Dark Side of the World // S.S. [Book Two]

Chapter 50

Scott and I sit in the hospital waiting room, awaiting news on Melissa. Scott has his hearing tuned to whatever's going on with his mom, but isn't telling me anything. I can only hope she'll be okay. I place my head on his shoulder and wrap an arm around his shoulders.

Malia walks over and places a hand over Scott's clenched hands.

Scott grabs my arm and we walk into Melissa's room. The nurse tells us, "You have about a minute before the sedative kicks in. And let her rest."

Scott grabs my hand and we walk to Melissa's bedside. She's pale and looks about ready to pass out, which makes sense with a sedative. "Hey, kids."

Scott takes one look at his mom and says, "We're gonna wait outside, okay?"

Melissa shakes her head and answers in a faltering voice, "No, wait, Scott. Wait. Listen to me. You didn't do this. This isn't your fault either, Megara."

Scott sighs. "But I'm responsible. You need to sleep."

"I just need to...tell you..."

"It can wait. It can wait. Mom..."

Her breaths become heavier as she drifts off to sleep. "Don't run. You fight."

Scott places his hand on his mom's head, and places his head to hers. He kisses her forehead.

Melissa's eyes close and I follow Scott to his dad's room, only to see the hospital bed empty. "Where's my dad?" Scott demands.

"Transferred to San Francisco Memorial. He's gonna be fine." Sheriff says.

Scott nods. "Okay. And what about Mason?"

"Already out of surgery."

"Lydia?"

"She's alright, too. Bullet missed everything that matters, thank God. Scott, Megara, we got lucky."

Scott purses his lips. "They almost died."

"But they're gonna live. We're gonna have two deputies posted here around the clock. Nobody sets foot on this floor without my authorization. Scott. I got a pretty good idea how you're feeling right now. But the whole Sheriff's department is gonna be on this. I am gonna find out who did this."

Scott frowns. "We all know who did this."

Scott and I walk through the halls and Malia catches up with us. "Hey. What do we do?"

"No more peace summits. No more running. No more half measures."

"What's the plan?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Well, obviously we fight back."

Malia gives me a nod. "I'm good with that plan."

"And Gerard? Monroe? The hunters? We take them all on." Scott says.

"Then we're gonna need more firepower."

Scott catches her eye. "Not just firepower. We're gonna need an army."

When we get back to Scott's I find out that he's enlisted the help of Deucalion. He walks in, glass crunching beneath his feet as he says, "You know my fighting days are over."

Malia glares at him. "That's hard to believe."

"You once said you'd kill any living thing that got in your way." Scott says.

Deucalion sighs. "I said a lot of things. But eventually, the bodies pile up so high, that even a blind man can't ignore them."

"So what? You moved into a cave and took a vow of uselessness?" Malia asks sarcastically.