I looked over at him. "I am taking it seriously. I just . . . I'm fine for now. We'll watch this space, okay?"
He nodded. Then he reached into his pocket. "It seems Adam is quite concerned that you'll suffer separation anxiety, being away from your cell phone for too long. I've replaced it--again."
"Thanks. I'll try not to fall into a sewer or get kidnapped again."
I opened the phone. There was already a text from Adam, checking in. I was about to text back when the elevator reached its destination. We stepped out onto the floor that housed the medical ward.
Sean arrived a moment later and caught up with us. "Is Bryce still unconscious?" he asked Benicio.
"Yes, but I can have them wake him if you'd like."
Sean shook his head. "I'll just sit with him."
When we got to the room, though, the doctors were busy with Bryce and asked us to wait outside. I ducked into a nearby office to call Adam.
"Hey," I said when he answered. "Did I catch you in the middle of a top-secret break-and-enter?"
"I wish. Everything's moving slowly here. Very slowly. I'm getting plenty of rest. So what's up there?"
"I have a six-foot-four shadow. I'm just glad it's Troy. I like Griffin well enough but . . . you know."
"Not exactly a sociable guy." He hesitated. "But I'm glad you have someone. It makes me feel better."
I could tell it didn't really make him feel better. If Lucas was Benicio's right-hand man, Troy was his left. To give me his most trusted guard when trouble was brewing? It said I was in more danger than I thought.
"I just hope he's not going to follow me too closely after you get back," I said.
"We'll make sure he doesn't."
"About that. Us. The others . . . I don't know how you want to . . . handle it. Should I talk to Paige? You talk to Lucas? Or are we going to see how things go first . . . ?"
"I should be the one to tell them. If they have a problem with it, they'll want to talk to me. Their biggest concern will be you--that you'll get hurt . . ." He trailed off and my heart started to thump.
"Adam?"
"Still here. Just thinking that maybe we should hold off telling them."
It thumped harder.
"Just for now," he continued. "Until we've had a chance to talk."
Really thumping now. "Okay."
Sean popped his head in the door. "Any time you're ready."
I said good-bye to Adam, and tried to push the call from my mind as I followed Sean into the hospital room.
When I saw Bryce, my gaze shot to Sean to gauge his reaction. All I saw was relief, meaning Bryce must not look any worse than he did last night.
Dead. He looked dead.
I've only been to a few funerals in my life. I avoided them growing up. It brought back too much; not just my mother's death, but the thought that she'd never had one, that she didn't even have a grave, that I had no idea where her body was.
As I got older, I went when my presence meant something to someone else. Like when Adam's grandmother passed on. Or when Paige lost a childhood friend to cancer. Or when a cousin of Lucas's died in a car crash.
This was like seeing my brother laid o
ut in a casket. His tanned skin was sallow. His blond hair was combed wrong. His hands were folded on his stomach. His lips were unnaturally red, as if a mortician had applied lipstick.