Grandma's hands were shaking, and all at once she slapped herself across the face.
I caught both her hands, and my stomach dropped.
"What happened?"
Two lines of murky tears ran down, and her lips trembled.
"A few men just barged into the ward and took the card away."
"It's Grandma's fault, useless Grandma couldn't keep it safe!"
She beat at her own legs, her face full of remorse.
I opened my mouth, but no sound would come out, and the darkness came over my eyes in waves.
Grandma gripped my arm, the hatred in her eyes almost spilling over.
"Those men were the same ones who came to take our house yesterday!"
I thought of running into John Swanson downstairs just now, of that unreadable smile on his face.
It was him.
I turned and rushed out.
From a distance I saw the figure in the wheelchair.
"John Swanson!"
Eyes red, I ran up to him and stretched out my hand.
"Give me back the money!"
He tilted his head, all innocence.
"Jacob, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Stop pretending!"
I grabbed the arm of his wheelchair and begged.
"Whatever you've got against me, take it out on me. I'll give up Georgia James too. Just give me back the money."
"I'm begging you. All I want is the money."
He stared at me for a moment, and then his eyes slowly reddened, his body starting to shake.
"Jacob, you're scaring me."
The next second I was shoved aside by some force.
Georgia James yanked my arm, fury churning in her eyes.
"You really never learn, dragging your scene right up in front of John."
"Looks like I went too easy on you yesterday."
I let out a few laughs, a dull ache tearing at my chest, and the look in my eyes when I turned to her was dead.
"I only wanted him to give me back my money."
Georgia knit her brows at that.
"You lost your money?"
"If the money's gone, you earn it back. What are you doing making a scene in front of John?"
I flung her arm off and screamed, breaking apart.
"There's no time! I don't have time to earn it!"
Georgia's temper flared too, and she slapped me across the face.
"What do you mean, no time!"
"I spoiled you too long, and now the laziness in your bones is showing!"
"You're nothing but a lump of mud that'll never hold to a wall."
Once, she'd called me wild grass. Tough. One of a kind. She'd said she was drawn to me, deeply.
Now she called me mud.
My throat worked, swallowing down the sweet, bloody taste filling my mouth.
She turned John's wheelchair and started to leave.
"Jacob, I am so disappointed in you."
My body went rigid, but I didn't miss the flash of triumph in John's eyes.
Inside his drooping sleeve, the familiar face of the card flashed by.
I lunged at him, only to be kicked away by Georgia.
Then two bodyguards pinned me hard to the ground.
"Jacob, that's enough!"
The wound in my chest seemed to be getting worse, and black spots began to swim across my vision.
A commotion suddenly broke out somewhere in the distance.
A nurse ran past, her face grim.
"Someone jumped from the inpatient ward. No vital signs, confirmed."
"Just admitted last night. Word is it's because their money got stolen."
The voices around me blurred and drifted away, until all that was left in my ears was my own heavy breathing.
In the end, I couldn't hold it back, and coughed up a mouthful of bloody sweetness.
As my consciousness faded, I felt someone lifting me up.
They were talking.
"Take him back."
"Boss said his life belongs to the ring now."
Little by little, my consciousness sank completely into the dark.
……
The hospital parking lot.
Georgia James lifted John Swanson from the wheelchair and helped him settle steadily into the back seat.
As she straightened up, someone came hurrying over and said a few words close to her ear.
The next second, the color drained from Georgia's face.
