I nod. “Will do.”
With that, the nurse leaves us be. I wait until her footsteps have faded away before sitting on the bed with Willow. She reaches over to take my hand in hers. The contact erases the rest of my worries. My heart feels comforted, and my shoulders sag as the tension saps away. I bring our joined hands up to my mouth and kiss the back of her hand.
“Thank you for saving me. They said I would have bled out if you hadn’t moved as quickly as you did to get here.” Willow visibly swallows.
“Don’t thank me, Willow.” Shaking my head I add, “I can’t believe he did that.”
Willow’s bottom lip trembles, and her eyes mist over. I open my mouth to say something, anything to keep her from crying, but she holds up a finger on her free hand. Swallowing back my words, I wait while she composes herself.
“Me too,” she admits after a moment. “Do you think he stabbed me the way he did because he knew it wouldn’t puncture anything serious?”
I scowl. “It was luck.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“I hope the three of them rot in hell.” My free hand curls into a fist. “I should have stepped in sooner. I’m so sorry, Willow.”
She shakes her head quickly. “It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have used my powers in front of the other Ghosts. I just… How else were we going to deal with the Utikyie?”
“What happened before to get Theodon to stab you?” I ask.
Willow sighs and then dives into the conversation she’d both overheard and taken part in. When she’s done, I let it all sink in. If Theodon is willing to kill in order to keep his family’s name clean, what else is he willing to do? I dread finding out.
“They’ll know you aren’t dead, and I have a feeling the other Ghosts didn’t kill them, or you’d know about it. We need to keep moving so they don’t find us.” I get to my feet and pace next to her bed.
“We do but…” Willow bites her lip and lowers her head.
“But what?” I pace faster as I try to figure out a plan of action. There’s got to be a way to best these guys.
“Why aren’t you scared?” Willow asks. I slow down as I look over at her.
“Of the Ghosts? I’m fucking terrified of them.” I shake my head, confused by her question. “They just stabbed you!”
“No, not of them. I mean me. You know I’m hiding something, and now you know it could be pretty serious if the Ghosts were willing to kill me because of it. Why aren’t you scared ofme?”
I know she’s serious, but I can’t help but chuckle as I go back to my frantic pacing.
“Scared of you? Willow, you’ve done nothing to scare me. All you’ve done is help people. I don’t care what you are. You’re a good person. Or thing. Whatever you are.”
Willow shakes her head again with a half-smile on her face, “You may be too trusting.”
“I don’t trust anyone.” How could I trust someone when there were days that I didn’t even trust myself not to get into trouble? Willow has been looking out for me since the beginning of this mess, and I’ll be damned if I abandon the only person who’s ever given a shit about me. “Anyone, except for you.”
“You’re adorable.”
I snort.
“Yeah, well, aren’t all puppies? Now give me a second while I figure out what to do next. We should probably plan instead of winging it.”
“Jonah, I—” Willow pauses and looks down.
“What? What is it?” I stop pacing to watch her face twist into a grimace. When her eyes lift, I watch them harden.
“Nothing. I’ll handle it.” Her bottom lip trembles for just a moment before she steadies it. Immediately, I understand. I sit by her side once more.
“I know you’re tied to them, but we can’t wait around to be found. Can you manage for a bit until we talk to your mother?” I hold my breath.
She nods.