Page 109 of Devil May Lie

It was like a switch went off in Berga’s head.

Carefully, he settled Madden down on the ground and searched his own pockets. A few of the vials had broken in his fall, but Berga barely noticed the glass that stabbed through his thighs. He pulled out one with a maroon cap and made a sound of relief. It was dangerous to put all those open wounds on the dirty ground but…

Berga rolled Madden over onto his back, wincing at the thought of how much that would hurt if the man were conscious. Then he pressed two fingers to the side of his throat, feeling for a pulse.

Which wasn’t there.

“No, no, no.” Berga popped the top of the vial and brought it to Madden’s lips, pouring all the contents into his mouth. As soon as he was sure it’d gone in, he started chest compressions, slipping into CPR just as someone dropped to their knees on the other side of the Mad King’s body.

“What do I do?” Sila genuinely asked.

“Do you know CPR?”

He nodded and got into position. “Tell me when to switch, and I’ll take over.”

“Okay, right,” Berga pulled back, “now!”

Sila started up where he left off, giving Berga the chance to turn his attention to the massive, wound in Madden’s side. He had to staunch the bleeding but couldn’t trust removing the metal bar.

He tore off his lab coat and pressed against the injury, panic brewing as red began to seep through and stain the material. “He needs to be taken to the hospital!”

“I’ve already called,” Bay reassured. He’d been standing nearby with a bunch of other staff and students.

“They’ll take too long.” Flix pushed through the crowd. “Put him in my hovercar! We’ll take him straight there!”

“Can he be moved?” Berga asked Sila.

The younger man finished up a rescue breath and then checked. “There’s a pulse, but it’s weak.”

“Get him in the car and sit back there with him,” Flix suggested.

Berga nodded his head. “Drive closer.”

His best friend was right. If they waited for the ambulance, Madden would bleed out. This was their best chance.

He caught Sila’s gaze and warned, “I can’t lose him.”

“I’ll help you,” Sila swore.

They had Madden loaded into Flix’s car in less than three minutes.

Chapter 27:

“You should get cleaned up,” Flix suggested, reaching for Berga’s arm.

He flung him away, eyes locked on the unconscious man laid out in bed before them.

Flix sighed in exasperation. “You’ve been like this for two days. You haven’t eaten. I bet you’d still be in those same clothes if the doctors hadn’t insisted on removing them so they could give you a checkup while he was in surgery.”

Madden’s surgery had lasted exactly thirteen hours and twenty-six minutes.

They’d been told he was mostly out of the woods, but now, over a day later, he still hadn’t woken.

Others were in the room with them, including Rebecca, who was sitting right at Madden’s side, holding his hand. Their parents were away on a business trip on another planet. According to her, they were trying to make it back as fast as they could after receiving the news.

Kelevra had been there earlier, but he wasn’t there now. Same could be said for the rest of the Retinue and some of the Satellite. It seemed like people kept coming and going in a blur of motion.

But not Berga.

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