Where the Wind Whispers (Seasons of Betrayal Book 3) Read Online Free

chaotic thoughts on the present, Kaz let Violet’s hold anchor him as he felt another set of his hands on him. The scent of antiseptic assaulted his senses as the man, a doctor he assumed, carefully removed the tube from his mouth and throat.
    He gagged, renewed pain assaulting him as it was pulled free. It felt like someone was pulling knives out of him. Once it was gone, Kaz finally dragged in a breath, even with the agony it caused.
    Pain only meant he had survived.
    Commotion was all around him as the doctors checked his vitals and listed off details to Violet, he thought, since he could barely comprehend what they were saying.
    “He’s making good progress,” someone to his left said. “With the extent of his … injury, and the minor case of pneumonia, his recovery time is unknown at this point. Had it only been one or the other, we might have been able to give a more definitive answer, but as of now, only time will tell.”
    Not much longer, the room was emptying, and silence returned once more.
    Kaz hated it.
    But as he tried to open his mouth to speak, the pain flared again, making him groan.
    “The doctors said it was going to take a while,” Violet said softly, her voice closer than it had been before. “Don’t try to talk just yet.”
    Kaz wished at that moment that he was able to open his eyes, just so he could see her face, but already, he could feel what little strength he had waning—the abyss threatening to swallow him again.
    “Sleep,” she said a moment before she touched his face. “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
    He couldn’t fight it if he tried.
     

     
    Three days.
    Or at least that was the length of time Kaz suspected he was in and out of consciousness since that first day he had woken up. Weaker than he had ever been, it had taken much longer than he would have liked to actually stay awake instead of just drifting off.
    When nurses weren’t walking in and out of his private room to stick him with needles, drawing blood, and changing his fluids, there was the doctor that came in and out periodically to update him on his condition.
    He was fucking tired of it.
    With the wound to his throat, he still wasn’t supposed to try speaking just yet, though they had promised once it healed more, all would be fine. He was just ready to go home. The smell of the hospital was making him nauseous, and the idea of having to stay there for even a day longer made him feel like he was about to lose his mind.
    But there was no point in saying he was ready to go home—not with Violet in the room with him, hanging on the doctor’s every word.
    Kaz might not have been able to talk, but once he was staying awake longer than just a few minutes at a time, a pad and a pen had been given to him to write down anything he needed.
    He only wanted one thing at the moment …
    “We can’t take you home yet,” Violet said, glaring at him even as she moved to the head of his bed to fluff his pillow. “The doctor said—don’t give me that,” she said as he rolled his eyes, tossing the pen down. “In case you don’t remember, you were in a coma , Kaz. You’re staying here until you’re discharged.”
    For fuck’s sake.
    It didn’t matter how many times he told her he was fine—that he could recover at home just as well as he could in the hospital—she wasn’t hearing it. Kaz had to resign himself to the fact that he was going to be stuck there until someone signed off on the paperwork.
    Worse, he wasn’t able to bribe anyone into letting him go sooner because Violet made it a point to remain at his side, at least whenever he was awake. At the moment, he couldn’t decide whether he loved her for it or hated it.
    “You look like shit,” Rus announced as he strolled into the room with a cup of coffee in hand. “But at least you’re not dead.”
    Gone was his usual suit, replaced with jeans and a shirt with a faded logo. He was casual—almost too casual.
    He might not have been able to