Chapter Twenty-Nine Faith

"

N

oah ?"

Faith struggled into a sitting position. She had known that Noah was in the hospital, but she hadn't dared to hope that he would find her. Not so quickly, anyway.

But was it quickly? Since her arrival, she had been drifting in and out of consciousness. Who knew how long she had been in the Emergency Department?

Resting a finger on his lips, Noah stepped inside the curtain. "Hey."

"How are you here?" She leaned back on the pillows again. "And what time is it?"

"It's nine p.m.," he whispered, gesturing at the machine. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I must have passed out. At the memorial. Because of the…" She inhaled deeply. "When I left the library, I stole some very powerful painkillers."

"That's what you had on the stage?" He stepped closer, his face clouding over. "You took one, right? Are you–?"

"Wait." Faith blinked, trying to clear her head. "How do you–?"

"I was there."

"So you…" she swallowed hard. "Oh, Noah."

He dropped his head. "I knew about the execution. Thought maybe I could get to him. Do something." His shoulders sagged. "I was wrong."

"I'm so sorry." Faith struggled to find words. "It must have been… I mean, it was…"

"Awful." The reply was gruff. "Yes."

"I tried to… but I couldn't…" She reached out a hand. "There was nothing I–"

"Nothing anyone could have done." He took her hand in his. "But thanks. For trying, I mean. You and Robyn had more success than I did."

Faith bit her lip, trying to keep control.

"Robyn." Faith felt a physical ache inside her. "She was… she tried so–"

"I know." His voice faltered. "She was outnumbered. She didn't stand a chance."

"It was… terrible." Leaning forward, Faith thrust her free arm around his neck. "She gave her life for nothing."

"Not nothing." Returning her embrace, Noah put his lips close to her ear. "Means a lot that she tried so hard to save him."

They fell silent for a moment, drawing what strength they could from one another. When Noah pulled back, Faith resisted.

"Listen." He eased away, loosening her grip. "There's nothing we can do for them now. We have to focus on you." He stared at her, his gaze earnest. "Tell me more about those pills."

"I stole a bunch of them. To threaten Danforth. And it worked… for a while. But I only managed to take one. Not enough to…" Faith shifted position, remembering the moment she'd raised her hand to her lips. How certain she'd been. "And then Hammond–"

"Stopped y-you." Noah's voice broke. "I'm glad she did. Where did you get the pills?"

"Anna was giving them to Sophia."

"Ma?" He stiffened. "She's in the city?"

"Oh. Yes." Of course, he didn't know. "She came–"

"Because of Flynn."

"Yes."

He took a moment to digest the information, then nodded at her to continue.

"Anyway, the pills have a kind of… sedative effect. I guess that's why I passed out."

"How do you feel now?"

She closed her eyes, scanning her body. "Not as bad as I did. Just…" she tried to recall what Anna had said, "I guess even the low dose will affect me for a while longer. I don't feel faint anymore, but the medics seemed concerned about my blood pressure."

Noah's eyebrows leapt under his hair. "What's wrong with–"

She waved away his concern. "It's a little on the low side. Side effect of the meds, Anna said, when she gave them to Sophia." She nodded at the curtain. "From what I can tell, they just want to keep an eye on me, until I'm in better shape."

He shifted closer, brushing some hair away from her face. Laid a gentle hand on her forehead. Apparently satisfied that she was a normal temperature, he closed the gap between them again.

The sound of a door opening at the end of the ward made her stiffen. "Won't you be in trouble for…" she gestured at their closeness.

"The way I feel right now," he sighed, "I don't much care."

She pulled away from him. "Don't talk like that. I know… I know it's terrible, but you can't… we can't…" She frowned. "You'd be severely punished for this, wouldn't you?"

"If they caught me," he whispered. "But I'll make sure they don't."

For a moment, they both listened. There was a hum of distant conversation, followed by the slamming of a door. Then, silence again.

"See?" Noah pulled her close again. "All good."

Faith relaxed slightly, allowing herself to lean into him. Eventually, he pulled away.

"I should say… I don't want you to think I've forgotten…" He cursed softly. "I'm sorry about Sophia." He hesitated. "I know how much she meant to you. She… she didn't deserve to..."

Faith felt her eyes fill with tears. ""I was with her when… at the end. It was awful."

His eyes were on her, gentle, kind. But something was bothering him.

"What is it?"

"There's something I have to tell you."

A sense of dread settled over her. "Go on."

"I spoke to another drudge. Friend of Rowan's. He's been helping me. He heard something." When he reached for her hand, Faith got the sense he was trying to soften a blow. "The reason Sophia died… well, it's because she was taken off the metraxilone."

Faith stared at him. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that Sanders had done tests on animals before she started using metraxilone on human subjects. The rats who were taken off it… without warning, I mean… well, they all suffered withdrawal symptoms so severe that…" He couldn't look her in the eye.

"They died?" Faith inhaled sharply. "So when we took Sophia out of the hospital… when we thought we were saving her, we were actually… we were…"

"There's no way we could have known." Noah shook his head. "We had no access to the reports… to any documentation about the drug. It wasn't our fault."

"But it could have been prevented, if…"

"If she hadn't been subjected to the drug in the first place." He regarded her sternly. "Don't blame yourself." After a beat, he pushed on. "There are others to consider, though."

Faith's hand flew to her mouth. "The academy girls. Kemp was worried someone would start questioning why the metraxilone wasn't having an effect. If they figure out they're giving the girls placebos…" She shuddered. "I mean, there's a plan in place to rescue the girls, but if they don't do it soon–"

"They will."

"But you have to…" Faith curled her hand into a fist. "I'm no use to you now. Not stuck in here. You'll have to get the message through some other way." She sat bolt upright. "Go to headquarters. Tell them yourself."

"No way. If you think I'm leaving you here…" He held her gaze. "I'm sure Madeleine will send someone over here soon. Especially now you're here. I can speak to them then."

"No!" She grasped his hand as tightly as she could. "You have to go now. The sooner they know, the better."

"But–"

The door at the end of the ward banged open again. They both stiffened. This time, there was no mistaking the sound of approaching footsteps. Noah leaned close, his mouth moving against her ear. "I'll get a message to them somehow," he whispered. "And I'll get you out of here. I promise. I won't let them use you like they did Sophia."

"They'll never do that to me." She drew back from him. "I won't let them."

Outside, the footsteps were getting closer. Noah stepped away from the bed.

"I'll come for you." He mouthed the words. "Somehow."

A buzzing sound filled the air. The footsteps stopped.

"Could you get that, Carol?" the voice came from the other side of the ward.

Grateful for the interruption, Faith held out her hand, pulling Noah down until their lips met. Closing her eyes, she savoured the moment. Who knew when they'd be together again?

"I'll see you soon." He backed away. "I promise."

She managed a smile. "I'm going to hold you to that."