The pain of loss is a reminder that we have loved deeply.
—BARACK OBAMA
Noise came first, low-pitched and rumbly, punctuated by a high beeping that made my head ache.
Pain came next. My hands felt as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to them. My lungs had clearly been scraped out of my body, mangled with a blender, then replaced. Every nerve ending was fire and torture. I moaned, but it emerged hoarse.
Light came last.
I blinked my dry eyes to find bright white walls. White ceiling. White curtains.
This… This was a hospital.
A real one.
Panic skewered my heart, and I tried to push myself to sitting. If I was in a hospital, that meant I’d been captured by the NAO. The Defiance had no hospitals. We had nothing.
“Well, hello,” said a friendly voice. A woman with short blond hair and blue scrubs entered the room. “Good to see you’re finally awake!”
“Where am I?” I asked, but the words barely emerged.
“Oh, try not to speak,” the woman said, hurrying to my side. “You had some pretty hefty smoke inhalation. Throat’s going to be sore.”
I eased back onto the pillows, eyeing the logo on her hospital badge.
UNITY HEALTH TORONTO
“I’m in Canada?” I mouthed.
Her friendly expression fell. “Let me get your doctor.”
She left the room, and I tried to calm the anxiety brewing in my blood. I’d been in a burning building, Lucas unconscious beside me, and now I was alone in a white bed.
Where was Lucas?
What about Adam?
How did I get here?
After a few minutes, an older woman in scrubs stepped into the room, wearing the same friendly smile. “Hello. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up. How are you feeling?”
I shrugged and looked at my bandaged, throbbing hands.
She followed my gaze. “Ah. Yes. Your surgeon will be in to explain the healing process, but he expects a full recovery.”
Tears filled my eyes at the confusion. “Where am I?” I gasped.
Face strained, she lowered onto the stool beside my bed. “You’re in Ontario. There was an attack, and the Prime Delegate of the Defiance called for emergent evacuation. There were mass casualties, and many of the wounded were airlifted out and brought to Toronto for treatment. You’d lost a lot of blood by the time you arrived, and your airway was swollen from smokedamage. We had to place a tube to help you breathe, so we kept you sedated.”
“How long have I been here?”
“Five days.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. Behind me, a monitor dinged, alerting everyone to my distress.
“There was a man,” I rasped out. “I was trying to save him. Did he make it?”
Her brow creased. “There were hundreds of refugees brought in. I can check the list. What’s his name?”
