Shattered

Chapter 63: A Dark Past

Kaden's POV:

"Behind your Broadway show I heard a voice say please don't hurt me."- Labrinth

An intense internal tenderness covered most my body. It wasn't that it hurt exactly, but it definitely didn't not hurt. That tenderness came with aches and lethargy. Everything felt heavy, even my eyelids. Taking in a deep breath, I focused my energy into getting my eyes open. I blinked a few times, furrowing my brows as I took in the scene. I'm home? This was the infirmary at Blackstone and I had no memory of getting there.

"Anna."

That voice. I knew that voice. My heart thumped at the sound of Violet and I turned my head, finding her next to me, two of her hands covering mine. She gave me a small smile and squeezed my hands, standing from the chair she was on and running one of her hands through my hair. "Hey."

"Kaden." I looked away from Violet, seeing Anna come over next to me. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," was what I tried to say. My throat was so dry it barely came out.

"Water?" Anna asked. I nodded. "Help him sit up."

Violet nodded and offered a hand to me. I took hers with both of mine. Stupid weakness. She helped me sit up then moved behind me, setting her hands on my shoulders. "You can lean back against me if you need to."

I cleared my throat that felt like a fucking Saharan desert then glanced back at her. "You're at my pack."

She nodded, squeezing my shoulders lightly but not elaborating. Anna returned with water and insisted I take it slow even though I could've guzzled the whole thing. I did, just a lot slower than I would've without her supervision. She filled another glass and brought it back to me. Violet ran her hands up and down my arms and I found myself leaning back against her. When she rested her chin on my shoulder, I almost felt better.

"All right, I know how you downplay everything," Anna sighed, pulling up a stool and sitting down, looking at me seriously. "How are you really feeling?"

"I'm fine," I sighed, a caress of reassurance running down the bond and confusing me further. Was Violet intentionally accessing our bond? "I'm a little achy and feel weak, but I'm more confused than anything. How did I get back here?"

Anna's gaze shifted to Violet for a second before coming back to me. "I'll let you two talk. Your vitals look good," she said, glancing over at the machine next to me. "You're just going to need rest. A lot of it. There was a lot of silver in your system. I'm going to talk to Cass and see if she wants to check up on you, maybe give you something to help you get some energy back."

"That would be nice," I nodded. "Thanks, Anna."

"No problem." She smiled and walked away from the bed, exiting the infirmary.

"You should lay down again," Violet said, shifting behind me and sliding off the bed. She helped ease back on the bed and sat next to me on the edge of the bed.

We fell into awkward silence. Aside from that brief moment at the warehouse where she helped me, something I barely remembered, our last encounter didn't exactly go great. I was surprised she was here. She sat there, fiddling with the ends of her sleeves, tucking one foot under her knee and letting the other dangle off the bed.

"Can I get you anything?" She asked.

"I just want to know what's going on."

She nodded, tucking her hair back. "Well... Um, Jackie found out what you were and she took you," she said, hesitantly making eye contact. "I... I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry you got sucked into my shit."