Once Rowen leaves, the others start trickling back in. First Laura pokes her head in, followed by Julian with what might be contraband vending machine snacks. Then Wren, bouncing with unspent energy. Torin and Rina follow, moving together like a unit, and finally Damien and Eli appear, although in Eli’s case, it’s more of a dramatic re-entrance.
“I thought she would never leave. I was literally standing right outside the door the whole time.” Eli announces as he strolls in, completely unapologetic.
“Had to make sure she was gone.” He explains. I blink.
“You were… Waiting in the hall? Why?” I ask baffled. Eli shrugs.
“I value my life. But I still wanted to be here in case you needed backup. I wasn’t listening in or anything.” He insists. I have no idea if he’s being honest or not, if he IS lying then he’s a very good liar. Either way, I don’t think it’ll be a problem. I trust Eli, no matter what he might have overheard. If he wants to pretend he didn’t hear a thing, then that’s fine too.
“Eli, that is very sweet.” Laura comments.
“Or creepy. Could go either way.” Damien adds. We all laugh. The mood lightens. We hang out for another half hour or so, and for the first time in what feels like forever, things actually feel normal. There’s soft banter, a few too many chairs pulled up around my bed, and far too much arguing over who’s going to be in charge of planning the inevitable ‘we survived’ party. Rina insists that she should be in charge since OBVIOUSLY it’ll take place at the bar. Eli insists that he should plan it because he’s more fun. But then Lukas stands and clears his throat… Loudly. The room quiets almost instantly. All eyes swing to him.
“What’s up, Lukas?” Rina asks, grinning like she’s about to be crowned Party Queen.
“It’s time for you all to leave.” Lukas says firmly. The silence is immediate. I swear I can almost hear imaginary crickets chirping.
“…What?” Eli blinks.
“Clare is tired.” Lukas says, tone brooking no argument.
“She needs to rest. Go home.” He insists. There’s a beat of stunned confusion before Rina shrugs and starts grabbing her bag.
“He’s got a point. Bye Clare!” She says, heading for the door. One by one, the others follow. Laura gives me a wink. Julian squeezes my hand. Eli rolls his eyes dramatically at Lukas, but leaves all the same. And just like that, the room is quiet again. Lukas shuts the door behind them with an air of finality, then turns back to me. I blink at him.
“Thank you.” I say softly. Because honestly? I’m exhausted. I hadn’t even realised how drained I was until the noise and the laughter and the weight of being surrounded slipped away. There’s no way I could’ve ever asked everyone to leave like that. I would’ve been too busy worrying about hurting feelings or seeming ungrateful. But Lukas didn’t hesitate. Not because he doesn’t care about them, but because he cares about me. I settle back down, ready to take a long nap. Lukas walks back over, sits beside the bed, and takes my hand again and it feels like the safest thing in the world.
When I wake up again, it’s to the soft sound of hushed voices. I crack my eyes open and blink blearily at the light. Lukas is standing just outside the room, in the hallway, talking to… Someone. I can’t quite see who, but his voice is low and sharp. Which is weird. Lukas doesn’t do sharp unless someone’s really asking for it. I shift, intending to sit up, and that’s when I notice it. The hospital room is… Full. Not of people, of things. The space is overflowing with flowers, cards, gift bags, and boxes in various stages of aggressive glitter and pastel assault. It looks like someone lost control and went on a wild shopping spree. I blink. What the hell? These CAN’T all be from my friends. I don’t even have enough friends to justify this many gifts. Even if every person I know had sent me MULTIPLE gifts, I’d still be short at least half a florist and two bakeries. While I’m still trying to wrap my head around the weirdness, Lukas’s voice cuts in from the hallway again as he raises his voice a little bit louder.
“No. I told you no. She will not want to see you.” He says firmly.
“But you didn’t even ask her!” Comes a voice I don’t recognise. It’s high, pushy, and annoyingly persistent.
“Because she’s sleeping.” Lukas bites out.
“She is RECOVERING. Leave her alone. If you would like, you can leave your name and number in the notebook.” Lukas says, leaving no space for debate. There’s more muttering, more complaints, and finally the sound of retreating footsteps. Lukas walks back into the room, rubbing his temple. He freezes when he sees me awake, then exhales.
“Ah. So… It turns out Rowen wasn’t lying about people finding out what you did.” He says, tone dry.
“Huh?” I blink at him. He gestures broadly to the chaos around the room.
“These? These are from your admirers. You practically have your own fan club.” He explains. I stare at him, horrified.
“I don’t want a fan club!” I say horrified.
“I killed someone. That is not… That’s not something you should get gifts for.” I insist.
“I think most of them are thanking you for freeing them from their demonic bargains, not for the actual murder.” Lukas points out.
“Yeah… That doesn’t really help.” I mutter.
“I didn’t think it would.” He admits.
“But that hasn’t stopped the gifts from showing up. I’ve kept everyone out, don’t worry. But a few people left their contact details. In case you ever need a favour. You could have an army of minions if you wanted one.” He taps a little blue notebook on the edge of the bed, probably purchased from the hospital gift shop. It’s been filled with names, numbers, and a whole lot of notes thanking me.
“Oh. That’s very… Organised of you.” I say. I kind of want to burn it. Lukas shrugs.
“It was easier to tell people to write something down than risk them coming back and trying again.” He explains.
“Ah. That makes sense.” I sigh, letting my head fall back against the pillow. There’s a pause.
“Not all the gifts are bad.” Lukas says after a moment.
“I think you might actually like this one.” He tells me as he grabs a medium sized pale pink box off the table and sets it carefully in my lap. I’m hesitant, but curious. So I open it and immediately gasp. Inside is the most GORGEOUS pink handbag I’ve EVER seen. Soft leather, beautiful detailing, elegant but sturdy. It’s everything I didn’t know I wanted in a bag.
“Oh wow.” I whisper, already hugging it to my chest. Lukas chuckles.
“There was a note.” He adds as he hands me a small card printed on thick, expensive cardstock.
‘For next time you don’t have pockets. - Vianey’
I burst out laughing, half from surprise, half from delight. Vianey, scary, mysterious, aggressively well dressed Vianey from the casino. I’m glad she’s okay. And clearly, she still has amazing taste. I look up at Lukas.
“…It wouldn’t be wrong to keep just a FEW of these gifts, right?” I ask, cradling the bag like the treasure it is. Lukas grins.
“I think it would be rude not to.”