Guilt (A Zero Spin-Off)

ThirtyOne - Ella

Hope you enjoy this chapter!! 

ThirtyOne - Ella

Hunter didn't do a lot of talking, and I really didn't blame him for that. But I didn't want to leave him alone either. I stayed with him and Zero, hoping that instead of getting worse, her condition improved. Really though, it felt like we were watching the timer tick closer and closer to an explosion.

"I've been thinking," Hunter's voice broke through the silence, startling me. There wasn't a lot of emotion to his voice and I thought he'd probably worn himself out. I'd never seen a man break down like he did. Cry like he did. There was something infinitely more awful about seeing this huge, strong, usually happy guy sob to a point of exhaustion than it was to see them punch things or scream. I almost wished he would have stayed angry, the way he was when he first woke us up. It would have been easier to watch.

"She's gonna be okay."

"I hope so."

"No." He sat up straighter to have a conversation. "I mean I think this has happened before. To her."

"I know. She told me. She said she couldn't be sure."

"When Braces - he's gone now - but he saved her life. Found her, beaten up, looking awful. In and out of consciousness. He'd run off someone, Zero always thought it was some looters - some asshole - that found her; maybe she wasn't willing to play into their games so they beat her. Never really knew." He shrugged. "But she was unconscious, or barely conscious for a couple weeks before she woke up."

"You think she was bitten and reacted like this? Got worse and then better."

He inhaled a deep breath and nodded on the exhale. "She'll wake up."

I didn't want to tell him that two weeks was a long time to stay here, waiting and hoping she'd wake up. The guy who'd saved her was a saint, not many would take care of someone they didn't know for that long. I wondered what had happened to him, but ultimately, I knew that if I didn't meet him at the Inn, I never would. And the way Hunter's voice cracked a little as he said his name let me know the wound he'd left behind was still half-open. How many people had he watched die? How many more would he have to watch?

I didn't know what to say, so I smiled, hoping that would be enough.

And as I did, and Hunter half-heartedly returned it, a pit settled in my stomach. I had never asked for details, but Zero mentioned an accident and waking up with a messed-up memory. I knew that long seizures and high fevers could cause memory loss, but I wasn't sure to what extent. There was a chance - more than just a chance, I would bet - that if Zero had gone through this before, it was what caused her memory loss.

My smile dropped.

"What?" Hunter's brow furrowed, instantly aware of the change. "What is it?"

No way was I going to tell him that there was a possibility Zero didn't remember him when she woke up. Hell, no. If he hadn't gotten there on his own yet, I wasn't going to put a fear in his mind that I couldn't confirm. I shook my head and was thankfully excused from fumbling for an answer when Joel walked in the room, asking how Zero was.

"Why don't you head down," he said to Hunter. "Help keep Kyle awake."

Hunter shook his head and opened his mouth ready to refuse.

"He doesn't want to talk to Ella," Joel said before Hunter could suggest I go instead. "Ella will scream if anything changes."

Both men looked at me, so I quickly nodded. Finally, Hunter gave in and left the room though he looked like he was fighting to make himself walk away from her.