Chapter 129

Margot’s POV

After breakfast, the walk down the corridor to the infirmary was the same as yesterday, though the guards had changed. Fresh faces, but the same smug expressions.

“Stirring up trouble, Santorelli?” one of them jeered as we approached. His voice carried that false confidence I was starting to recognize in this place – like they thought picking at Coban was a sport to show their dominance, although they failed at it time and time again.

Coban exhaled hard through his nose, pinching the bridge of it between his fingers before dropping his hand again. His patience was thin, I could see it already. “It’s always the same bullshit with you lot, isn’t it?” he snapped, his tone like gravel. “We’re here because the doctor said she was to come back for pain killers, so cut the shit and let me through!”

The bluntness of it made both of the guards stiffen, their smirks fading into something more cautious.

Their eyes darted between us before one of them stepped aside and swiped his card against the door lock, the metal bolt sliding back with a click. “Alright, alright, go on then,” he muttered.

I almost stumbled trying to keep up with Coban as he pushed through, broad shoulders cutting ahead like he couldn’t stand another second in their presence.

And for the first time, I got it. I finally understood why he walked around this place in a permanent bad mood, shoulders coiled tight, jaw clenched up like a fist.

“I get it now,” I whispered, trailing behind him as he pressed the buzzer for the doctor. “It’s annoying. That they always have to say something to you…”

He didn’t look at me as he answered, his voice flat. “It’s my own fault though, isn’t it.”

I frowned, the way he said it sounded more like a statement than a question.

“What do you mean?” I pressed him, as he turned, meeting my eyes then.

His face was hard, stony. “I’m known to them for causing problems in here. Don’t be fooled just because I’ve tried to behave this week.”

My mouth parted, a protest balancing on my tongue, but I held it in. Arguing with him now would get me nowhere. Maybe he wasn’t perfect. Maybe he had caused problems before. But I knew there was more to him than the man they sneered at in the hallways.

Before I could speak, the sound of footsteps broke the silence, and the door clicked open.

The doctor.

The same one from yesterday, his smile easy as if we hadn’t walked in here carrying yesterday’s trauma on our backs.

“Ah!” he said brightly. “Back for some more pain meds, I take it? How did you get on last night?”

He gestured for us to follow him back into the room. My stomach churned as I hopped up onto the patient bed he patted, the paper crinkling under my weight.

“It was okay,” I answered, forcing a small smile. “The medication helped, but it was still sore at times.”

“Good, good,” he hummed, opening a drawer and sifting through the neat rows of boxes inside until he pulled one free. He popped it open, sliding out a silver sleeve of tablets. “Mind if I take a look? See how it’s healing?”

I nodded quickly. “Sure… but it’s still really tender to touch,” I added, urging for him to be careful.

He fetched me a cup of water, setting it beside me with a reassuring smile. “Understandable, it was pretty bad yesterday.”

Behind him, Coban leaned against the wall, arms folded, his eyes sharp and unblinking as he watched every move the man made around me.

The doctor pressed out two pills from the sleeve and handed them to me with the water. “You know the drill. Two now, two to take away for later.”

I glanced at the small white tablets in my palm, nodding, before looking up…

That was when Coban caught my eye.

He lifted one finger up to his lips slowly.

The gesture was small. Quiet. But it sent my heart slamming against my ribs.

Stay quiet.

But why? What was he up to?

I popped the first pill into my mouth slowly, the doctor’s eyes fixed on me as though waiting for proof I was doing as instructed.

“They aren’t the best pills to try and get back, are they? Powdery ones…” The doctor chuckled at my hesitation, as I blinked quickly and nodded – trying to remain cool.

I raised the cup and swallowed it down, throat aching around the movement.

I hesitated with the second pill again – because out of the corner of my eye, I saw Coban move.

Slow. Careful. Calculated.

Without a single sound…

He shifted closer to the open drawer behind the doctor, his hand slipping inside.

What the hell was he doing?

My fingers shook, the water trembling in the cup as I stalled.

“Go on,” the doctor prompted gently, his brows raising.

With a small nod, I forced myself to swallow the second pill, the water cooling the tight burn in my throat as I knocked the second one back.

“Very good, dear,” the doctor said warmly. “Now let me have a look at those nasty bruises…”

He stepped closer, reaching for the edge of my bandage.

And that was when my stomach plummeted because right behind him, Coban’s hand reappeared.

Clutched in his grip were three full sleeves of pills, shiny silver packs glinting like stolen treasure in the sterile light.

My eyes widened, horror choking me silent.

He smirked across at me.

Damn well, smirked!

Then slid them into the pocket of his hoodie, so smooth, so damn confident, like he’d done this a hundred times before.

“Ouch!” The doctor’s voice snapped me back to reality, and I jolted under his touch as he prodded the bruised skin at my throat.

I gasped, my nerves frayed, terrified he would notice the missing medication the second he turned back around.

He frowned slightly, clicking his tongue under his breath. “Looks worse than I’d hoped, but you know what they say – it gets worse before it gets better.”

I nodded faintly in understanding, having gone through the same process with the bruises on my face, though my attention flicked wildly between his hands and Coban standing just behind him, calm as ever.

As though he hadn’t just stolen!

The doctor reached for the cream, turning his back to us for a moment. My pulse thundered.

And then Coban’s voice cut through the tension like a blade, smooth and deliberate:

“Is there an update on the girl with the head injury from last night?”

Sarah.

Her name cracked through my mind like lightning, my whole body snapping upright on the bed, my heart in my throat.

Finally.

Finally, he had asked the question I had been longing to hear the answer to all morning.

But the slow, dragged out sigh that left the doctor next was enough to make my heart sink into the pit of my stomach…

No…