Page 32 of Absolution

“Steve! Take’em to the hospital. Fast as fuck. They’re frozen blue. We’ll go find Ray.”

I’m moving, rocking, a humming sound, soothing. A car? Cece!

“She’s right next to ya, Kerry. We’re takin’ you to the hospital. Ya’re lucky to be alive.”

I didn’t even know I’d said something.

Cold. I’m so cold.

Light.

I close my eyes again. I squint hard and open one eye just a tiny crack. Light! I close it again.

Someone’s sitting on my chest. I inhale, try to inhale, try to expand my chest, but it’s impossible. Then I fight to breathe through the eruption of coughs that follow. I need to open my eyes. Who’s sitting on my chest?

Light. Hard, white light. Snow? No. Not snow. White ceiling.

I’m alone. If no one’s sitting on my chest, then why does it feel so heavy? A soft, steady beeping penetrates my chilled mind and a stream of cool air fills my nostrils. Panicking, I tear at my face and end up with a thin plastic cord between my fingers.

“Kerry.” The voice is soft, female, caring. “Kerry.”

I open my eyes to stare at a woman I’ve never seen before, and a white ceiling I have seen before. I recognize her voice. I’ve heard it in my dreams. Cecilia! I gasp and try to sit up but her hand is stronger. “Ce—” I rasp. I cough myself sweaty and not until my chest calms down can I hear her again.

“She’s doing fine, Kerry. She’s in the pediatric ICU but she’s a strong girl, she’s doing fine.” She reattaches the cord to my face and adjusts it. “Don’t take this off, honey. You need the oxygen.”

“I need to see her!”

“You need to get well, but we’ll arrange for her to be brought here. You’re far worse off than her. You’re lucky to be here.”

I stare at her. I’m not the one who’s ill.

“What?”

“When they brought you in you were critically hypothermic and you have bilateral pneumonia. We had to support your breathing the first night.”

The first…?

I try to sit up again but she holds me down. “You need to take it easy, love. You need your rest.” She adjusts something where bags of fluids are connected to lines that disappear into bandages on my arms. “We’ll bring her to you a little later today, okay?”

“How long have I been here?”

“You’ve been comatose for two days. Today is your third day here.”

Christian!

“Have…” I lick my lips and fight the intense urge to cough, I need to ask this. “Have they found him?” My voice wavers pathetically.

A fleeting look of pity passes over her features. “Your friend was found right next to your house. I’m sorry.” She lays a hand on my arm and holds it there, for comfort, to keep me still. “You’ve been through a lot.”

Next to my house?How did he get there? Then I realize she isn’t talking about Christian.

She clears her throat. “Actually, there’s someone who will be very happy to hear you’re awake. Officer Tremblay has requested to see you on several occasions.”

The door falls closed with a whisper.

The curtains are half closed. It’s dark outside. Officer Frederic Tremblay takes up the whole room.

I lay my hand protectively over Cece’s sleeping form in the bed next to me as the hulking giant of a man invades the room. Taking off his cap, he pulls a chair closer, scraping it across the floor, the sound cutting painfully into my over-sensitized mind. He is surprisingly graceful as he folds his body into a sitting position, on a chair that looks like it’ll collapse beneath him, before extending a hand to me.

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