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16 | Guilty As Charged

I see two of everything. The trees, the bushes, even the little pebbles lying on the ground. I've only been running for a few minutes, but I can't think straight. Nick is gone. The Six took him. I might not ever get to see him again.

And it's all my fault.

If he wasn't trying to protect me, Nick would still be here. We'd be on his motorcycle riding away to our first date. Instead, I'm fine, and he's not. Who knows what they could be doing to him.

The thoughts block my vision, and my feet stumble. The next thing I know, I'm on the ground with my face covered in dirt. My whole body numbs as I lie on the cool bedrock. After a while, I can't feel anything. The ground even numbs the pain of losing Nick. I'm finally at peace.

I see a bright light. It burns my eyes just to glimpse at it, but in my peripheral, I can see figures moving back and forth in front of it.

"Is she awake?" I hear.

"Shhh. If she isn't, and she wakes up, I'm going to slap you."

I try to focus on where the voices are coming from. I see two heads leaning over me that block out the light. My vision clears, and I make out Sage and Mark with concerned faces. I open my eyes wider and take in my surroundings. There's a monitor next to the bed I'm lying in, and everything is white and smells clean.

I'm back in the hideout.

I sit up urgently and tug the covers off of me. "I need to find Nick. Now," I tell Sage.

"Cassie, relax. You were out of it for a long time. I'm sure the doc will want to run more tests and make sure you're ok."

"How long?"

"It's hard to say since we don't know how long you were passed out when we found you, but you've been in this bed for at least 16 hours. It's 4:00 now."

"In the afternoon?!??"

"Yeah."

I run my hands through my hair in panic. "Oh my, God, they would've had Nick for almost a whole day by now. He could be dead." I start pacing around the room, but Sage holds me in place.

"Cass, I need you to calm down. We can't find him if you don't."

"Ok, ok," I take deep breaths and slow my heart rate.

Sage stares at me, worried, and says, "I think you need to talk to Boss."

I nod, and I follow her to Ms. Smith.

"Well, hello, Cassandra. I'm very glad you're feeling better. It is a surprise to me, however, considering it seems as if you feel the need to disappear whenever you feel like it," she says in a disapproving tone. 

I sit down beside her and hang my head.

"I am so sorry, Ms. Smith. Nick and I, well, we were just caught up in the moment. We should never have left the hideout without asking you first. It'll never happen again. I promise."

Ms. Smith rubs my back as I look up at her with wet eyes. "I know, honey. I know. Although I much would have rather preferred for you to learn your lesson some other way. Now we've lost him."