Page 288 of Phoenix's Fire

Ayla nodded. "I stopped the bleeding." But she looked up meeting my eyes.

She was scared.

"Brielle will be back in a minute," I said. "I'm going to get the right doctor."

And I hurried out a door at the back. Not caring about what hurt, I kept going, weaving between beds and poles, and all the things that needed to be cleaned. I knew where he was. I knew the man they said could repair organs. If Kanik had a gut wound, that would be serious, and Ayla was scared.

I. Could. Help.

So I rushed into the lounge where the doctors were all getting a chance to rest. "I need Doctor Python!"

The man grunted, drawing my eye to the far side. "What do we have?"

"Kanik was wounded in the gut. Ayla removed metal, but she said it's been contaminated with dirt and debris."

Naomi jumped to her feet. "Kanik?" Her head whipped over to the other doctor. "The Dragonfly. I was told he'd died!"

"What?" I gasped. "No, he's here!"

So the large black dragon pushed his way forward, giving orders as he moved. "I need an operating room. Someone get me antibiotics. Naomi, find out that boy's blood type. If they thought he was dead, then this is serious." But he paused as he reached me. "Is he dead?"

"He's alive enough to groan," I promised. "And Ayla helped him."

"The Phoenix," Naomi clarified.

"Good work," the Python told me as he stormed out.

"Room sixteen!" I called after him. But Naomi's words stuck with me. "They thought he was dead?" I looked back at her.

She nodded. "Jeera said he didn't make it back." Then her mouth dropped open. "He was out there in the woods this whole time."

"Get the best nurses," I told her. "Ayla's worried."

"Fuck," Naomi grumbled, pushing to her feet.

She went one way. I went another. They needed an operating room, and I'd learned who did that. Reaching down, I clasped my belly, hating that I moved so slowly now. My hips felt like they didn't work right. This baby was in my way!

When I reached the nurses lounge, I stopped to lean against the door frame. "Python needs an operating room. We have one more. Gut wound. He wants antibiotics and blood. Griffin is finding his type." I didn't know what that meant, but it was one of the many things I intended to learn.

"On it!" a man called.

"I'll get drugs."

"Anesthesia!" another yelled, and they were all moving.

I managed to duck out of the way as the nurses took off. They knew what to do. They were so incredibly competent. Lives had been saved tonight, and now it was for someone I knew. Sorta knew.

No, someone my friend cared about.That waswhy this mattered so much, and I was helping. I might not be able to save him, but I would be able to say we'd done every single thing possible.

Becausethatwas the Dragon way. That was why I had to be here. This, a world I never would've been able to imagine before, might be scary and wild, but deep in my bones, I knew it was exactly where I belonged.

Ninety-One

Ayla

Zasen had to hold Rymar back when they took Kanik away. That they rolled his entire bed out of the room surprised me. The whole building did, if I was honest. People hurried in, then out, and all of us tried to stay out of their way, but something was happening.

Beside me, Holly whined. I crouched to pet her, a little surprised when she pushed in close so I would hug her. Pulling in a deep breath, I shoved my face into her fur, trying hard to ignore the way my fingers were trembling.

---