Page 119 of Shadowed Hearts: Frost
The crash echoes through the hallway as equipment scatters across the floor, syringes, surgical tools, everything sliding across polished concrete.
Damian approaches with caution. His gray eyes track possible strike points.
"Stay the fuck away!" I roar, grabbing a portable monitor, cables trailing like electronic intestines and hurling it at him. He sidesteps, the machine exploding against the wall in a shower of plastic and sparks.
"What the fuck?" The voice cuts through my rage like a blade.
I spin toward the sound. Kade stands in the medical bay doorway, his massive frame filling the space, Alina beside him. Her green eyes are wide with shock, taking in the destruction.
But I don't care about their horror. Can't process anything beyond the flat line on that fucking monitor visible through the doorway behind them.
"She's dying!" I scream at all of them, at the universe, at whatever god let Sarah die and now wants Vanessa too. I turntowards Chaos again. "She's fucking dying and you're trying to—"
Arms like steel cables wrap around me from behind. Kade's massive frame locks me in a bear hug, my feet lifting off the ground as he restrains me with controlled force.
"Let me go!" I thrash against his hold, throwing my head back to catch him in the face. "LET ME GET TO HER!"
My legs kick out wildly at the empty air. My shoulders strain against his grip. But Kade is immovable, an unbreakable wall of strength and resolve pinning me in place as I shatter completely.
"We've got a heartbeat!" Remy's voice cuts through my rage like salvation. "Weak and thready, but it's there!"
The fight dies out of me instantly. My body goes slack in Kade's arms as if someone cut my strings. He releases me carefully, and I collapse to my knees on the cold floor.
"Heart rate is rising," Remy announces from inside the medical bay. "The counteragent's working."
I scramble forward on hands and knees, crawling back through the doorway to Vanessa's bedside. The monitor beeps irregularly but persistently. Her chest rises with a shallow breath. Then another.
Alive. Fighting.
I kneel beside the examination table, my bloodied hands finding hers again. The faint flutter beneath her skin registers against my fingertips. It's weak but growing stronger with each minute that passes.
Cole works frantically at his monitoring station, coordinating readouts and medication timing while maintaining careful distance from my position. Xander leans against the doorframe, blood streaming down his face from his broken nose, his brown eyes holding shock rather than anger.
Jax pushes himself off the floor in the hallway where I threw him, one hand pressed to his ribs.
"Jesus Christ," he breathes, but there's no accusation in his voice. Just stunned recognition.
My vision clears gradually, like emerging from underwater. Through the medical bay doorway, I can see the devastation I've left behind.
Shattered monitors hanging from twisted mounts, equipment scattered across the floor like electronic carnage, scorch marks on the walls where sparks flew. The metallic taste in my mouth intensifies as the scope of destruction registers.
I look down at my hands. Split skin across my knuckles weeps crimson mixed with Xander's blood. I flex my fingers, watching torn flesh pull apart, feeling the sting of exposed nerve endings.
The reality crashes into me like a freight train.
My brothers. My team, my family…and I put my hands on them. Hurt them. Drew blood.
I press my bloodied fist against my mouth, teeth against knuckles, tasting copper and salt. My chest heaves with breaths that seem impossible to complete. The muscles in my jaw spasm as fragments of control try to reassert themselves and fail.
Damian stands motionless near the equipment area, observing with those gray eyes that see everything. No judgment. Just recognition of a pain he understands intimately.
Alina watches me from beside Kade, her own cheeks wet. Something passes between us, understanding? Horror? Compassion? Right now, I don't have the capacity to process.
"This isn't just about Vanessa," Kade says quietly, moving closer with the careful deliberation of someone approaching a wounded animal. His eyes hold mine, knowing. Understanding.
Sarah.
The unspoken name hits like a bullet to the brain. Everything I've kept locked away bursts free at once.
