Page 43 of Severance

Ignoring the man, I drop back down onto my knees and tend to Kai. The man crosses his arms over his chest and watches with a mild curiosity as I struggle to keep my shit together.

“Can you call 911? I don’t have a phone,” I ramble. “Or can you call Anthony? He’ll know what to do.”

The man assesses me with his eyes as he stands unmoving, like a statue. A few moments pass before he drops down to his knees beside Kai. “Let me help you. I’ll drive.”

I let out a sigh of relief and fight back the tears that fill my eyes as the man begins to look over Kai’s chest.

“Aleksei,” he says quietly after a moment.

My brow furrows as I stare at him in confusion. “What?”

He looks up at me and his dark eyes are detached as they meet mine. “My name.” He pauses. “You wanted to know who I am.”

Pursing my lips, I nod slightly. “Thank you, Aleksei,” I tell him quietly. “Thank you for helping us.”

His dark eyes grow even darker and drop a few degrees. “Don’t thank me yet. This is far from over.”

Kai

Slowly peeling my eyelids open, everything is out of focus as I struggle to look around. Everything is a blurry mess as the colors and noises blend together. I can hear her voice, but I can’t make out the words. She’s far away, too far away and I can’t reach her.

An unknown pain in my chest explodes as I shift my weight and my eyelids slam shut as I wince.

Someone groans in the distance and the sound is unfamiliar but I can feel it vibrating in my chest. It’s too much for my mind to process and my eyes refuse to open.

My surroundings don’t fade away.

They disappear in an instant and everything goes black.

???

Taking a deep breath, I gasp as I come up for air, feeling like I’m drowning in the darkness. Her soft hands touch my bare arms, yet it feels like someone’s touch in a dream. Another set of hands feel around on my chest and my skin is set on fire as they land on the center of my pain.

My eyes flash open and my vision is cloudy, but I can make out her face as she hovers over me. She strokes my skin and her lips move in silence. I can’t hear a word she says and I quickly become panicked.

I reach out for her, groaning against the pain but my arms are quickly pinned down on the ground by hands that aren’t Dahlia’s. Struggling against their strong grip, I try to break free, needing to be as close to her as possible. Warmth spreads across my chest as I feel my saturated shirt sticking to my skin. Dahlia’s lips continue to move and I continue to panic.

My arms are released, but my energy reserve is running low and I feel paralyzed. Slowly moving my hand, I make a futile attempt to reach for Dahlia when an intense pressure lands on the center of the fire burning in my chest.

Yelling out, I try to grab at the hands on my chest, but they only apply more pressure and the fire spreads throughout my body.

The darkness resurfaces and quickly drags me down with it.

“I have to call Anthony,” Dahlia’s voice is urgent, somewhere in the dark. “We can’t take him to a hospital.”

Why do I need a hospital?

The pressure on my chest is a quick reminder that something isn’t right. The memories are fuzzy, but I remember enough. Luca with his gun pointed at Dahlia. I shoved her out of the way as he pulled the trigger.

Did the bullet hit me?

“We’ll take him to my brother.” In the distance, a deep voice void of any emotion responds to her.

Who the fuck is that?

It’s not safe, Dahlia. Run.

The thoughts run through my mind as my brain refuses to work with my voice and I can’t tell her any of this. Not that it would matter with her. She lacks any common sense when it comes to me. I tell her to run and she plants her feet in the ground.

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