Chapter 9
288 Vouchers
Leon frowned and gently patted Aurellie’s head. “Ellie, you’re still too kind.”
Then he scooped her up in his arms. “Silly girl, you can’t just run around. I’m taking you for a checkup.”
After they left, Eloise sat on the bed with a bitter smile.
She pulled out her phone and checked the time.
Five days left.
Back at her apartment, she packed everything she owned into a suitcase. Years of living here, yet she couldn’t even fill one bag.
Pathetic. She sat on the floor, stunned as the door suddenly swung open.
Leon stormed in, eyes frantic. “Ellie needs surgery. You’re a match. I need your heart-now.”
Eloise froze. She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. He wanted her dead.
She shook her head. “No.”
His face darkened. Lips pressed tight, fury in his eyes.
Before he could speak again, the hospital called. “Mr. Brunner, I’m sorry. Ms. Berna didn’t make it.”
The phone slipped from his hand. His arms dropped to his sides. His face turned cold and lifeless.
Then he looked at her, like he’d snapped. “It’s all your fault. If you hadn’t switched her meds, if you’d just given her your heart, she’d still be alive!”
Eloise backed away from his crazed stare, but he lunged and grabbed her.
He locked her up.
Leon grabbed the pliers and ripped out all ten of her nails.
The pain was blinding, like red-hot wire stabbing straight into her fingers, tearing flesh like serrated steel.
Eloise broke out in a cold sweat. Her ears rang sharply and loudly. Darkness crept into her vision. She could smell blood-rusty, metallic, sickening. Her stomach churned.
Pale and shaking, she looked at him. “I told you it wasn’t me.” Yet, he said nothing, just stood there, watching her in
silence.
She passed out more than once, slipping in and out of the pain, and when she finally came to again, he was gone. The window was open. Something in her snapped.
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16:44
Chapter 9
She had to get out.
288 Vouchers
She crawled toward it, stumbling and gasping, dragging herself up with raw, bleeding hands. The second her fingers touched the frame, a fresh wave of agony shot through her, but she didn’t stop. Her back was drenched in sweat by the time she pulled herself up and through.
Today was it. Her last chance.
It was the third-floor-high, but not fatal. She looked down, the ground spinning beneath her. All she could hear was her own ragged breath, the pounding of her heart, and then, without a second thought, she jumped.
The moment she hit the ground, something cracked. Her thigh screamed like it’d been split open, her left arm went numb, and her throat filled with the sharp taste of blood, but she didn’t pause.
She couldn’t. Leon was insane, If she stopped now, she was dead.
She pushed through the pain and ran, bolting toward the road, limbs barely working, lungs burning.
A car skidded to a halt in front of her, the window rolling down slowly.
“Get in.”
