26.
VIKRAM
Vikram was groggy when he came around. His vision was blurry and everything hurt. It was a dull pain, not unbearable, but definitely there.
He tried to sit up and almost panicked when his hand didn't respond immediately.
"What—"
"Shh." Cassie immediately stood, peering over him, face close to his. "You're all right."
She looked anything but all right, though. She had a bandage around her head and her face was pale, big black circles under her eyes. "Where am I?"
"The hospital."
Everything was taking so long to process. He hadn't even thought to look at his surroundings before asking the question, but the room was sterile and white.
He remembered what had happened in snippets. It had all been so quick and slow at the same time. "Are you okay?" he asked, forcing his hands to obey as he gripped the railing on his bed and sat up. He groaned as his stomach bent, wounds rubbing against each other. "What happened to Miranda?"
Cassie sat back down heavily, averting her eyes for a second. "I'm okay. I stabbed Miranda. She's going to be okay, though."
Vikram bared his teeth and growled. "She's alive?"
"She's alive."
"I should have been able to crush her while I had the chance."
"It wasn't your fault. It was mine for going for her at the wrong moment."
"It wasn't your fault," he echoed. "It was bad luck. I'm sorry you had to do that."
Through his pain killer induced haze, he could see how horrified she was that she'd had to hurt her friend. If he'd done his job properly, been more confident in his aim, it wouldn't have come to this. "How long have I been out?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"About fourteen hours. You were in surgery for a long time."
It was no wonder she was so tired. "Have you been here the whole time?"
"Of course," she replied, indignant. "I was so scared you weren't going to wake up, even though they said you were stable and everything was going to be okay." She snatched his hand between her cold fingers, and chewed on her lip. "You scared me. I was so sure you were going to die. You were so hurt."
"I’m indestructible,” he reminded her. He was stronger than the average human. It took more to kill him. He knew, in the back of his mind, that he couldn't just lace his fingers through hers and say, “You scared me, too," because his job was on the line and everything was complicated, but he did it anyway. "I thought she was going to kill you."
When she smiled at him, he knew it was the right move. "I'm stronger than that."
"Looks like I should have been paying you to guard me." He wanted to know every detail of how she'd managed to beat Miranda, but he held back on his questions. It would only upset her.
She chewed on her lip, opened her mouth, and shut it again twice. "I should probably wait and ask the hard questions when we're not a bit fucked on pain killers, I think."
He grinned. "All I feel confident in saying right now is that I'm really glad you're okay."
There was a knock on the open door, and a police officer appeared with a cup of something. He handed it to Cassie. "I'm Krix," he told Vikram. "I'm the officer in charge of this mess."
"What's your conclusion?"
"I'm keeping an open mind until I've reviewed all the evidence."
Vikram scowled. "If that means you think Cassie might have been in the wrong—"
Cassie squeezed his hand. "He's just doing his job. One of the only police officers I've met who actually is on that stupid space station."
He wanted to argue further, but he didn't. "Okay," he conceded. He'd trust her instincts on this one, since she'd obviously spent time with him. "So what happens next?"
"You'll both be escorted by an officer until we've gotten to the bottom of what happened, and then I'm sure you'll both be free to go."
Vikram held his tongue on a snappy comment that they didn't need babysitters. He was confined to a hospital bed, and he probably needed the protection, even if it was emasculating to admit it. "Okay."
Krix gave one last look at the two of them, and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll be outside if you need anything."
Cassie smiled. "Thanks."
When they were alone again, Cassie continued to chew on her lip. "Trying to talk about anything other than the big questions is hard," she admitted. "Will you tell me what your boss said?"
"He said I had to stop being your guardian and I'd be assigned to men for the rest of my life."
Her lip quirked. "I'm glad to hear it. I wouldn't want you falling for anyone else."
He ran his thumb over her knuckles. "Trust me, that's not going to happen." He took a deep breath and admitted, "I want to give it a go between us." He kept it to himself that Rosen had said he wasn’t allowed to see her again.
She beamed, and then it faded. "I told you not to make big decisions while high off your ass."
"I made this decision as soon as my boss hung up on me. I want to be with you."
"I want to be with you too."
"I can't move enough to kiss you like I want to right now."
She beamed, immediately on her feet, hands on his cheeks, and kissed him. It was far too graphic for a hospital, but neither cared as they burned together. Their tongues tangled and their breathing was ragged as they had the first kiss since meeting that wasn't met with guilt when it was over.
She sat back down, wincing just a little as her body moved, but then grinned again. "I feel happy."
"I hope that's not just the pain killers."
She batted at his hand, but relaxed further, shutting her eyes. "It's not. I'm certain of that."
"You should get some sleep. You don't have to stay here with me. Go and get some rest."
"I want to be here."
"You need a bed."
"And I need to deal with the press at some point. Speak to Miranda. Speak to the director." She groaned. "There's so much to do."
"You don't have to do any of that until you're ready." He would have kept her away from all of it if he could. She'd almost been killed—all of that could wait as long as it needed to. "For now, just sleep."
"I'm not sure I can."
"If I wasn't so fragile I'd say you could get into bed with me, but I think you might disrupt some stitches."
She gave him a half-smile. "I'm not doing anything to risk making you worse again." She stood up. "You're right, though. I've been awake too many hours. I'll try and sleep for a few."
He watched her hobble to the doorway and exchange words with Krix before his eyes slipped shut. She was right—they'd deal with the hard questions later. Right now he was content to know that it was going to work. No matter how they figured out the logistics, he knew it was going to work.
It had to when he was this in love with her already.