The day turned to night, and Khan’s battle to stay alive stormed on. It took hours, but we managed to get the last pieces of the bullets out and calm his fever.
Another day passed. Then, another. Finally, he started to show some signs of healing. We were exhausted and barely got any sleep. I worried about a possible ambush, but nobody showed. If anything, we were pushing our luck.
We kept him alive and waited for the truth to come out. Eventually, he opened his mouth, but the first thing he said was so strange that it took me off guard.
"Lucian," he whispered. "Tell me you've found it."
I stood up and nearly tripped with surprise.
"He's awake?" Lucian asked.
I turned to Lucian, confused. "Found what?" I asked.
He ignored my questioning and shook his head. "It is nowhere to be found."
"Father. He must have taken it," Kahn said. "He has to be the one who hid it from us."
"It never existed. We were lied to," Lucian replied.
Kahn tried to sit up, but the pain kept him on the hospital bed. "She said it would be here," he cried. "She told us we'd find the cure."
Lucian turned and clenched his fists. "Get it through your head, brother. This world was not made for people like us."
I swallowed hard and stared fiercely at Lucian. "I need to speak with you in private," I said, nodding at the doorway.
He threw a bloody towel onto the floor and exhaled. "Fine," he muttered. "Whatever you want."
He followed me to the doorway and stopped. "Yes, doctor?"
"Don't patronize me," I warned. "What’s your brother talking about? What are you keeping from me?"
"There's nothing to discuss. I thought we might be able to find something here. I was wrong," he said.
"The cure. Is that it?" I asked. I wasn't angry. I was confused. "Why would you keep that from me?"
His eyes widened, and he turned away in shame. "I didn't want to jinx it. Luck obviously didn't matter. There's nothing here. I'll always be a disgusting monster."
I touched his shoulder, but he flinched from my fingers and gazed out of the long windows in the hallway. Visions of our first encounter flashed inside my mind. He hadn't let his guard down.
"Why don't you trust me?" I asked. "You told me that you loved me. Remember?"
"This is about reclaiming who I once was," he said.
I thought we were on an equal footing. I thought we could depend on one other, but his mind was still focused on the bad. It brought me back to a dark place. "What if we can't reclaim the past? What if our only option is to move on?"
I didn't care what he looked like. I cared about how he acted. I wished he could see what I saw.
I stepped toward him and touched his hand. Slowly, I leaned my head against his chest.
"I love you," I said. "Does that not mean anything to you?"
He pressed his lips against the top of my head. "This place has made me think. It’s dug up my darkness."
I licked the edges of my lips and took a deep breath. I fell against him, shattered like the glass below our feet. "We have to stay together. We can't let them win," I said.
Lucian kissed my forehead and let me go. "Don't you get it? The bastards always win. And my family will always bear the scars of their wrongdoing."
I felt his pain flow into mine, but I would not let us go back to that dark place in the woods. I placed my hand against his heart and felt the heavy, rapid thud. "Have I been deceived? Have you brought me here to break my heart into a million pieces?"