Persephone’s Curse

by Sandra Bats

  “Will he survive?” I asked.

  “It gives him a better chance. It needs time to work and that’s the crucial part because he’s already wasted so much time. A temp this high isn’t healthy, and while I’ve been trying to keep it down with antipyretics and cold compresses, it’s rising steadily. We just have to hope that it breaks soon, and that the antibiotics fight the infection. It’ll be a long night.”

  Jane moved to replace the almost empty IV bag attached to Jayden’s hand. His skin was wan and his hair matted against his forehead with sweat. He looked as close to death as I’d ever seen a person and when I reached out to touch his skin it was feverish. I brushed the inside of his wrist where he had a scar that seemed as if a patch of his skin had been cut or burned from it. The scar was an inch long and less than half an inch wide, but I had seen similar scars on military personnel. Theirs were different though — insignias of their squad — while Jayden’s was just a scarred patch of skin. A coincidence but it shook me nonetheless.

  Cam offered to stay, as did I, but both Cam and Jane told me to go get some rest. I felt like I’d be intruding. Jane, Cam and Jayden were somewhat of a family, that much I knew, and I didn’t feel like I fully belonged into that room, waiting and hoping for Jayden’s recovery. I was almost out the door when Cam quietly stopped me.

  “I know that necklace must’ve meant something to you. You didn’t have to trade it, but you did and … You saved my best friend’s life. So, thank you,” Cam said.

  “No big deal. Really,” I muttered and left, blushing because I wasn’t used to people thanking me for things. Especially not when trading a useless necklace for Jayden’s life felt like a no-brainer. I expected the worst of other people but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t help others if it could be done easily.

  Ten

  Jayden

  I woke unable to move my arms and legs. It took time to fight through the haze and open my eyes, which locked onto Cam, who sat by my side, glancing at me.

  “Do you know where you are?” he asked.

  I murmured a “yes”. Camden loosened the restraints on my feet and hands. Dread washed over me at the thought that they’d been needed. “What did I do?”

  “You were delirious and didn’t know where you were.”

  A dark image rose to the surface of my mind. Another infirmary, another injury, another time I’d been restrained. I moved my hand and flinched. I could spot a bruise on it. My throat was awfully dry. “Did I hurt Jane?”

  “She’s fine. You just scared her. How are you feeling?”

  I tried to sit up, but exhaustion and pain stopped me. Cam fixed me with a stare that said I deserved it. I knew he was going to be on my case for not having told him about the blood poisoning. I forced myself to grin nonetheless.

  “Will you be less pissed if I say I feel shitty?”

  Cam scoffed. “I won’t even bother with that. I trust Jane will chew you out enough for the both of us,” Cam responded. He grinned wickedly. “I just want to make one thing very clear. If you ever pull a stunt like that again, you’ll wish the infection killed you. I’ve seen you do dumb things but this was the dumbest yet. Don’t ever do that to us again.”

  “I’m sorry. I know I messed up. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing.”

  “I know you did. You should be prepared to grovel once you’re talking to Jane though. Maybe even apologize to Elin while you’re at it. She seemed worried about you.”

  I asked how things had gone in town. Cam gave me a quick summary, including Elin saving my life by trading her necklace. I felt bad she’d had to trade something because of my stupidity. I hoped the necklace hadn’t been too sentimental for her.

  I’d been unaware of Jane sleeping on her bed behind me. When she woke, she abruptly stopped our conversation. “Jayden, you’re conscious! And neither of you felt the need to wake me up? How are you feeling?”

  Before I had a chance to answer, Jane was at my side checking my vitals. Without a warning that I’d need another dose of antibiotics she rammed a syringe into my arm.

  “Jesus, Jane! That hurt!” I yelped.

  “Good,” she muttered, “it was supposed to. You idiot. You nearly died last night. I had to stop myself from crying long enough to hook up your IV and check your temp. What did you think? I’ve been stitching you up since I’ve known you, trying to get you back to health and you … you go and nearly throw that all away because you’re too damn proud to ask for help.”

