𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 | Tyler Hernandez x Reader

| Ep 74 |

I wake up after what feels like several hours. I rub my temples, still feeling the affects of the sedative running through my veins.

I drag my feet into the bathroom to wash my face and clear my head. I stare into my reflection, which is something I've tried to avoid lately. I look healthy, but the exhaustion in my eyes is hard to ignore.

I sigh and push myself away from the sink. When I walk back out, I'm surprised to see Alex leaning against the wall under the TV with his hands in the pockets of his scrubs.

"I was worried they wouldn't bring you back." He admits before taking a steady breath, "How are you feeling?"

I tilt my head toward him, offering an unimpressed look, "I don't know, Alex. How would you feel if you found out your deadbeat of a dad was alive and well, helping out this crazy ass organization, to make matters worse."

I watch his face contort into one of baffled confusion, "What...? But your record says your father-"

"Cut the bullshit!" I head for him, reaching out for the collar of his scrubs, "You are all sick!"

He raises his hands in defense, not even bothering to fight back when I pin him against the wall, purposely in an area the cameras won't pick up on, "I had no idea! I swear on my life that I didn't know!"

His sincerity surprises me, "It seems like you never know anything about this place..."

"You're right about that..." He admits as I slowly uncurl my fists from his shirt, "But I am here to tell you something I do know..."

- - -

"They did what?!"

Alex rests his hands on his lap, bringing his voice down a few notches in case someone is watching through the camera, "They must have assumed Ashlyn had some psychological connection with the infected...so-"

"So they use her as bait?! Is she okay?!"

"Yes, yes. She's fine, I promise."

I pace the room with my arms crossed over my chest, "Why are you even telling me this?"

His head lulls left and right as he watches me stride back and forth, "I've already told the other kids this, which I will definitely get penalized for if someone finds out. But...I want to help."

I stop my pacing to glance down at him sitting on the bed, "Help?

He reaches behind him for the ASL book resting on my pillow. He flips through the pages before lifting his head up to face me, "You kids aren't very discreet...You all requested these books within the same time frame."

I shrug my shoulders, trying my best to play this off in case he tried to use this against us, "What are you getting at here?"

"Y/N," He sets the book aside, "What's the purpose of learning to sign if you have no one to sign to?"

I bite my tongue, realizing how stupid we were to assume no one would find this suspicious, "I-"

I watch as he creates gestures with his hands and I widen my eyes when I realize he's signing to me. That's when it hits me. We are right in the line of sight of the camera, so it wouldn't be wise of us to speak too freely with eyes and ears watching over us.

You can communicate with each other somehow, right?

I slowly nod my head in response, surprised he caught on so easily.

He rises from the mattress and pulls a pack of crackers out of his pocket. He tosses them to me and whispers, "I have to make it seem like I came in here for a reason."