***Trigger Warning***

I visit my patients who aren't Brexton first, knowing I'll take my time with him. My nerves soar everytime I do rounds now. I know that Jeremiah said he only poisoned Roger to settle a debt, but when someone lies as much as he has you tend to have doubts. I already feel like I failed Roger, if something were to happen to another one of my patients I don't think I could take it.

I'm overly cautious as I go through my routine checks on each client. When I'm done and nothing seems off, I relax a little, but only a little. This is no time to let my guard down.

I enter Brexton's room next. Seeing him after our last little encounter has me feeling tense. Is it even possible for me to see him and pretend their was no kiss? I'm no actress. I have no doubt my face is going to show exactly what I'm thinking.

The fact that I'm already in his room doesn't register until I hear his groggy voice. "Don't tell me you have to give me more meds?"

I snap back to see Brexton sitting up in his bed, twirling one of his restraints on his finger. "Okay, then I won't tell you."

He tosses his restraints. I resist the urge to laugh when it lands perfectly on one of the guard's sleeping heads. The elderly guard sends Brexton a warning glance. "This is exactly why you need sedated boy!"

Brexton looks at him, unimpressed. "Hey old dude, you need to get a life. I swear you guys are here everyday. If you're so grumpy, maybe take a day off."

'Old dude' looks at Brexton like he wants to kill him. "I wouldn't expect you to understand what a hard working man looks like. Something tells me you're no ball buster."

He sighs. "I guess if my job was to nap all day I'd probably work everyday too."

I stand between them, hoping to ease the tension no matter how funny I found it. "Ready for your shots,
Mr.McGomery?"

He stares at the large needle in my hand. "Sure, but you might want to split my dose and give half to old dude over there. He seems pretty riled up."

"Be nice." I scold him.

"Fine." He lifts the sleeve up on his hospital gown, giving me full access to his tattoo covered arm.

My eyes trial down his arm. His tattoos are breathtaking. I'm drawn to the a spectacularly shaded angel with flowing long dark hair and eyes that demand your attention.

"Which one are you looking at?" Brexton moves so close our legs brush against each other, making me remember how good his touch feels.

I point to the angel. He looks down at it, then back up at me. "That was my first tattoo."

"It's beautiful." I say quietly, so the guards don't hear me.

His smile brings my eyes from the tattoo. "You can touch me you know?"

My throat suddenly feels as dry as the Sahara desert. Touch him? My anxiety must be obvious because he grabs my hand and puts it on the angel. "This is all I meant."

I am flattered that he wants me to get this close to him. I get the impression he doesn't let many people have this honor. I take full advantage of it, tracing the angel's wings, her face, her hair. Well I'm looking at his arm, I can't help but appreciate how muscular it is. He could probably pick me up and...

"I should really give you your shots now." I whisper to him. I gather myself, embarrassed that my thoughts had run so wild. Both of our lives are on the line and this is what I'm thinking about?

His low laugh interrupts my train of thought. "You aiming to kill?"

My eyes widen in horror as I realize my needle is inches away from his heart. I hadn't even realized I was moving or that I grabbed a needle.

"I'm so sorry! I got lost in thought and I.." I stammer my way through an apology.

He looks amused. "I'll forgive you if you tell me what you were thinking about."

You. "You have no idea how long that would take."

"I've got nothing but time. It's not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon."

I begin cleaning the area where I want to give the shot. "I thought that I liked your tattoo and might want to get one someday, but I'm not sure if I have a high enough pain tolerance for a tattoo. I then came to the conclusion that I must like danger because I can't seem to stay away from it."

He smirks and leans in to mumble in my ear."Me? Am I the danger?"

I shiver when his breath hits my neck. The gentle kiss he left on my neck is a ghost that is haunting me. "You're the only thing making me feel safe right now."

His eyes find their way to mine, full of a deep emotion I have never seen them have before. I can't quite figure out what it is. He doesn't speak, only gives his arm to me in response. I give him the injection as fast as I safely can and leave the room.

I head straight for the break room. I sit in one of the hard chairs and take deep breaths. The feelings I'm developing for Brexton are freaking me out. Inara's warning about staying out of all this is on repeat in my mind. If I don't find the person who's after me soon, they could catch me. I don't know where to look, what questions to ask who and I'm loosing hope. I have to rely on Brexton, this guy who may or may not be my downfall.

I text Inara to check in on her.

"Hey Inara, how are you?"

She responds right away.

"Hi! I'm good👍. Just distracting myself by scrolling through my friend's tinder account. You should see the disgusting things some of the guys on here have tried🤢. Having fun at work?"

"I can just imagine🤣 I hear dating apps are pretty entertaining if you use them right haha. Work has been good so far today. Not to jinx myself but nothing bad has happened and I'm almost halfway through my shift."

"LYRA!!! You totally jinxed yourself! Better keep your eyes peeled for trouble now! I want to apologize for yesterday. I hope I didn't scare you too much, I wasn't trying to. I'm a worrier."

Her new sense of calm makes me calm down.

"No need to apologize! You were just looking out for me, which I appreciate! I unfortunately have to get back to work, but I hope you have fun scrolling through Tinder! "

"Thanks for not being mad! Good luck with work! See ya at home!"

I put my phone in my pocket and head back to the nurses station to catch up on my charting. It takes me an hour or so to document everything, so I'm more than ready to stretch my legs and visit my patients when I'm done. I get down the hall, stopping at every door I'm responsible for expect for Brexton. I give myself the extra time to cool down from our last encounter. When it becomes impossible for me to avoid him any longer, I take small steps into his room.

I plaster on my best smile. "Hey, Mr. McGomery I wanted to stop in and see if there's anything I can get you."

He is back in his restraints. "Can I get another quick break from these please? I was arguing with sleeping beauty over there again and I pulled a little too hard against my cuffs."

"Yeah, of course. You guys really need to learn to love each other before you break yourself." I laugh as I remove his restraints. I hold back a gasp when I see how red and raw his wrist are. I immediately start applying more lotion to his wrists.

He smiles gratefully at me. "Thank you."

I lean against him, suddenly feeling lightheaded. "Sure thing."

"Lyra, are you okay?" Brexton asks as tiny stars start to block my field of vision.

His sculptured face becomes blurry. "Yeah, I think I just need to sit down for a second."

The last thing I remember before the world goes black is collapsing in his arms.

I wake up to the sound of an alarm beeping. I blink my eyes open to see I'm in an unfamiliar hospital room. Panicked, I look down to see I'm wearing a loose-fitting blue hospital gown.

"You're awake." A voice I've never heard before says cheerfully.

I face the woman wearing navy blue scrubs. Her bright blonde hair is pulled up in a bun. I squint at her. "What happened?"

She walks further into the room. "I'm so sorry to tell you this, but we found some poison in your system."