Chapter 36: Chapter 36

"Miss," the woman at the door repeated.

"I'm sorry," Lysandra said, not daring to look in the woman's direction. "Isn't someone going to treat him?"

"He's been treated," the woman said, sounding confused. "It's just that he hasn't woken up yet, so we can't send him away."

Lysandra shook her head. "No," she said. "He's been shot in the arm. Won't anyone tend to that wound?"

The woman raised her eyebrows again. Lysandra wanted to slap those eyebrows off her face. "How do you know he's been shot? Who would be allowed to have a gun?"

"It's not important," Lysandra responded. "The point is, he needs more treatment than this." Her voice broke at the end, and she hoped the woman wouldn't notice.

"We don't have a doctor on hand," the woman told her with a sigh. "I'm sorry."

"If you don't have a doctor, I'll find another one," Lysandra snapped.

"Wait, Miss - " the woman began.

Lysandra had turned to Cale to lift him from the cot when she realized he had opened his eyes to look at her.

"Cale?" she breathed, her tone softening again.

"What are you doing here... Lysandra?" he asked.

"I need to find you a doctor," she whispered, touching the bandage on his arm. "Did they take the bullet out of the wound?"

He tried to shrug, but winced instead. "I don't remember."

Lysandra swallowed. "Because of the pain, or because you Erased the memory?" she asked.

"The pain," he said. "Definitely the pain."

"How is it now?"

"It's better now," he said. "Not much, but anything helps."

Lysandra took a deep breath. She didn't want to ask him about the incident from just a few days ago, but she knew she couldn't avoid it. "Cale," she began, "what exactly happened? Why did he say he warned you? Why did he shoot?"

Cale squeezed his eyes shut. Lysandra thought she had never seen so much pain on his face. She only wanted to touch his shoulder and tell him it would be okay, he didn't have to answer, but if she postponed this conversation, she only risked bringing the pain back at some other time. She let him continue.

"He did warn me," Cale said. "He sent me a letter saying not to let you come to my studio that day, or bad things would happen. I believed... I believed someone was trying to scare me. No rhyme or reason. But there was a reason. I just... didn't know."

"It's okay," Lysandra whispered. "I can't blame you."

"Yes, you can," Cale told her. "If you want to blame me, go ahead. Leave me here. Don't come back. I can't stop you."

Lysandra opened her mouth to speak, but before she could do so, the woman standing in the doorway cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but just in case you've forgotten, this is a hospital, and we don't usually allow visitors."

Lysandra looked from Cale to her and back again.

"I promise I'll be back," Lysandra told him. "I think you just need more rest."

He nodded. "I think so too. Will you check on Clove for me? Make sure she's doing all right?"

"Sure," Lysandra answered. She stood up and faced the woman at the door. "I'll be leaving now."

The woman didn't say a word as she escorted Lysandra out.

Lysandra ran back to Cale's studio. The sky had clouded over, and the air felt misty, like it was about to rain. She had just turned the corner that led to Cale's street when she collided with someone else.

She stumbled back, catching herself on the pole that held up one of Oblitus's clocks. Blinking, she focused on the figure that had caused the collision, and she gasped.

"Morpheus Rose," she choked out.

The man smiled as he freed his hands from the pockets of his coat. "Lysandra Ferry," he answered, his voice mocking. "Nice to see you again."

"No," Lysandra breathed.

"You know, Lysandra, I've been meaning to tell you something," Morpheus murmured. "Since you've been, you know, speaking with your father again and everything."

"How do you know about that?" Lysandra demanded.

"Why shouldn't I know about it?" Morpheus responded, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a smirk. "Your father and I knew each other well. In fact, what I wanted to tell you has a lot to do with him."

Lysandra pressed her lips together and didn't reply.

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