I Fell In Love With The Devil

Chapter 19

When the hospital staff deemed me healed, they covered my face in a mask and put noise-cancelling earmuffs over my ears so that I wouldn't know the way out of this secret, special hospital even if I tried. I think it was Levi's car that they sat me in and they lifted off my earmuffs to tell me that I had to keep everything on until I was at Levi's house. My arm was still tender and throbbed faintly but I could use it and that was all that mattered. I stood behind Levi as he opened the door and peered over his shoulder. The house was immaculate. Nothing broken, no obvious holes or dents from bullets, some furniture looked slightly different but that was probably because it was broken and needed replacing. Flashes of memory quickly flickered in my vision then were gone. It was like waking up from a bad dream, like nothing had ever happened which was weird because a lot had happened. I followed Levi in and nothing happened so I let out a sigh of relief. 'You good?' he asked a little too casually.

'Yeah, I'm a-ok. By the way, have any of you gone to get my bag from my last motel?'

'Actually, we went and got it after we locked you in. We found a lipstick cap that was missing a tube, did it run out quickly or something?'

'I used that one for my message,' I lied. 'Did you leave the cap in my bag?'

'It's still in there,' he gave me a sideways look. 'Why do you still need it?'

'Sentiment. I stood up to a maniac, why wouldn't I want something to remember that by.'

He shrugged at my lies and climbed the stairs to the landing, I followed with a tight grip on the banister. 'Your room's not ready, there is still furniture yet to arrive,' he said as I turned to head in that direction. 'The window also needs replacing after someone threw a chair through it. Any idea who that could be?'

'None,' I smiled sweetly. 'But you only have yourselves to blame.' I was glad that I didn't have to stay in my room any longer by myself. When it got all fixed up, I could attempt a night in there and see how I go but I was hoping that day was a while away. Levi opened the door to his room and ushered me inside. It was a different room when clean, light filtered through the curtains onto the polished wooden floor and white rugs, his bed was made with a black and ivory bedspread that made the dark wooden frame pop, the olive walls topped off the calm feeling his room was filled with. I sat on the bed then fell backwards and sunk into the comfy mattress. I threw my arms out and soaked in the warm sunlight. This was what I needed to feel after being bound to a hospital bed for maybe a week. 'I'm coming with you on your next stake-out,' I said definitively

'And I have no problem with that. Your bag is over in that corner,' he pointed to my well-loved duffle, 'If you need anything just ring or yell but I'll give you some time to rest.' He left the room and closed the door quietly. I waited until I knew that Levi had gone and plodded over to the bag. I sifted through it until I found the lipstick and the two notes inside it. I had this nagging feeling that I was missing something but I just couldn't put my finger on it. I rubbed my temples and placed the cap back inside my bag just in time to see Levi walk in. 'I've been thinking,' he declared, 'I think I should train you up in a few aspects so this doesn't happen again.' He offered me a hand up which I took and led me to the bed where he sat and patted the spot beside him. 'You'll need some sort of arsenal to protect yourself.'

'What do you have in mind?' I raised an eyebrow and remained standing.

'I was thinking something along the lines of self-defence, maybe weaponry depending on how you feel about it and different strategies to get out of difficult situations.'

'I'm decent at karate, good enough to stand my own ground but I may need a little polishing. It has been a while since I last went to a karate session.'