Chapter 129:
Brad looked at the cold tub and raised an eyebrow. “Feels like I walked into an Ice Bucket Challenge.”
“If that’s too much for you, skip it,” she said, her voice even. “Still, the Nexo-7 won’t hold up much longer. You’ll start seeing the changes when you check the mirror.”
He didn’t argue, but his face told another story. Each day, he looked more worn, his skin a touch grayer, like something was slowly draining from him.
Anyone who understood the body could see he wasn’t fine. Whatever pain he’d been suppressing had returned, stronger than before, with no signs of easing. Brad sighed, unbuttoning his shirt. “Looks like I don’t have a choice.”
Rylie turned away and moved toward the machines, letting him handle it on his own. The faint rustle of cloth reached her ears.
“All set.” Brad’s voice came from the bath, slightly muffled.
Rylie glanced over her shoulder. He sat waist-deep in the ice, only his head and shoulders above the surface.
The cold had already colored his skin, outlining the shape of his muscles beneath the freezing water.
Rylie steadied herself, reaching for the syringe that pulsed faintly with a blue glow. Under the lamp, its fine tip glinted like ice.
She walked over to the tub and knelt beside it, her eyes fixed on the vein that throbbed in Brad’s neck.
“This will sting,” she said softly, her fingers gently resting on his skin.
Just then, Brad caught her wrist, halting her. He turned partially to glance at her. “I’m not scared of pain. But the last time you used something this strong, it wrecked me.”
Deep down, he didn’t want to show such vulnerability in front of her again. Their eyes locked. The freezing bath, warmed by his body, no longer felt like a barrier. Something between them shifted.
“Then you’ll have to brace yourself for this—this one’s worse,” she told him, her voice low. “It targets your nerves. All of them.” Her tone softened slightly. “You have to endure it. I’ll help you as much as I can.”
Fresh updates available at galnoνeℓs․cøm
In that moment, the sharpness she carried melted into something steadier. Her presence exuded weight and calm, like someone you trusted without question.
“With you here, Dr. Owen, I’ve got nothing to worry about.” Brad let her go and turned his head. “Do it.”
The needle broke his skin. His body jerked.
Rylie felt his pulse spike under her fingers. The muscles in his neck snapped tight.
As the drug entered his system, his breath turned heavy. Sweat lined his forehead and slid down his jaw, dripping into the bath below.
“You’re doing fine. Just hang in there,” her voice dipped lower without meaning to. She reached up and steadied his shoulder.
His body shivered beneath her hand, trembling as the compound lit up every nerve it touched.
The second the last bit of fluid emptied, Brad abruptly lifted his head. His throat flexed, and a soft groan left his lips, low and rough.
Veins branched out in his eyes like spiderwebs, and he leaned forward without meaning to, dragged by a force he couldn’t resist.
.
.
.