  Tears, actual tears, ran down Jane’s cheeks. Jane was very much in control of her emotions, and I’d never seen her cry before. I carefully reached out to hug her.

  “I’m genuinely sorry I scared you. It won’t happen again,” I whispered.

  “You’re the closest thing to family that I have, and it reminded me of back when we met. I don’t like that. Don’t ever do that again.”

  Despite Cam’s reassurance, I needed to hear Jane say that I hadn’t hurt her when I’d been delirious. She shook her head, explaining how she sedated me after I hit my hand on the bedframe.

  My thoughts flitted to Elin. I’d have to thank her for saving my life. I glanced over at Cam.

  “Would you mind letting Elin know I’m ok? I don’t want her worrying.”

  Cam raised an eyebrow but left without mocking me. Even Jane left the room, after instructing me that I was, under no circumstance, to get out of bed. Not like I was strong enough to even sit upright without a pillow supporting me. I didn’t even know why Cam and Jane suddenly fled the room, but if they wanted to give me privacy, I didn’t mind.

  ◆◆◆

  I turned my head at the timid knock by the door to find Elin. She looked prettier than I remembered. Or maybe my near-death experience had given me a different perspective on things.

  Elin smiled shyly and closed the door. “So, Cam and Jane told me to give you hell for what you did.”

  I couldn’t help smirking at that. She was almost cute when she tried to look fierce and angry.

  “Are you going to?” I asked.

  Elin pulled up a chair next to my bed. “Why would I? I don’t care what happens to you. You’re just the guy that offered me help and told me I should be smart about life. That I should accept help and try to stay alive. So, I guess it turns out you’re just a big old hypocrite about those things. Nothing I didn’t expect.” She kicked the toe of her boot against the side of the bed. Made an annoyed sound to accompany it. “I’ll say you’re an idiot though.”

  Hearing her say she didn’t care what happened to me stung. I’d rather have had her yell at me. At least I knew she cared enough to have traded her necklace.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. Cleared my throat because I sounded too damn choked up. Maybe it was only just setting in that I could’ve actually died. “I’m sorry about your necklace. And I’m sorry I messed up like this. I thought I could do it on my own. I don’t know, thought I didn’t …”

  I had no idea how to even finish that sentence. Elin did though.

  “Thought you didn’t deserve help if you couldn’t solve it on your own?” She pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Then she sighed and leaned forward on her chair. “I can’t be friends with you if you do stupid stuff like that, ok? I’ve lost enough people for a lifetime.”

  I knew how that felt. I didn’t want to put her through more than she’d already been through. No matter how little I knew about what exactly that was. I just didn’t want to add to her worries.

  “I’ll be smarter next time,” I responded. “Thanks for saving my life. I hope that necklace didn’t mean too much to you.”

  Elin smiled a little wistfully. “It’s fine. I didn’t need it anymore. I think.” Then she reached for my hand. Her fingers were cold but surprisingly firm when she squeezed mine. “I gained a friend in exchange. It should be worth it.”

  ◆◆◆

  It took another day and a half for my fever to vanish and for Jane to allow me to return to my room. Per her instruct
ion, I still had to rest. My body seemed to agree. I was far too tired to be productive for at least a week. Elin sometimes kept me company. In exchange, I sat by her side when she had nightmares.

  We’d fallen into the routine of talking about anything that came to our minds until she fell asleep. When she tossed and turned, I’d wake her. I’d sit by her side, sometimes holding her hand, until she fell back asleep. Only then I’d return to bed myself. I couldn’t be sure but I had the feeling her nightmares grew less frequent.

  Alex behaved for a while. He sat with us during lunch like he had to. Elin merely ignored him. Alex remained sullen and barely talked. He kept to himself most days.

  On that particular day Elin was chatting with Cam. He’d taken it upon himself to go on patrols with Elin while I’d been out of commission and they had somehow gotten to a point where they appeared to be friends.

