate me.

I blink once, then twice. Glance at the door, then back at him. There was no use in lying. "He said he loved me."

Arsenio doesn't breathe.

His chest falls, but doesn't rise again, his body frozen in place. My words rattle in his ears, I could see it through the clench in his jaw. And slowly, inhaling, his eyes slide over to the door.

I swallowed, the air thick with tension. Perhaps it was the bloodlust that I felt from the person in front of me, who no longer seemed to be okay with just being in my presence. His next words form in the air in quiet syllables. "And what did you say?" I shrugged.

His eyes widened and he stumbles back slightly, almost as if wounded. Arsenio's eyes search my own, some sort of pain—pain that came from my secrecy—welling up in his honey hues. He looked baffled. Almost as if he had never seen this coming.

He slides down the wall, sitting on the ground, chest heaving. He seems to be making up his mind, connecting actions with his troubled state. Running a hand through his hair, he swallows. "I'll kill him. I'll do it for you, I'll get rid of him—" Anger rises in my chest, quick and violent.

"Arsenio." He looks up at me, suddenly and nervously. "Do not," I kneel down in front of him. "Say that ever again." His hands reach for me, but stop midway, holding himself back. "I'm serious." I hiss.

"I would do it." He whispers, his voice hoarse. "I would do it all to make you mine. I'll get rid of everybody else, I promise, you can trust me—" I slam a hand onto the wall beside his face, wincing slightly from the sudden pain. The cuts on my hand stung all at once, yet I finally got his attention on me. "Your hand—"