“Checking how much oxygen is in your blood,” Sydney remarked. She grabbed a vial along with a syringe, antiseptic wipe, and rubber band. I grimaced as she tightened the rubber band on my upper arm, preparing to draw blood. “We want to run a few blood tests,” she told me.
“Why?” I coughed, trying my best to hold still. “I'm fine,” I reiterated. I didn't like when she pierced the needle into my skin. I looked away, glancing at Joshua as he stood there with me the entire time.
“We need to run a CBC, metabolic profile, Carboxyhemoglobin and Methemoglobin. If that's okay with you.” There she was again, sounding like the Sydney I knew. Hating to be questioned and, even more importantly, just hating me.
“Whatever,” I muttered, closing my eyes, glad when she finished and put a small bandage on the broken skin to keep the bleeding at bay. “When can I go home?”
Joshua sighed, glancing at Sydney and then finally at me. “We're going to have to find another place for a few days,” he offered. “There's a lot of smoke damage to the house. We'll probably need to clean what we can and apply a fresh coat of paint to the inside walls.”
It wasn't something I looked forward to. “Where will we stay until the house is cleaned up?” My voice was hoarse but I was sounding a little more like myself.
Joshua smiled. “I'll worry about that. You get some rest, okay?”
I frowned, reaching for his hand. “Are you leaving?” I didn't want to seem like a wimp but I wasn't crazy about staying in the infirmary any longer than necessary.
Joshua leant down, dropping a kiss to my forehead. “For a few hours. You should rest,” he insisted. “I need to take care of a few things. I'll be back with lunch though, okay?”
I nodded, wondering what he needed to do that couldn't wait. I suspected the fact we couldn't stay in our house tonight may have been part of it but I didn't want to think about that at the moment. I closed my eyes, trying to get some rest while I heard Sydney bustling around the medical center, tending to Hazel and a few other patients I wasn't familiar with.
I slept a few hours and when I woke up Sydney was checking my vitals. “Everything okay?” I asked, as she scribbled down some notes. My voice was less raspy.
“Here,” she offered, grabbing an empty cup and filling it with water. I took it from her, sipping it slowly. My throat felt raw but the cool liquid seemed to go down okay.
“Thanks.” I put the cup beside my bed. “Can I go home?” I felt better.
“Yes, your blood work came back fine.” she smiled. I wondered if she was glad to be done with me. I moved to sit up, wanting the wires removed as I was ready to leave. “Olivia.” She stared at me seriously and I paused what I was doing, glancing up at her.
“Hazel wasn't thinking very clearly with what she did today. You both could have been killed. I know she was trying to protect you.” Her voice grew quieter so Hazel couldn't overhear our conversation. “But you're much too important for anything to happen to you.”
I sighed, glancing down at my arms and realizing how dirty I was from the smoke and ash. I chewed on my bottom lip before glancing back up at Sydney. “I wouldn't know what else to do. Hazel was quick on her feet and I
“I'm going to talk with the Chancellor but I'd like to put you and Joshua up in different housing.” She stared at me. “We have some facilities that are newer, a little more up-to-date. You wouldn't have the need for a wood- burning stove,” she acknowledged. “I'm just worried about you. If something were to happen…” Her voice trailed off.
“I know.” I didn't need her to spell it out for me. “Listen, I'm fine. I appreciate your concern but unless the drones fly over the town again soon, we're okay.”
Sydney sighed. “That's my point, Olivia. The drones come whenever the government sends them. We have little to no warning at all. If we'd have known we wouldn't have sent Jaxon, Margo, and Mason out to the Gravelands.”
My face paled. Had they been seen driving east? “You think they've been caught?” I asked, feeling my stomach sink.
“There's a meeting right now,” she admitted. “It's why Joshua has been gone for a while,” Sydney explained. “Listen, I know you want to help and do what's best for all of us but you have to sometimes do what's best for you first,” she told me seriously. “You are important and I know you realize that. You could have been killed today and you were lucky you weren't. Maybe Hazel in her split decision did what was right. I can't know for certain. I do know that if you ever become pregnant and a stunt like that happens,” she stared at me gravely, “it wouldn't end well for the baby.”
“I'm not pregnant,” I answered bluntly. “If that was one of the tests you ran, you should know that.”
“It wasn't,” Sydney remarked. “Joshua assured me when we brought you in that you weren't pregnant. You just…you need to be careful. Okay?”
“Fine.” I didn't like being told what to do. I understood her concern but it was my life. Besides, it wasn't as though Sydney had given a better suggestion for what Hazel and I could have done earlier that day. She just chided me like a child and I didn't appreciate it.
Sydney worked to remove the monitors I had been connected to. “Hold still,” she told me, finally letting me go. “Joshua will be here in a few minutes, if you can manage to wait.”
I didn't try and get up from the bed. My hands gripped the edges as I glanced over at Hazel across the room. “How are you doing, Hazel?” I asked, seeing her lying quietly.
“Okay,” she answered hoarsely. She sounded worse than I did. “I'm sorry, Olivia. I hadn't meant for any of this to happen.”
Grimacing, I pushed myself off the cot, walking over towards Hazel's bedside. “Don't listen to what anyone says.” I stared at her. “You did the right thing. You probably saved everyone's life in this town. They owe you,” I told her proudly.
Hazel reached for her cup, taking a sip of water. “I wish everyone agreed with you.” I patted her hand softly.
“It'll be okay,” I assured her. “We're safe now. The drones are gone. Nothing can touch us.” I wasn't going to let the government do what it had to Haven. Not ever again.
CHAPTER 5
“Olivia, what are you doing out of bed?” I heard Joshua's voice and turned around, glancing at the door.
“I'm fine. Sydney said I could go.” I glanced back in Sydney's direction as she tended to another patient, ignoring us. I didn't mind it. “Come on, take me home, Josh. Please.” I knew home wasn't going to be the place we'd spent the past several months making our own.
“Are you sure you're okay to walk? You're not dizzy?” Joshua asked.
“I'll be fine.” I didn't dwell on it. “So where to?” I asked, knowing we'd be in temporary housing for a while. I just hoped it didn't mean being put back into the recruit center.
Joshua led me out of the medical center and into the cold winter air. I wrapped my arms around myself and Joshua held an arm around me. I didn't complain: I was grateful for the additional body heat. “We have nicer accommodations,” he informed me as we walked down the road.
“Nicer?” I gave him a peculiar look, confused. What we had was already a step up from when we first came to Shadow.
“I spoke with the Chancellor,” Joshua explained. “He wants to make sure you're comfortable and that what happened, never happens again.” He held me close as I shivered from the breeze. “Cold?”
“No, I just like to freeze to death,” I smirked. “Where are you taking me?”
Joshua couldn't resist laughing. “You're freezing? You were going outside the other day without shoes on. You amaze me.” He leaned closer, dropping a kiss to the top of my head. We rounded the corner to another street, south of where we lived. I hadn't traveled much to this block of town. Mostly because it was housing for the
