Chapter 69: Chapter 69 The Unconscious Choice

Ryder’s POV

The infirmary always smelled like antiseptic and something faintly metallic, like blood scrubbed too hard off stone floors.

That smell hit me the second we stepped inside with Linda’s body almost limp in our arms.

It clung to my lungs, sharp and unforgiving, and no matter how many times I inhaled, it didn’t soften. It didn’t fade. It just stayed there, reminding me that whatever had happened earlier wasn’t something we could undo by pretending it was fine, this was serious.

Linda lay on the bed, pale against white sheets, her chest rising and falling too shallowly for my liking. Tubes ran from her arm, thin and clear, feeding into a bag of something I didn’t recognize. A healer stood nearby, murmuring instructions to a nurse, while another checked her pulse with a frown that never fully smoothed out.

I stood at the foot of the bed, arms folded so tightly across my chest that my shoulders ached.

Convulsions.

Blood.

The way her body had gone rigid, then frighteningly loose.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to keep looking at her. This was serious. Life or death serious. Anyone could see that. Anyone with a heart.

“This wasn’t nothing,” I muttered under my breath, more to convince myself than anyone else. “This was... real, and she needs us here”

Ronan stood to my left, jaw clenched, his eyes fixed on Linda’s face like he was afraid she might vanish if he blinked. Renzo hovered closer to the head of the bed, hands shoved into his pockets, his shoulders tense in that quiet way he got when he didn’t know where to put his anger.

I rubbed my face and exhaled slowly.

And then, Jade’s face flashed in my mind.

The way her eyes had looked when she lunged at Linda.

Wild. Broken. Burning with something feral and unfiltered.

Her fists flying. Her scream ripping out of her like she’d been holding it in for years.

I squeezed my eyes shut for half a second.

Where is she now?

The question came automatically, followed just as quickly by the answer I gave myself.

Probably in her room.

Cooling off.

Or... with my father. Being handled. Calmed.

That was what Father did best, contain problems, package them neatly, make them quiet.

So Jade is probably resting now, in her room, cooling off, right?

I opened my eyes again just as Linda stirred.

Her lashes fluttered. Her fingers twitched.

“Linda?” I stepped forward immediately, uncrossing my arms. “Hey. Hey, easy.”

Her eyes opened halfway, unfocused at first, then slowly found me. Relief washed over her face so quickly it felt rehearsed.

“R..Ryder...” Her voice was thin, frayed at the edges. “You’re... here.”

“Yeah,” I said, softer now. I moved closer, resting my hand on the edge of the bed. “I’m here.”

Her fingers lifted, weak and shaking, and curled around my wrist like she was afraid I might disappear if she let go.

“Please,” she whispered as she looked at me and my brothers weakly. “Don’t leave.”

The words hit harder than they should have.

My chest tightened.

“I’m scared,” she went on, her grip tightening just a fraction. “What if it happens again? What if Jade....”

“Hey,” I interrupted gently. “Don’t think like that. You’re okay. The healers are here. And we are here too”

“But what if you’re not?” Her eyes shone, glassy with unshed tears. “What if you leave and it happens again and I’m alone?”

I glanced back at Ronan and Renzo.

Ronan met my eyes briefly, something conflicted flashing there before he looked away. Renzo’s mouth was set in a hard line.

I swallowed.

Jade kept coming to my mind

I should check on Jade too.

She literally just lost her mother.

The thought came quietly, persistently.

But Linda’s fingers tightened again, her nails pressing into my skin.

“Please,” she said again, barely audible. “Just... stay a little longer.”

I exhaled slowly and nodded. “Okay. we are not going anywhere.”

Her shoulders sagged in relief.

Guilt curled in my gut, uncomfortable but manageable. I told myself I could check on Jade later. That this, this was more urgent.

“She was... unhinged,” Ronan murmured under his breath, stepping closer to me. “What she did....”

“I know,” I said quickly. Too quickly. “She just lost her mother. She wasn’t thinking straight.”

Ronan hesitated “Still. That doesn’t make it okay.”

“No,” I agreed. “But it explains it.”

Renzo shifted his weight. “Should one of us check on her?”

The question hung between us.

I opened my mouth, then Linda whimpered softly, her grip tightening again.

“My chest hurts,” she whispered. “I feel dizzy.”

Immediately, the healer turned back toward her, asking questions, adjusting something on the IV. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Ronan’s gaze flicked from Linda to me, then away.

None of us moved.

Linda’s breathing steadied after a few minutes, but she didn’t let go of my wrist. Every time I shifted even slightly, her fingers twitched like she was bracing for abandonment.

“I know she hates me,” Linda said suddenly, her voice thick. “I know she thinks I am wicked and that I wanted her downfall. I swear I do not”

Her eyes slid toward Ronan and Renzo, then back to me.

“I didn’t want her mother to die,” she whispered. “I didn’t want any of this.”

Something twisted in my chest.

“I know,” I said automatically. “I know you didn’t.”

And in saying it, I pushed Jade further into the background of my mind, into the category of later. Later conversation. Later apology. Later reckoning.

Jade is strong, I told myself.

Jade will be fine.

Hours passed without me fully realizing it.

The infirmary lights dimmed slightly as evening crept in through the tall windows. Nurses rotated shifts. Healers came and went. Each time one suggested Linda might be stable enough for us to step out, she found a new reason to keep us there.

Her side hurt.

Her head was spinning.

She felt cold.

She was scared.

And every time, we stayed.

By the time the sky outside had turned a deep indigo, my body felt heavy with exhaustion. I walked to the window and stared out at the estate grounds, lights flickering on one by one.

Somewhere out there, Jade was... what?

Sleeping? Crying? Fuming?

Waiting?

I pressed my forehead briefly against the cool glass.

My brother’s and I will check on her tomorrow.

The thought came with relief, like permission to rest.

Tomorrow, I’d talk to her. Hear her out. Make sense of everything.

I turned back just as Linda called my name again, her voice small and fragile.

I went back to her side.

Leaving Jade for tomorrow.