  “So, I’ve been thinking,” Elin said, looking at Cam and me. “You know how some pharmacies in town have licenses to hand out government-issued meds during seasons of high demand? We could rob a pharmacy. They should be filled with supplies this time of year.”

  Cam didn’t seem too excited. While going on patrols was relatively safe he didn’t like the idea of stealing. The danger of being caught was too much, and if he were caught there’d be nobody left to care for Nigel and Josh. He usually tried avoiding risky situations because of that. I spared him having to answer and responded before he could.

  “I should be fit enough to head out with you tonight. We could see if we find someplace worth checking out.”

  There was a hint of adventure in Elin’s grin. It made me look forward to heading into town with her. It had the potential to be a great day — if Alex had kept his mouth shut.

  It started with him leaning towards Elin. He slyly grinned at her and I tensed. I should’ve known better than to show Alex any reaction because immediately, he fixed his eyes on me.

  “You know Jayden, I do wonder — would I still be going on patrols if I were as pretty as Elin?” I could’ve let the words slide but Alex decided to escalate things by reaching out and running a finger over Elin’s cheek.

  My stupid brain fumbled for a response that’d be adequate, yet not cause a scene in the cafeteria. Elin was much quicker. Her hand shot out, her fingers curling around Alex’s. She bent his hand at an awkward angle getting to her feet and forcing Alex to do the same. His face contorted with pain.

  “Keep your fingers to yourself if you want to keep them,” Elin warned him.

  He should’ve left it at that. He should’ve kept his mouth shut but he couldn’t take being bested by a girl. When she let go of him he raised his voice so the whole room could hear.

  “Oh, I know girls like you. You’re pretending to be innocent and chaste, but in private you’re just dying to have someone take you. And if our lovely Jayden over there won’t do you the favor, well, you can always come to me.”

  The room went quiet. People turned to watch us. Cam’s hand was clamped onto my shoulder, but I wasn’t sure it’d be enough to keep me from strangling Alex.

  I should have keep it together. I shouldn’t have been so impulsive that I’d get into a fight with Alex. Not when I knew that was exactly what he wanted. After all, I was a leader. Just a few words, then.

  Elin’s face was red, but she’d gone perfectly still. Even her stance had changed. She planted her feet wider as she stared at Alex. He egged her on, asking her what it was going to be. When he made a move to grab Elin’s arm she evaded his grip and pulled her fist back. Her jab landed right where it belonged, making him stumble backwards. He hit his knees and cursed. Elin told him to do something anatomically impossible to himself before she landed another punch to his face, effectively knocking him to the ground. He stayed down, too dazed to move.

  Without another word Elin stalked from the room. I glanced at Alex, who was struggling to get his bearings. Instead of getting into it with him, leaving was the smartest option. I told Cam to take Alex to Jane.

  I looked through the double doors leading outside, where Elin leaned against a tree. She clenched and unclenched her punching hand. I approached her, picked up some snow, and shaped it into a tight ball.

  “Put that on it. It helps.” I held the snowball out to her. She cautiously pressed it to her hand

  “You here to punish me for starting a fight?” How could such a tiny person contain that much aggression?

  “No. He had it coming. He’ll have it out for you now, just wanted to warn you. You could’ve let Cam or me handle it.”

  Elin scoffed. “I don’t need you to defend me. I’m perfectly capable of doing that myself. You defending me was exactly what he wanted.”

  “I know. Everybody knows.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Just be careful. I don’t think he’ll like you more now.”

  “So? What are you saying? I should be scared of him?”

  I watched Elin for a moment. I didn’t want her to be scared. I believed Alex wouldn’t forget that she’d just embarrassed him in front of everyone, though. I blew out a breath.

  “I don’t know. Not scared, but watchful, maybe. I’m sorry it’s like this.”

  Elin glanced off towards something in the distance. “This is messed up. Fine, I’ll watch my back. You’ll need to take care of this, though. If not he’s going to attack the wrong person at some point and he’ll get killed. I won’t stop defending myself, you know.”

