“How long does she have? Once the ventilator is removed?” she heard Adam ask.
“That’s really up to her. She could pass within seconds or days.”
Persephone felt sick to her stomach.
“Of course, it is your decision,” the doctor said. “I’ll give you some time to think on it. If you have any questions, please, let me know.”
Persephone turned and ran down the hallway to the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before vomiting, and when nothing else came out, she heaved.
It took her far longer to compose herself than she imagined and by the time she made it to Lexa’s room, Eliska was alone. She looked up when Persephone entered and smiled.
“Hi, Persephone,” she said.
“Hi, Mrs. Sideris. I hope I’m not bother you. I should have told you I was coming.”
“It’s fine, dear.” Eliska stretched. “If you’re going to be here for a bit, I think I’ll take a walk…”
Persephone managed a nod and a small smile. When Eliska left, she sat on Lexa’s bed and carefully took her hand in her own. Her skin was bruised from the IV and discolored from the tape they used to secure all the tubes going into her body.
Guilt settled heavily on her shoulders. She had failed to find a cure for Lexa’s injuries. The ventilator breathed for her, kept her body going, and Lexa’s pare
nts wanted to take her off.
It was Persephone’s worst fear realized.
What would be so terrible about seeing her enter the Underworld?
It was a question that should have a simple answer, but it was more complicated than that, and on the heels of Hades’ proposal, the truth of her agonizing thoughts were exposed. What if she and Hades weren’t meant to be together forever? What if she lost access to the Underworld and the souls? That would mean she would lose contact with Lexa, too.
She recognized that even when she and Hades had broken up, the God of the Dead had allowed her to retain his favor. She could have gone to the Underworld at any point and visited the souls, but she hadn’t. The thought of going had been too painful and filled her with anxiety—that wouldn’t change if they split again.
“I don’t know if you can hear me,” Persephone said. “But I have so much to tell you.”
As she held Lexa’s hand, she launched into a summary of everything that had happened to her.
She talked about Kal’s ultimatum.
“I should have told you the moment it happened,” she paused and laughed a little. “I’m sure you would have told me to quit—go off and start my own newspaper or something.”
She told her about Hades’ deal with Apollo and how she foiled his plan to meet without her. She talked about Iniquity and all the things she’d learned about Hades.
Her eyes watered as she spoke, “And then he asked me to marry him and I said no. I can hear you asking me what I was I thinking, and the truth is, I don’t know,” she paused and shook her head. “I just know that no matter how much I love him, I can’t marry him right now.”
The only answer was the sound of Lexa’s ventilator.
She had never felt more alone.
“Lexa,” Persephone’s mouth quivered, and giant tears blurred her vision. She pressed a kiss to her best friend’s hand, whispering, “I need you.”
Suddenly, the smell of wildflowers permeated the air, bitter citrus and mint. Persephone went rigid and collected herself as quickly as she could.
“Mother.”
She cringed when she spoke. It was obvious she’d been crying. She didn’t turn to look at Demeter. “What are you doing?”
“I heard about Lexa,” she said. “I came to see if you were okay.”
She’d been in the hospital going on two weeks. If Demeter was really concerned, she would have showed up sooner.