Consciousness returned to Kira in fragments of bright, painful light. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block it out, but her body refused to be ignored. Everything hurt.

Her head throbbed like it had been run over by a truck, her skin prickled, and a sharp sting pulsed through her shoulder. The steady beeping of machines filled the room.

She opened her eyes, but quickly shut them again when the bright lights assaulted her sight. For a long moment, she just lay there, disoriented, trying to make sense of where she was and how she had gotten here.

Then, she sighed and turned her head to the side. Only then did she realise someone was clutching her hand. Derek was sitting in a chair pulled right up to the bed, his large hand wrapped tightly around hers. His head rested on the mattress beside her, eyes closed, face lined with exhaustion.

She started to reach out to him with her other hand to run it through his hair, but her hand paused midway as the memories of everything that had happened flooded back to her.

Ruby in Derek’s study, on his lap, kissing him, her own anger exploding, Derek chasing her down the corridor, and finally Ruby pushing her down that flight of stairs. The terrifying weightlessness as she tumbled down the stairs.

Her hand dropped back to the bed. She tried to gently pull her fingers out of Derek’s grip, but the slight movement woke him. His eyes snapped open, heavy with sleep but instantly alert when they landed on her as he raised his head.

Kira looked at him. At his open shirt, the dark circles under his eyes, the way his hair was flattened on one side from the angle at which he had been sleeping. He looked like he had not moved from that chair since they brought her in.

"Kira..." His voice was rough, but filled with relief.

She yanked her hand free completely and sat up a little, ignoring the sharp protest from her body.

"What are you doing here?"

Derek straightened in the chair, running a hand through his already messy hair. "You were unconscious. The doctors said—"

"Of course I was unconscious," Kira cut in, her voice dry and humourless. "Your mistress shoved me down the stairs. Remember?"

Derek flinched. "Nothing happened between Ruby and me. I swear it."

Kira let out a bitter laugh that turned into a wince of pain. "You expect me to believe that?"

"I expect you to believe me."

"I know what I saw, Derek."

"You saw something that was not what it looked like."

She turned her head to look at him properly. "She was in your lap. Your lips were locked." She said evenly. "Tell me what part of that I misread."

"I know what you saw. But that is not what happened."

"I want to be alone," she said abruptly.

"I’m not leaving you here by yourself," he said quietly, but firmly.

"You don’t get to decide that!" Kira snapped, her voice rising despite the pain.

"Kira."

"I don’t ever want to see you again. I’m done with this whole thing, and I need my freedom!"

He stared at her for a moment but said nothing.

"You promised we would be exclusive. You stood there and made me believe we were building something real. And then I walk in and see her with you again?"

Derek’s brows furrowed. "Again?"

"Yes, again!" Kira’s heart was pounding, and she couldn’t understand the sudden, painful squeeze in her heart. "You keep making exceptions for her. And I understand you’ve both come a long way, but I deserve some level of respect. You ditch me for her, you prefer to spend time with her, and yet you want me to play the doting wife."

"Ruby was my welfare manager," he said calmly. "We spend a lot of time together."

"Really? Is that what you think?" Kira asked. "You want to tell me you don’t see it?"

"See what?"

"That she purposely inserts herself in your orbit? It also happened on the night of the fundraiser. You let her lure you away from me, just to spend time with her. Did you think everything that happened was coincidental?"

He hadn’t thought so, but he couldn’t quite connect Ruby to it all. "The fundraiser had nothing to do with Ruby. The Umbra alert was urgent. I explained that. Why won’t you believe me?"

"Because I’m tired of your explanations!" Tears spilt down her cheeks now. "Your absence from that event has everything to do with Ruby. It’s a pattern. She removes me to replace me, and I don’t see why you can’t see that."

Derek was speechless.

"I always shrugged it off," Kira continued, sniffling. "Because I kept telling myself that my stay here was temporary, and that you both go way back and all. But then, I thought you were starting to be by my side. I thought... I thought..." She paused.

"And after we shared that intimacy, I came home to see you all over each other, in your study, where anyone could walk in."

Derek’s face twisted with frustration and something deeper — guilt. He sat on the edge of the bed and reached for her, trying to pull her into his arms. "Kira, please. Don’t stress yourself. You’re not quite strong yet."

She shoved him away, hard. "Don’t touch me. I don’t want to see you right now."

Her tears came faster. Derek looked completely lost, his hands hovering uselessly in the air. He had never seen her cry like this. His chest felt tight, almost painful.

He had no language for what he wanted to say. He had spent so many years building walls specifically to avoid needing that language, and now he was sitting on the edge of a hospital bed watching her cry and wipe it away like she was ashamed of it, and he had absolutely nothing that was enough.

"Why are you crying?" he asked. "I’m here. I’m sorry. I’m trying—"

The door opened.

Dr Adah stepped in with a chart in her hand and took one look at the room and understood immediately that she had walked into something serious.

Her eyes moved from Derek sitting on the bed to Kira, who quickly wiped her face and lay back down, turning her back to Derek. She kept her expression professional and her voice careful.

"Good morning. I’m glad to see you awake, Your Highness."

Kira turned just enough to acknowledge her. "Thank you." Her voice was composed again. "I’d like him to leave, please."

Dr Adah looked at Derek.

Derek looked at Kira’s back, then at the doctor, and said nothing.

Dr Adah crossed to him quietly and spoke in a low voice. "Your Grace. I understand this is difficult, but her blood pressure is elevated, and she is showing signs of distress."

"Why?"

"Emotionally heightened states slow the healing process significantly after a concussion. Her body needs calm right now, and if the source of her distress is present in the room, the kindest thing you can do for her recovery is to step out."

Derek’s jaw tightened. He looked away from the doctor at the rigid line of Kira’s shoulders, at the way she was holding herself completely still against the pillow, and he understood that she was not going to turn around. Not while he was here.

He stood and looked at Kira one more time, at her hair loose across the pillow, at the bruising visible along the side of her temple from where she had hit the bannister, then he walked out.

The corridor was quiet, and he moved through it with his hands clenched at his sides, releasing and clenching again, the only outward sign of what was happening beneath the surface. Leo paced inside him, furious and restless.

Time to confront Ruby.