Making our way down the drab cream and yellow corridor, I feel a sense of unease. The last time I was here was right after Fritz’s attack. In response, my shoulder twinges with a phantom pain.

I hate hospitals. I’ve always found them sterile and cold. Lacking any warmth that in my opinion they should naturally have.

Weary eyed staff walk past us. Grey faced in blue uniforms, they’re lost in their work which has barely started for the day.

I need more coffee. My caffeine fix is wearing off and it’s making me twitchy. Not that I want anything from here. The machine you buy from spits out vile tar. It’s so bitter it could probably remove paint.

“He’s in here.” Caesar tells me, directing us into a room. It’s sparse. A few pieces of fruit and a cheerful get-well card sit on the small bedsit table.

Snatch is as pale as the white bedsheets that cover his tall, skinny figure. Curling at the ends, his mop of brown hair is loose around his gaunt features. It’s odd not seeing his eyes staring back at me. Dilated and unfocused from a high. Slim arms lay limply on top of the sheets.

“They haven’t moved him to a care home yet because of the detox.” Caesar explains, standing at the foot of the bed. “The doctors wanted to make sure that went smoothly before he’s transferred.”

Coughing, I clear the emotional blockage lodged in my throat. I know places like that well. My brother spent years in the same facility.

“He looks peaceful.” I reply. Mentally, I’m arranging to have Snatch transferred to the private resident’s home. As I’m one of the main benefactors they’ll provide him a bed. No questions asked.

Sauntering closer with his hands jammed in the pockets of his tight white jeans, Leo leans over him. “I think this is the stillest I’ve ever seen him. Normally, he’s a bag of nerves that won’t sit still. Do you think he can hear us?”

He’s right. Snatch has never been able to sit still even from the first day I met him. There’s an energy around him that refuses to cease.

“It’s possible.”

Reaching out, Leo flicks the end of Snatch’s nose.

“Don’t do that.” Caesar grumbles. “Show some fucking respect for the ill.”

“But he’s not really ill, is he? He’s just...asleep.”

Moving from the space beside the door I’ve been occupying since we arrived, I creep closer to Snatch. “For all we know he could be wide awake. My...brother told me he was aware of everything when he was in this state. He just couldn’t respond back.”

All those hours reading to him and he’d been with me the whole time.

I don’t know what to do with my hands. Interlacing them in front of me, I attempt to occupy the building discomfort. I sat with Nathan for years when he was in this state. Why can’t I cope with this now?

I’ve never let on how much my team means to me. How each of them have taken a small piece of my heart. I shouldn’t feel anything for them, but I do. For all my bravo and facade of cool control it hurts to see Snatch like this. I’ve never been able to express myself very well. Not like they do. It’s awkward and messy. I’m not built that way. But lately I’ve been feeling so much and it frightens me. My carefully constructed world is falling apart. Leaking at the seams and I have no idea how to stem the flow.

Bending further, Leo doesn’t stop until they’re nose to nose. “Hey Snatchy, you in there?” Poking the end this time, he pushes it down. “Mavi’s been sucking the Devil’s dick. You need to wake up, so we can tease the shit out of her. It’s no fun without you.”

A familiar heavy sense of acceptance settles over me. I’ve been here a million times before with my brother. Hope dims over months and years. Leo will learn that soon enough. It’s the reason I’ve avoided visiting Snatch so long.

Slipping a hand into the pocket of my jeans, I finger the demonic medallion Trukun gave me. It pulses. Heat washing into my skin making it tingle.

Snatch’s hazel eyes snap open.

Leo shrieks a high pitch girly sound. “Sweet baby Jesus, I think you just gave me a mini heart attack.” He pants, clutching his chest.

Our sensitive blinks up at him with a befuddled expression. “Why are you poking me? Where am I?”

Caesar rounds the bed, grinning through his messy beard. “Hey buddy, you’re awake! Leo stop being over dramatic and go find a nurse.”

Flouncing from the room with a sniff, he does as he’s told.

All I can do is stare in shock.

“The hospital. You’ve been in a coma for a few weeks. Do you remember what happened?” Caesar asks him, while I try to find my tongue.

Snatch’s brow puckers as he stares down at the white sheet where his hands are twisting together. “There was..someone attacked me. I don’t remember who. It’s hazy.”

Lucifer. Snatch was with my brother when he kidnapped both of them to blackmail me. Although this probably isn’t the right time to tell him that. Not after everything he’s been through. He’ll be freaked out enough as it is.

“Red eyes. “He continues softly. “I remember them burning like the pits of Hell. Mavi, he’s coming for you, oh God.”

A few quick paces forward and I’m beside him. “Shhh, shhh, it’s ok.” I soothe, resting a hand over his which are still twitching with agitation. “It’s kind of been dealt with.”

Not a complete lie.

“It has?” The hopeful look he gives me makes my heart twist.

“I’m sorry. You’re going to have to leave. The doctor has been paged and they’ll want to examine him now that he’s awake.”

Turning, I nod at the nurse.

We can’t stay. Matters that need to be dealt with are still looming. Things that can’t be put off any longer.

“We’ll be back.” I promise, giving Snatch’s hand one last squeeze. “And we’ll explain everything then.”