Page 75 of Lords of Ruin: Cherished

"Willow!" Her name tears from my throat before I can even see the crash site.

Then the crowd parts, and I see it—her father's car, the one she'd been so proud to inherit, crumpled against a telephone pole. The driver's side is completely caved in, metal twisted like paper. Emergency responders swarm around it like ants, their movements urgent and practiced.

And then I see her.

The jaws of life are still peeling back the roof of the car, the metal groaning in protest. In the harsh spotlight from the emergency vehicles, I catch glimpses of her—pale skin, dark hair matted with blood, the unnatural stillness of her body as they work to extract her.

"WILLOW!" This time it's a scream, ripped from somewhere primal and desperate inside me. I lunge forward, shoving past bystanders, my only thought to reach her.

A police officer steps into my path, arms outstretched. "Sir, you need to stay back?—"

"That's my girlfriend!" I roar, trying to push past him. "Let me through! I need to get to her!"

Two more officers appear, forming a human barrier between me and Willow. One of them, a woman with sympathetic eyes, places a firm hand on my chest. "Sir, please. The paramedics need space to work. You'll only delay them."

"Her heart," I gasp, struggling against their hold. "She has a mechanical heart—it's failing—they need to know?—"

Behind me, Damien steps forward, his voice steadier than mine though it wavers at the edges. "She has a LVAD mechanical heart. It's experiencing critical failure according to her monitoring app. They need this information immediately."

The female officer hesitates, then nods to her colleague who runs toward the paramedics.

Vincent grabs my shoulder, his fingers digging in painfully. "Cast, they're getting her out. Look."

I follow his gaze just in time to see them finally free her from the wreckage. Her body looks impossibly small and broken on the backboard as they lift her clear of the destroyed vehicle. Her face is obscured by an oxygen mask, arms limp at her sides. One of the paramedics is already performing chest compressions as they rush her toward the waiting ambulance.

"No, no, no," I moan, my knees threatening to buckle. "Let me go to her! Please!"

"Cast, stop," Damien hisses, grabbing my arm. "We’ll meet them at the hospital.”

The police take advantage, pushing us further back from the scene.

"Your girlfriend is in critical condition," the female officer says, her voice deliberately calm. "The paramedics are doing everything they can. They know about her heart condition now."

Vincent steps up, his face ghost-white but composed. "Which hospital are they taking her to?"

"County General," she replies. "It's the closest and has the best trauma center."

I watch helplessly as they load Willow into the ambulance, the doors slamming shut with terrible finality. The siren wails to life as it pulls away, carrying her further from me with each passing second.

"We need to go," I say, my voice hoarse from screaming. "Now."

Damien is already pulling me back toward my abandoned car. "I'll drive," he says, taking the keys from my shaking hands. "Vincent, call her mother. And the hospital—tell them she's coming in with a mechanical heart failure."

As we race back to the car, I glance over my shoulder one last time at the wreckage that nearly claimed her. Something glints in the emergency lights—a small object on the ground near where they pulled her out.

Before I can identify it, Damien yanks me into the car, and we're speeding toward the hospital, chasing the ambulance that carries the only future that matters to me.

23

CAST

"Willow Carter!" I slap the receptionist table, barking at the woman behind the counter.

The receptionist flinches, her eyes widening at my outburst. She recovers quickly, her expression hardening as she places her hands flat on the counter.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to lower your voice. This is a hospital."

"I don't care!" I shout, feeling the heat rise in my face. My hands are trembling, and I can barely keep myself upright. "Willow Carter was just brought in by ambulance. We need to see her. Now!"

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