Page 33 of Faron
“I’ve got her.” I lifted her into my arms, her blood soaking into my chest, her breath hitching in pain.
“You’re going to be okay,” I whispered. “You’re going to be okay,” I cried out for her to open her eyes. She looked at me, I saw the look she thought this was the end. “Listen to me! you are going to make it!”
32
Faron
I’ve never run so fast in my life.
Her blood soaked through my shirt, slick and hot. Her breath rattled.
Shirley and Kat were already prepping when I slammed through the door.
Kat’s face was calm. “I’ve got surgical experience.”
“Do it,” I choked out. “She’s fading.”
We got her on the table. I bent over her face, whispering, begging, kissing her lips.
“These kids need you.Ineed you. You’re not done.”
Her fingers twitched. Found mine.
Then her eyes rolled back.
“NO!” My voice cracked. “Blue! Stay with me—”
Kat pushed me gently aside. “Let us work.”
I stumbled back, hands shaking, heart screaming.
Cyclone appeared. “What happened?”
“She came in through the back. He was waiting. He wanted her dead.”
River’s face hardened. “We’ll find him.”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t take my eyes off the blood pooling under her.
This wasn’t war.
This washer.
Fifteen minutes later, Oliver walked in with Olly. The boy saw the blood on my hands and ran to me.
“Is she gonna die?”
I dropped to one knee. “No. She’s not allowed to die.”
We waited. I counted every beep of the monitor like it was keeping my heart alive too.
Then Kat came out.
“She’s stable,” she said. “Liver was hit. She’s not out of the woods, but we stopped the bleeding. An ambulance is on its way to take her to a hospital.”
I sank into the nearest chair. I felt like I’d just survived a war I wasn’t trained for.
“The ambulance will be here,” Kat warned. “Soon. But she’s holding on.”
