Page 94 of Oblivion
“She hasn’t been feeling well these last couple of days,” Atlas murmured, keeping his voice even. “She hasn’t been sleeping, and she started puking everything she ate a couple of days ago. We thought it was a stomach bug, but we’re worried it might be something else altogether.”
“She’s been sick, and you didn’t think to tell me about this?” I roared.
“It isn’t like you would care, Storm,” Atlas chuckled, looking at the ground. “I don’t mean to be rude and I know you are technically still my boss, but anything that happens with her is none of your business.”
“The hell it isn’t!” I thundered and came closer to him. “She is my business. She is everything I need.”
“You have a funny way of showing it, but I didn’t come here to talk to you about your inability to create a proper connection with her, or the fact that you betrayed us all by selling her like that.”
I swallowed audibly, bracing myself for an impact that his words would make, but he didn’t try to hurt me. He didn’t spew hatred at me, not like all the other times.
Atlas was tired, they all were, and while I had no idea what they were doing behind closed doors, I knew it was something massive and none of them would utter a word of it.
Nova wanted me to kick them all out. She mentioned several times that they were betraying me by siding with Ophelia, but I wanted them to. She needed people she trusted, and even if it meant that I would be losing my friends, she needed them more than I did.
“I want to see her, Atlas.”
He shook his head and looked up at me. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Please, Atlas. I’m going to go crazy over here. She needs me.”
“No, Storm. She needed you—past tense. Now she doesn’t need any of us, but by some miracle she still wanted Zoe and me with her, even Indigo. I don’t know why, but she didn’t push us away when you shattered her soul into a million pieces.”
“I-I—”
“It’s too late, Storm. The reason why I’m here is that I wanted to ask you to call a doctor. We have no idea what’s going on, and the last thing I want to see is her in a hospital bed, because her health deteriorated.”
“I will call the doctor, but—”
“There are no but’s, Storm. I would rather take her to the hospital, but she’s too weak right now and I don’t want to move her unless absolutely necessary. So you can call the doctor or you don’t have to. But you are not going to bother her unless she wants you to.”
I was at a loss for words. My best friend, the man I knew for so long, was turning his back on me, choosing her. And even though it hurt feeling this gap between us, I was glad she had him.
Atlas was the most loyal person I have ever known, and the fact that my acts pushed him away from me, told me that it was worse than I expected it to be. Other guys wanted to go after Ophelia after what she did to Nova. Some of the other chapters wanted her head, but I stopped them.
I had to stop them, because none of them would be a match for her. Especially not because she had Indigo and Atlas on her side now.
“Fine,” I huffed and turned toward the desk, walking to the right side where my phone laid. My fingers trembled as I dialed the number of Doctor Charles, his deep timbre of a voice pulling a smile at my face.
“Did you get yourself in trouble again, Storm?”
“No.” I chuckled. “A friend is sick. She’s been puking for days, and I don’t want her to go to the hospital right now. Would you have time to come over today?”
“Did she eat something bad?” he asked, and I could hear shuffling in the background.
“I don’t think so.” I looked at Atlas. “She’s been weak, unable to keep anything down, and it doesn’t really sound good.”
“Ah, I see,” he chuckled.
“You see what?” I frowned and sat down, feeling Atlas’s eyes on me.
“Don’t worry about that, Storm. I’ll be there in about an hour, unless traffic stops me from exiting the city. I’ll let you know once I’m close.”
“Thank you, Doc.”
“Don’t mention it. I told you already, I’m one call away.”
“Still,” I smiled. “I appreciate it.”
