Page 134 of To Ashes and Dust
Another nurse echoed a response almost immediately. “Yes?”
Anna voice quickened. “I need you to see what we have in stock. Morphine—Lipitor—epinephrine—aspirin. Whatever we’ve got bring it, and we need to prep a cardiac cath—”
I pulled myself away, trying not to listen to the things Anna was preparing to do to Cassie. My hands shook as I grabbed my phone and quickly called James.
James’ voice was groggy as he answered. “Hey, Dam—”
“I need you to pull up every medical file you can on Cassie. I don’t care what you need to do.”
His voice became clearer, concerned. “Is everythin’ ok? Whit hap—”
“There’s no time. I need that information, now. Where are you? I’m bringing you down to Johnson’s office.”
“Ah’m home,” he groaned, and bedsheets rustled in the background. I hung up as I glanced to Vincent sitting in a chair just outside the curtains surrounding Cassie’s bed. His head was tilted downward, his eyes staring at nothing.
“I’ll be right back.”
Vincent nodded in a daze, his gaze remaining fixed, and I slipped back through the shadows, emerging into James’ living room.
“I’m here!” I called out. James rushed down the stairs, pulling his sweater over his head as he made it to the base of the stairs.
“Whit’s goin’ oon? Is everythin’ ok?” he asked as he grabbed his coat and laptop case.
“Darklings attacked The Complex,” I answered, turning back into the darkness swirling in the corner of his living room. He followed close behind, his laptop bag tucked under his arm. My feet were leaden, the drain of magic beginning to wear on me.
“Christ,” James breathed as we emerged in Johnson’s office, his eyes finding the numerous immortals taking shelter here. “Where’s everyone? Ur they ok?”
I bit back the pain that rose at the question. “Anna thinks Cassie’s having a heart attack. I think it’s what Selene warned us about. I need everything on her medical history. How fast can you have that ready?”
James swallowed, finding a chair and table to set up his laptop. “Ah shuid be able tae get into eh EHR an’ get ye somethin’ quickly; mibbe ten minutes?”
“As quickly as you can,” I pleaded, turning to head back toward Cassie’s bed. James had plenty of experience hacking into medical systems and bypassing security for the occasional incidents where immortals had wound up unconscious and admitted into hospitals. We’d had to destroy medical records, security footage, and any other leads too many times. If anyone could get that information, it was him.
Anna’s voice drifted from the curtain. “I’m calling a STEMI. We’re going to need that cardiac cath. I want to get her moved into a room.”
“How is she—" I froze at the sight of her as I drew back the curtain, unconscious, nodes stuck to various places on her chest as Anna worked.
“She’s okay, Damien. The morphine knocked her out,” Anna assured me, and I had to brace myself against the bed. Anna’s eyes fell as she turned to look back at the machine.
The other nurse, Mary, was hard at work preparing IVs on the other side, and I’d come in just as she was sliding a second needle into a vein in the crook of Cassie’s elbow.
“Is James getting that information?” Anna asked.
“He is. What did you find?” I asked.
She swallowed, Mary briefly meeting her gaze. “Sheishaving a heart attack. We’re giving her something to help, but...”
Her eyes dipped, unable to meet my gaze. “It’s not good, Damien.” She drew a deep breath. “I’m limited here. Heart issues aren’t common in our race, and we don’t have a heavy stock of the supplies we’d need to treat a human. We do keep a few things on hand for the humans who serve our kind, but we’re limited.”
“If I need to break into a hospital, I will. Just tell me what you nee—”
“This is the last of what we have, but I found some,” a nurse, Kris, said as she emerged through the curtains, carrying an assortment of things.
Anna took the medications to look at them, rattling off how much to give.
“Ah hev it up, Anna,” James called from the other side of the curtain.
Anna’s head whipped to him, and she nodded to the two nurses to get to work. “Mary, remove the nodes and get her cleaned up. We need to start assessing her other wounds once she’s fully stabilized. Kris, prep a room for her and let me know as soon as it’s ready. We’re going to have to do it without Dr. Johnson.”
