Darn Stupid Brother You Are by Mairee

Chapter 55

(Angel's POV)

The end of the confinement week came with a sense of relief, but the unease in the air was clear. It wasn't like things would go back to normal-whatever that even meant in this place. I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at the empty hallway from my dorm window, my thoughts swirling. Dr. Nixon was clearly stalling. The escape plan and the journal-everything had gone quiet since our last conversation, and I couldn't shake the feeling that time was slipping away. The last time Hendrix and I sneaked into the West Wing, we were almost caught. This time had to be different, and I had to be smarter. But first, I had to talk to him.

I hadn't seen Hendrix since that night-the night in the basement when everything between us got even a thousand times more complicated. My face flushed just thinking about it. Every time I let my mind wander back to those moments, a knot formed in my stomach. Guilt and excitement and confusion-all mixed into one huge mess.

But I couldn't let that stop me. There was too much at stake.

I found him sitting near one of the vending machines in the lounge area and casually sipping from a can of soda like nothing had happened. I approached slowly and felt my heart pounding. The closer I got, the more I felt the awkwardness between us. His gaze flicked up to meet mine, and for a brief second, I saw the tension-the same tension I was feeling.

But then he smiled, cool and composed like always. "Hey."

"Hey," I replied, and my voice was more steady than I felt. I swallowed hard and took a seat next to him, and our knees almost touched. "We need to talk."

He raised an eyebrow and pretended to take another sip. "About?"

"You know exactly what." I sighed and glanced around the empty room. "The West Wing."

Hendrix's expression didn't change much, but I could tell he was interested. He leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his messy hair. "And here I thought you were going to bring up... other things."

tried to ignore the way my pulse quickened. "Look, I know things are awkward right now, but that's not what this is about. Nixon's stalling and

to the ground. "So,

go back. Tonight,"

over. Then, with a soft sigh, he sat up straight. "Alright. Let's do it. But we've got to be smarter this time. We barely made it

relief. At least he wasn't pushing to talk about...

I agreed.

...

of the dimly lit hallways near the West Wing. My heart thudded in my chest as I glanced around and made sure no one was nearby. Hendrix stood close and scanned the area with

silent. This time, we knew what we were getting into or at least,

filing drawers. The faint

and pointed to a small room

like no one had been in there for a while. Papers were scattered across the desk, some half-stuffed into drawers. We started searching, flipping through documents and rifling through folders. My hands trembled slightly as I pulled out a particularly

asked and looked

opened it, and my breath caught in my throat as I scanned the contents. The file contained patient names, schedules, and...

muttered and showed Hendrix one of the pages. "Ava's name is all over these documents. She's... involved in all

the papers from me, reading through them. "Ava?

felt a sick twist in my gut. "I always knew she was off. I was right. But... this? I didn't think she could

dark look crossed his face. "So... you're telling me I've been sleeping

laugh that escaped my lips.