  I grinned. “I’m not asking you to.”

  ◆◆◆

  Jane had already taken care of the shiner on Alex face.

  “I hope you didn’t waste any painkillers on him,” I said instead of a proper greeting.

  Jane scoffed. “It only needs ice. He needs to man up and stop whining.” Jane wasn’t a fan of Alex’s either.

  I crossed my arms in front of my chest and took Alex to talk just outside my office. Better to stay where people could see us. I was so pissed I wasn’t sure I could keep myself from punching him.

  “What on earth makes you think you have any right to talk to anyone like you talked to Elin?” I asked him.

  “I’m the bad guy here? She lashed out at me, but you let her go unpunished?” He sounded like a sullen child; as if he truly didn’t understand what he’d done wrong.

  “You provoked her in one of the most disgusting ways. If I were you, I’d make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’d make sure to never talk to any woman like that. Ever. Do you understand me? Because next time it won’t be her who’s beating you up.”

  I let him go. I didn’t want to rile him up even more. It’d only be worse if he got the idea into his head that I might care for Elin. He would’ve loved to get to me like that.

  Cam waited in my office. “How’d it go?” he asked.

  “I hate saying this, but I think we’ve reached the point of no return with him. He doesn’t even understand why what he did was wrong,” I told him.

  “Well, at least Elin seems to know how to protect herself.”

  I dropped into my chair and sighed. “She shouldn’t have to. Nor should anybody else here. People are supposed to feel safe here, not like they need to keep their guard up. I don’t want Elin to think we don’t care if she feels safe here.”

  I found Cam grinning at me when I looked up.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Despite all his flaws, Alex was spot on. You like her,” Cam snickered.

  I rolled my eyes. “We’ve been over this. You’re talking bullshit.”

  “Right. Not like you keep looking at her when you think nobody notices.”

  I groaned, tried to pretend the whole conversation didn’t feel like I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar. “So, she’s pretty, we’ve been over this. Doesn’t mean I want to jump her bones.”

  Cam tapped his chin. “Yeah about that. I think that’s exactly your problem.” When I threw him a questioning look, he elaborated. “You don’t want to just jump her bones. You actually care for her. You care abou
t who she is and all that, not just whether she’s pretty.”

  “That’s stupid,” I uttered but Cam held up a finger to silence me.

  “Want to know what else I think?” He grinned widely. “I think it scares you to think I might be right. Because for once, you’d have something to lose.” Cam got to his feet and left me dumbfounded. So what if I wanted to keep Elin safe? Didn’t mean I wanted to get all cuddly and talk about her hopes and dreams with her. I huffed under my breath. Mumbled a few choice words about Cam. In reality, though, I knew I only did it to keep from worrying about whether he’d been right. If he were, well that would truly be scary.

  Eleven

  Elin

  I stepped into my room, shaking the snow from my hair. I reached for a towel, knowing my curls would be even messier than usual. Jayden was lying diagonally on his bed — his head hanging over the side — and reading. He glanced over the top of his book, took one look at me and pulled his brows together.

  “What have you been up to? Haven’t seen you smile like that before. It suits you.”

  It was true, I didn’t think I’d smiled that widely since I’d gotten here. “Had a snowball fight with Kathy, Nigel and Cam.” I ran the towel over my hair then slipped out of my jacket. “What are you reading?”

  “A book,” Jayden responded, rolling over onto his stomach and dropping the book on the ground after marking his spot with a tiny sliver of paper. I hit his arm with my towel for that stupid answer.

  “No shit. I see it’s a book. What’s it about?” I glanced down at the title of the book. “Romeo and Juliet. What’s that? It doesn’t sound like a war book.”

  Jayden grunted. “What’s a war book supposed to be?”

  I took off my boots and sat down on the couch. “A book about war, you know? It’s historic and it has all those things a guy like you likes to read about because it helps him gain insight into better strategies.”