Page 7 of Inked in Bloom
You helped this creature, but he’s not yours. Now it’s time to release him.
I’ve done this before. It’s not like I didn’t know this day would come. The space between my eyes heats and I blink quickly until the sensation dissipates.
Out of the corner of my eye, a spotted creature hops at lightning speed, darting behind a bush. It takes me a moment to catch it peeking from behind a tree across the street. A black-and-white bunny stands on its hind legs, ears pricked, zeroed in on my chestnut buddy.
“You’ve got a friend,” I whisper to a snoozing Sir Thumps-A-Lot.
His ear twitches between my fingertips, then he shoots out from my lap and stumbles toward the street.
My stomach lurches.
“Sir Thumps-A-Lot!” I scream, scrambling to grab the crate and run after him.
My heart rattles, breath stuck in my throat, watching him weave between cars and nearly get run over by a bicycle. He struggles a bit getting over the lip of the sidewalk, trying to push off his injured leg.
Shit.
What if he’s reinjured it? There’s no way I’m going to watch him become road kill.
I sprint across the street for him as he finally gets over the ledge. The back of my heel snaps, and my legs buckle, ankle giving way.
I leave the stiletto in the road and tug off my other shoe so I can move quicker, but when I look back up, he’s gone, the black-and-white bunny disappearing along with him.
Where—
A horn blares, followed by the discordant shriek of rubber against road.
I snap my head to the side, body frozen in place.
A blur of orange comes into focus.
A bus.
But the realization comes too late.
There’s the smack of the steel and the blinding crunch of bone…
Then everything bursts to black.
4
MONROE
Rain pitter-patters at the corners of my mind, echoing through the pitch black surrounding me. Up ahead rests a glowing bud, its layers of pink petals unfurling in the darkness. With each one, more golden light emanates from the center, spilling out across the soil. The closer I drift, the warmer I become, as if filled by the blossom. Its glint of sunshine spreads along my chest, my arms, my legs, until it reaches every slip of skin from the top of my head to my toes.
“Monroe.”
The gentle lilt nearly blends with the rain.
Where am I? Who is calling to me?
The last thing I remember was an orange blur coming into focus and?—
I wince with a hiss, halting the memory there. As my eyes peel open, allowing the world back in, I anticipate a sterile hospital room, the sharp stench of disinfectant, beeping machines, blaring LED lights. Instead, I’m in a small pink floral-papered room, sprawled across a queen-sized four-poster bed, surrounded by pillows.
And I’m not alone.
Pushing slowly onto my elbows, I squint at the woman draped across the loveseat at the window. She gracefullystands and glides toward the bed, like her feet aren’t even touching the ground. My attention dips to the long watercolored dress trailing behind her, the chiffon a swirl of shades, her skin a rose gold with a rainbow of hues streaked across every inch aside from her ethereal face.
