The Hidden Gemstone

Chapter: 25

Alex’s POV:

I barely registered Cody’s brother’s face or the new car as Zoe and Elijah, still wet and shivering, helped him haul me into the car. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the pain that kept increasing by the second. I switched from long and deep breaths to short and shallow ones to reduce the pain I caused myself. My head was spinning from the loss of blood, and I was sure I would pass out if I didn’t treat my wounds soon.

I didn’t ask Cody any questions as the rest of them settled in the car or give him any orders of what to do; I trusted him enough to take the lead.

Elijah and Zoe sat beside me, and Cody sat in the passenger’s seat while his brother drove. I could feel the weight of Zoe’s gaze on me, filled with concern.

“Alex, you’re losing too much blood,” she said, alarm evident in her voice.

I opened my eyes to look down at my leg but then realized she was talking about my side. I saw my shirt stained with blood, which showed how badly I had stretched the wound during the fight in the pit. It looked worse than it was last night.

“No, this isn’t from now,” I said, out of breath.

“What do you mean?” Elijah asked, annoyed. I knew my tendency to get hurt every other day irritated him, and maybe it was one of the things he hoped had changed about me over the years.

I guess not.

“It’s from last night,” I croaked out. I could see Cody looking at me through the rear-view mirror, tension evident between his eyebrows.

“What happened to you last night?” Zoe exclaimed. Instead of answering, I looked back into Cody’s blue eyes in the rear-view mirror, letting the weight of my gaze do all the talking. The way he set his jaw confirmed that he understood what happened last night.

“Can you drive faster?” he asked his brother, Noah.

“I’m trying,” Noah answered in an accusing tone, leaving a few words hanging in the air, but I could make them out: Why don’t you try driving during a storm this bad? “How did this happen anyway?”

Cody sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“Well, it better be a damn good one,” Noah muttered, and his tone made me self-conscious about staining his new car with my blood. Then again, it wasn’t like I could do anything about it.

I tried to keep my eyes focused on my surroundings to keep myself from passing out. The storm was worse than before; rain, hail, and snow plummeted to the ground together, accompanied by strong winds. People on the sidewalks struggled to grip their umbrellas with one hand and held their coats together with the other.

I wished we would get wherever Noah was taking us sooner; I didn’t want to trouble them by having to carry me in case I went unconscious.

The sound of the thunder did a good job of waking me up every time I dozed off though. After what felt like forever, Cody’s house came into view, and I visibly relaxed. Noah parked in the garage, and Cody got out hastily, followed by Zoe and Elijah.

I grunted as Cody helped me out of the car. My clothes were bloodstained and ripped from places. As soon as I tried to stand, my legs gave in, and I would’ve fallen on my face if Cody hadn’t caught me.

“She can’t walk, idiot,” Noah scolded. Cody ignored him but slipped his arm under my legs. I winced at the sudden movement of my legs and gripped his shirt, hoping my fingernails didn’t pierce his skin. He looked at me apologetically.

I closed my eyes to preserve my energy and let him carry me into his house. After a few turns, he pushed open the door to what I assumed was his room. As he put me down on his bed, I opened my eyes again and heard Noah say, “Liam took Mom out to the mall. They probably won’t return until an hour at least.” Cody nodded, looking relieved.