22. As Pale As Death

22. As Pale As Death
Mia's POV
Knowing that I wasn’t the only one who had a more favourable impression of Kylanor than Ashton didn’t bring the relief I thought it would.

Everyone favoured one sibling over the other, and somehow it just reminded me of how sidelined I felt with my brother being my mom’s favourite, while I had no idea who my own father was.

Did Ashton feel like me? Cheated?

Was all his tough acts just a façade to hide the pain of being left out?

“Here, you can have some water,” a nurse gave me a glass and tipped it at my lips.

I lapped on it slowly, taking in tiny bits to quench my thirst as my stomach grumbled.

This time, I couldn’t be bothered to be embarrassed.

I haven’t had a meal in three days, after all.

So there went my every other thought. I shrugged off my sympathy for Ashton too. I would tell him thank you after I’d had something in my stomach.

“We’ll draw your blood now,” I was told even before the water could reach my stomach, and without warning, the syringe pierced my arm.

“What for?” I asked, was snubbed, and then got distracted by what my therapist would have called post-traumatic stress disorder.

The pricking of the needle reminded me somehow of the itch in my jaw—

The way it started from a spot in my jaw and spread until my life was hanging from a loose thread.

“All done,” the nurse announced, snapping me out of my thoughts as I felt a sting on that part of my skin.

Then a little itch.

My body shivered in fear as I tried not to overthink it.

They continued to run test after test to make sure that I was okay. However, none of them was willing to answer my question of what the tests were particularly for, and what I almost died of.

That aside, my brain wouldn’t come up with any explanations as to why that happened.

And as if that wasn’t enough, they started packing up as soon as they were done.

All five of them — nurses and doctor included.

All female as well. A part of me wondered if this was because he didn’t want me around any male monster beasts, but I didn’t want to be so delusional.

Definitely, his possessiveness didn’t run as far as getting jealous of a male doctor touching me, right?

“Hmm hmm,” I cleared my throat. It felt less sore now as the doctor approached my bedside to take a look at my IV one last time.

However, the moment she was about to turn around, I grabbed her wrist.

“Ah,” a sharp gasp leaked in the air and I couldn’t be certain who it came from—

This extremely pale-looking doctor with the greyest, almost fading eyes… or me, who was entranced by her beauty and regality.

She turned around fully as she schooled her features.

Her slightly open mouth pouted, then pressed into a thin line.

Her eyes, that held surprise, creased in a frown as she focused all of her attention on me.

And if I thought I was already burning before, my cheeks turned redder from the blush.

“Is there a problem? Do you feel any pain?” I swallowed and shook my head, still unable to let go of her hand.

Compared to everyone else who had a tinge of colour on their features, she looked absolutely colourless.

And that was how I knew that she was blushing too.

The pink spreading on her cheeks at a pace visible to the human eye gave her away. However, it was still just as difficult to believe that I, who they considered ugly, could make her blush?

Was there something more?

She leaned in for what would have been a kiss if I didn’t know any better. But even now that I do know better, my heart is still racing at top speed in my chest as her face got closer… and closer.

And… I closed my eyes. My breathing came out shallow and my back arched just a little to cover some of the distance between us.

That was until she snapped her finger in front of my face, and my eyes popped open to a sight that brought me out of the trance.

“W...what are you trying to do with that?”

“Don’t worry, it’s pain relief,” she said as she tapped the syringe that appeared to be 10 times bigger than normal.

“What for?” I forced myself to sit up as the anticipation for something exciting had turned into absolute dread.

Her iris, that looked almost transparent, now had a look of death in them. They reminded me of the fogs that enveloped abandoned graves at night.

“You,” she said with a grimace. It might have been a smile if she wasn’t walking closer by the second.

“I don’t need it, please. I am fine. I just…”

“Oh really?” she paused suddenly, curiosity etched in her features.

“Yes, really. So please…” I begged like my life depended on it — because it did.

“Then why did you hold me back? Wasn’t it because you were in pain but didn’t want the others to know?”

I let out an exhale as she dropped the syringe to a metal tray, causing it to clatter with the other medical tools.

She was right about one thing. I held her back, but that was only because no one else would meet my gaze. However, I wasn’t about to let myself be vulnerable in the face of death again.

“I wanted to ask what happened to me. I know I’ve been passed out for three days. Why? What happened?” I braved up and looked into her eyes, only to look away when I felt myself start to get hypnotized again.

“Oh,” she sounded bored.

“Hmm, so…” I dragged my words with a pout, and my neck stretched forth as if it would bring me closer to the answer.

“I don’t know,” she resumed packing up her things.

“What?” My forehead squeezed so hard it started to hurt.

“We don’t know what happened to you, so you will be here until we find out.” Now this wasn’t making any sense.

“I’ve been here long enough,” I sounded upset, but there was a lot more I was trying to bottle inside me.

Anger that I could only suppress by gritting my teeth — and a fear of the unknown that spread chills on every part of my skin, exposed or not.