Page 109 of Something Borrowed

“Where am I?” I mutter and my voice doesn’t seem to go anywhere. It’s as though the darkness absorbs the sound as soon as it leaves my lips.

The ground beneath my feet vibrates and I crouch low to steady myself.

I wish I could see.

I wish I knew what was happening.

It sounds like an engine. Like I’m inside something, growling and rumbling as it carries me towards the unknown.

I spin in a circle, remembering the dragon, searching for it in a moment of fear. However, there is nothing.

The dragon is lost somewhere behind us.

I was with someone.

The beast.

“Beast?” I scream as loud as I can. But once more, the blackness swallows the sound. Muffled and lost and unheard.

I feel his hand on my thigh, squeezing gently.

“We’re almost at the hospital, little vixen. You’re so strong. Keep fighting.”

A loud screech of car tires skid against the tarred road as he takes a corner at incredible speed. My body rolls to the left and he grabs me, pulling me back into my seat.

I want to tell him everything in my heart.

I want to tell him how I feel.

But I can’t speak. My throat is too tight, too dry.

My eyes are too heavy. Burning from dry air and smoke.

I sigh, and even that grates against the burnt skin of my larynx, aching.

Closing my eyes I feel my body slump forwards. I can’t even hold myself up.

My flops down onto something hard. I blink up into bright, glaring white lights. “Where - “ I mutter. Then swallow away the pain.

“Hello, sweetie, my name is Lisa, I’m a nurse. You’re at the Swan Hospital. Can you tell me your name?”

“Rufino - “ I mutter again.

“Is that the man who brought you in?”

“Ruf—” his face appears above me. We are moving fast down a long white passage. People are shouting and calling out distinct orders.

“I’m right there, my love. I’m here. You’re safe.”

I close my eyes and the weight of my head becomes too much to bare. It lulls to the side, my cheek pressing against something soft.

“She’s losing consciousness again. We need to hurry.”

“Is she going to be ok?”

“Sir, please, you need to step back and let us do our jobs.”

A loud beeping piercings through the darkness of my mind.

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