Page 133 of To Ashes and Dust
Shadows stretched out from the darkness of the nearby building, and I hurried through to Johnson’s office, Vincent close behind me. I couldn’t allow my mind to wander as panic crept in, threatening to swallow me whole.
“Anna!” Vincent called as I searched for Johnson. Zephyr was no longer in the bed we’d placed him on, and the room spun as my eyes settled on the bloodied sheets. Where’d they taken him?
“Dr. Johnson’s in surgery with Zephyr,” Anna said as she rushed toward us. Her eyes fell on Cassie, her eyes widening at her wounds. “Oh my Gods, let’s get her in a bed.”
“Something’s wrong, Anna. She keeps clutching her chest,” I said as Anna guided me to a clean bed. She pulled the curtains closed around us.
“Does she have a history of heart complications?” Anna asked as I lowered Cassie onto the bed.
“I... I don’t know. She’s never mentioned anything.”
Anna leaned past the curtain, her words sharp and fast. “Mary! I need an EKG on bed three!”
“On it, Anna!” a female voice responded, her heavy footfalls echoing off the walls as she rushed down the hall.
“Cas, can you hear me?” Anna asked calmly, her voice kind and gentle despite the speed at which the words left her lips.
Everything was happening too fast, and yet... too slow at the same time. Cassie’s lashes lifted, agony filling those hazel eyes I loved so much. Her lips parted as she panted, but no words came. She nodded, but then her eyes clamped shut as her face contorted again.
Had I missed something? I wracked my mind for any signs, any details I might have overlooked. I clenched my hands into fists at my side, resisting the urge to punch something as my skin crawled. I shouldn’t have fucking left them. I should have stayed.
“Vincent, I’m going to need room,” Anna said abruptly, her tone firm as she stepped around to a nearby monitor.
Vincent swallowed and nodded, stepping back through the curtain in a daze.
My heart twisted for him, for the hollow pain consuming him. His cousin was gone, Barrett was... “Gods dammit.”
“Cas, we’re going to remove your armor, ok?” Cas didn’t acknowledge her, and Anna lifted her eyes to me. “Damien, I need to open her armor. I can’t check anything through this leather. Can you help me?” Anna reached for the buckles of her harnesses.
“Watch out,” I said, brushing her hands aside as I pulled my dagger from its sheath and sliced through the harnesses. “Try to stay still, Cas.”
“I’m sorry,” she breathed, grimacing once more as tears dotted her eyes. Her voice was weak, barely above a whisper. “I’m so sorry...”
I’m so sorry.
My heart twisted, those very words I’d heard so long ago echoing in the recesses of my mind. Why was she apologizing? “Just relax for me.”
Scissors wouldn’t be able to cut through this leather, and I didn’t want to cause her more pain by pulling it over her head. I carefully lifted the hem of her top, slipping my hand under it to protect her skin while I sliced the leather up the middle, the sting of the cut spreading across the top of my hand. Cassie tensed, her head falling back as a broken sound slipped from her lips.
“Sorry,” I said as I finished cutting her out of her armor. I stopped breathing as my eyes drifted over her. Bruising painted the side of her rib cage, the skin already turning black and blue.
“You can leave her bra,” Anna said as she pulled her stethoscope over her head, quickly fitting the earpieces as she pressed the end piece to Cassie’s chest. She remained silent for a moment, a mask of concentration settling over her face.
“I think she’s having a heart attack. Mary! Where’s that EKG—”
My gaze snapped to her, the air halting in my lungs. “A heart attack?”
“I’ve got it right here,” the other nurse said, nearly over top of me as Vincent lifted the curtain aside for her. He quickly averted his gaze at the sight of Cassie, exposed on the table.
A heart attack? Selene had warned us of the toll her magic would have on her body. Was this what she spoke of? Was this the beginning? Terror swept over me. I hadn’t expected it to come so soon.
“I need to know her history. Is she on any medications? Anything you can get. I can’t get into the human health systems to pull her files,” Anna said as she prepped the machine.
I swallowed, my mind racing through everything. Medication? “She’s not on any medication that I’m aware of. I think she’s on birth control. I’ll get James to see if he can pull her records,” I said, stepping out of Anna’s way as she got to work.
Anna immediately began giving Mary orders. “Mary, I need you to get her vitals. We need her on the cardiac monitor and—” Her voice blurred, the chaos erupting around me as my eyes fell on Cassie. Mary brushed past me to get to work.
Anna got back to work on the machine. “Kris!”
