Siena felt cold sweat dribble down her forehead.
She was quick to let go of Evelyn, taking immediate steps back and putting distance between them.
What the…
What was that look? She'd literally felt her skin crawl unsure what he would have done had she not let go of the human. Was something going on between them? Impossible. Zayne Mancini would never look twice in the way of humans—relationships with humans were unacceptable.
She moved back to him, bending to clean and treat his wound.
While she did, Evelyn rubbed her wrist with a grimace. How could she be that strong? She could swear she'd almost heard her bone crush to smithereens.
It took another ten minutes and by the time they were done, Zayne grunted as he forced himself off the couch, turning to make his way toward the stairs.
"Mr. Mancini, you should lie down. I gave you Anesthesia. It should knock—"
"I didn't ask you to give that to me." He paused, glancing over his shoulder at her.
Siena balled her fists. "It doesn't matter how much you think you don't need it, but you do. It will help you get a proper rest. Two days at most and you'll be fi—"
"You may leave now."
Siena looked at Evelyn. "What about her? Is she—"
"You may leave, Siena. I don't want to repeat myself." His voice grew more irritated.
She begrudgingly relented, bowing slightly and turning. But before she left, she crossed a second chilling gaze with Evelyn then stormed out.
Evelyn furrowed her brows.
What was her problem?
She looked over to Zayne who was making his way up the stairs, barely able to hold himself up.
The anesthesia was kicking in.
Slipping off her heels and leaving it right there, she rushed over to him and grabbed his arm around her shoulder to help him.
"You should leave too," Zayne said as they stepped into his bedroom towards the king-size bed.
He plopped into the mattress, throwing his arm over his face and breathing softly.
"I can't leave now," she responded. "I want to make sure you're okay." 'And because I'm a little bit afraid to go home right now.'
Now that she would say it out loud.
No words came from him.
Was he okay?
She moved closer and grabbed his arm, taking it off. He was fast asleep, completely knocked out from the drug.
Pulling over a small stool closer to the bed, she sat down and stared at his face. He was very pale, almost like he was close to death, and it had her wondering why he hadn't just left her there.
It wasn't even as if they were friends or anything.
Her fingers reached out to his forehead.
Warm…
She brushed through his hair, retreating her hand right after at the little flicker of sparks that kept tickling beneath her fingers.
Was she hallucinating or something?
Sometimes when she touched him, it felt like something was bursting into electric sparks inside of her and cursing through her veins. This wasn't the first time, nor was it even the second.
Shoving it to the back of her mind, she proceeded to keep an eye on him, monitoring his condition.
———————
The chirping of the birds was loud outside, the early morning cold breeze blowing through the window and fluttering the long cream-colored curtain.
'It's cold'
'Where am I?'
Zayne forced him to blink his eyes open. He stared at the ceiling for a while, feeling rattled all over. The dull pain in his left chest hadn't gone unnoticed.
'Right, I got shot' Luckily, it missed his vital spot. He might have died had it been his heart.
Grunting, he tried to force himself into a sitting position, but there was someone else's weight on the side of him. He tilted his head, widening his pupils at Evelyn who was seated close to the bed, with arms curled and head rested against his stomach.
She was sound asleep, snoring slightly even.
He blinked.
His fingers itched. He wanted to skim his hand through her hair that was scattered all over him, but then Evelyn turned her head, facing him. Her lashes fluttered apart, followed by her yawn, and then her green eyes locked with his blue ones.
Her gasp echoed, "YOU'RE AWAKE!"
"H-how are you feeling?" She rushed to her feet and grabbed his head, keeping him still. She rested her palm against his forehead, feeling for his temperature.
Evelyn touched her own forehead as well, breathing out in relief when his temperature seemed to have cooled down.
Zayne cocked a brow.
"What are you doing?"
"You were burning up a bit last night."
"Me?" He pointed at himself, genuinely confused. "That's not possible."
"What do you mean that's not possible?" She frowned and ruffled his tousled hair. "Is the pain still too bad? I can buy you some painkillers if you want."
"I'm fine," he dismissed. Then asked, "Why haven't you gone home?"
Eveyln darted her eyes around. "I was uh…trying to make sure you were fine."
"That's not true. You knew I would be fine whether you stayed or not. So, why didn't you go home?"
"I'm telling you—"
She paused at the unimpressed look on his face and sighed.
"Okay, fine. I was scared. I'm still scared. What if I go out there and they put a bullet through my head? I can't die just yet, I still…have a lot of stuff to experience."
He tilted his head. "Stuff…to what?"
"Experience."
"Like what?"
"Having my first kiss." The flecks of green in her eyes brightened, imaginations dancing above her head. "I can't let myself die just yet or let anyone kill me for that matter."
There was pure silence right after. And when she looked over at him, he was staring at her with an unreadable expression.
Unblinking.
"What?" she asked. "W-why are you looking at me like that?"
"You've never…" His voice was raspy, deeper than usual. "You've never kissed a man before?"