A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(45)

17

Layla eventually risked leaving the bed, and took a long, hot shower, getting dressed in the clean clothes that Chloe had brought her on her last visit. It had been two days since she’d seen her friend, and she wanted to be able to talk to her. It took her several seconds to remember that she’d never retrieved her phone from whoever had taken it off her, which angered her more than she’d expected. Her phone had contained photos that she had probably lost forever. She hoped they’d uploaded to the cloud since her last check a week ago.

The clean clothes were only a small piece of kindness from Chloe, but they made Layla feel a billion times happier about having to be in hospital.

She was sitting in a chair by the window reading, when the door opened and Chloe walked in, carrying another bag. She placed the carrier bag on the table.

“Some more clothes, a mobile, a charger, some chocolate, and your purse. I went to your place and grabbed a few things. Tommy was over there keeping an eye on it. I wouldn’t want to be Elias if he tries that avenue.”

“You know Tommy?” Layla asked as she dove into the bag for her phone, as if she’d been starving at sea for a month and it was her first meal.

Chloe paused. “Not well. Hey, we need to get you out of here.”

Layla sensed that there was more to it than Chloe was willing to divulge. “Doc Grayson gets to decide when that happens.”

“I’m sure it’ll be soon. It’s not like Elias can hide forever. Sooner or later, Tommy and his people will find him, and then you can go home. Back to normality.”

Layla opened her mouth to say something, but instead moved her hand toward the nearby table. The metal legs turned to liquid and the table crashed to the floor. “Not sure normality is ever coming back to my life.”

Chloe stared at Layla, before looking over at the fallen table. She looked back at Layla and opened her mouth to say something, when the door opened and Harry walked in. He carried a card, some balloons, and a big box of chocolates. He stood in front of where the table used to be, a confused expression on his face, before tentatively placing his gifts at the foot of the bed.

“What happened?” he asked, sounding both confused and concerned.

“No idea,” Chloe said before Layla could speak. “Bit weird, though.”

“That looks like liquid metal. I’m not really sure that’s meant to happen. In fact, I’m positive that metal turning to liquid isn’t considered a manufacturer’s fault.” He looked between Chloe and Layla. “Either of you plan on explaining what this is?”

“You never seen a puddle of metal before?” Chloe asked.

“I’m pretty certain not like this, no.”

Layla wondered why it was that Chloe didn’t find the fact that she’d essentially melted a table to be all that odd. She wondered if she were just putting on a front to look less concerned than she was inside, but Layla wasn’t certain that was true. She got the impression that Chloe knew more than she was willing to say.

“That balloon for me?” Layla asked Harry, hoping to get his attention away from the table.

He looked over at her, as if remembering she was in the room, and smiled. “Yes. Balloons and chocolates are well known for their healing properties.”

“Really?”

Harry shrugged. “I have no idea. The last person I saw in hospital was my aunt, and we just brought her about fifty kilos of grapes. I didn’t think you’d like that. You do like chocolate though, hence”—he brandished the box of chocolates—“the largest box I could find.” He placed the chocolates back on the bed. “More importantly, how are you?”

“I’ve been better.”

“Nice cage on the window.”

Layla followed Harry’s gaze. “Yeah, they’re worried about people getting into the room.”

“They think these people are going to climb up several dozen feet to get to you?”

“They killed a lot of people to get to me last time, who knows what they’ll do next.”

“It took me two days to get through security to see you. They wanted to run background checks on me. The news is plastered with information about what happened at the train depot. Have the police spoken to you about it?”

“Some special-investigator people have been here, yeah,” Layla told him. “I just want to go home and shower in my own bathroom and eat my own food, but then I remember all of those people and . . .” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Harry told her. “I’m just worried about you.”

Layla smiled. “Thanks, Harry. I’m fine. Tired, but fine.”

“Tired?” Chloe asked. “Not sleeping well?”

Layla shook her head. “Bad dreams.”

“That’s to be expected,” Harry said, and paused for a second. “Sorry, you probably already know that. I’m not really much help here, am I? I don’t really know what to say. I want to make it better but can’t.”

Layla placed her hand on top of Harry’s. “It’s fine, just you being here is enough.” She looked at Chloe. “Both of you.”

“Have you eaten?” Harry asked. “There’s a fish-and-chip shop just around the corner. I can see if I can smuggle some up here.”