Page 62 of The Outcast
“She’s breathing but so far she still hasn’t opened her eyes.”
“We need to get her to a hospital.” Aubri closed the door and instructed the drone to take off.
When the drone’s operating system asked for a destination, she told it south.
I took off my wet clothes and dried myself with blankets. After wrapping one of them around my waist like a towel, I stayed by Sparrow’s side trying to coax her into opening her eyes. One time her eyelids twitched a little, but she didn’t surface from whatever deep place she was in.
“We have Sparrow but she’s barely alive. We pulled her up from a lake.”
I raised my head and listened in as Aubri talked to her father.
“How long was she under water?”
“Long enough that we had to do CPR to get her to breathe again.”
“She was under for at least four minutes,” I said as I had already gone back in my recorded memory to check.
“What about Keith?” Magni asked. His voice sharp and rugged like cliffs looming with the threat of landslides.
“I shot him.”
With no judgment or scolding in his tone, Magni simply said, “And his body?”
“It’s by the lake. We left him.”
“Hmm, there’s a military hospital about twenty-five minutes from you. We’re sending you the coordinates. Take Sparrow straight to them.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll call off the search and make sure the medical team is ready to receive her when you arrive.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
Magni rumbled again, “Do you want to call Archer and Kya yourself or do you want us to do it?”
“You tell Archer and then we’ll call Kya. She’s with my mom anyway,” Indiana said. Aubri nodded.
“Good. We’ll meet you at the hospital.”
Aubri sat by Sparrow’s side the whole time she was talking to Magni. We were all monitoring Sparrow, but at least her breathing was stable.
“Sparrow, can you hear me?” Aubri caressed Sparrow’s cheek with her face marred in sorrow. “I’m about to call your mother. It would be so great if you could wake up and she could hear your voice.”
My thumb caressed her cheek and while Aubri called Kya and Christina, I whispered in Sparrow’s ear. “I love you, Sparrow. Nothing would make me happier than you waking up. Do you hear me? I love you!”
Kya answered right away and Aubri burst out. “We have Sparrow.”
A scream sounded from the other end of the connection. “Is she okay? Is she alive?”
“We’re on our way to a hospital. She’s unconscious but breathing.”
“What happened?”
“She has burn wounds and unfortunately she was submerged in water long enough that we had to do CPR.”
“What?” Kya cried. “Is she gonna be okay?”
“We have her on oxygen and we’re flying as fast as we can to the hospital.”
