Starts moving immediately, grabbing her purse, her keys.
"Mom. What's wrong? Who's hurt?"
She hesitates.
Doesn't want to tell me.
That hesitation is worse than anything she could say.
"Mom. Who?"
"It's Ingrid." Her voice breaks on the name. "Someone attacked her at the spa. Fenrir found her. She's—she's hurt bad, Gunnar."
The world stops.
Just—stops.
Everything goes silent except for the roaring in my ears.
Ingrid.
Attacked.
Hurt bad.
"Give me your keys."
"Gunnar, your wound—you shouldn't be driving?—"
"Give me. Your keys."
She doesn't argue.
Just hands them over.
We're out the door in seconds.
I drive like a man possessed.
Running red lights.
Taking corners too fast.
My wound screams with every sharp turn, every sudden stop.
I don't care.
I don't fucking care.
"What did they say?" I demand. "Who called? What happened?"
"Fenrir. He found her at the spa. The lights were still on, he thought it was strange, went to check—" Mom's voice is shaky. "She was on the floor. Beaten. Cut. Almost unconscious."
Beaten.
Cut.
The words don't make sense.
