“Alette! Alette!”
I hear Liam’s frantic calls, but I can’t assure him that I’m okay. This happens often. The boulder shifts, something inside pops—probably an ulcer—and the burning starts. If I just cry it out, I’ll be fine. At least I’m warm in a bed and not lying on the dirty floor of an outhouse. A second pop, followed by a third, blinds me with pain.
Liam is talking to someone. He wavers in and out of focus as he gestures wildly. One hand holds a phone. Is he on the phone with Frank?
I can’t let Frank see me this way. It’s one thing that he knows about my flares; it’s another to see one for himself. He will want to spring into action, but I never accepted his gifts. I didn’t praise his plan. His kiss and the promise of romance stole the moment. He doesn’t know I’d allow him to do anything to save me.
He doesn’t know I want to live…for Haunted Health…for him…for what we can build together.
“Paging Dr. Stein. Paging Dr. Stein.” The loudspeaker announces Frank’s going somewhere else…as he should. Someone needs his miracle hands and brilliant mind.
I’m going to have to get used to sharing him when we’re here. It’s not fair that I steal his attention when it means life or death for someone. I’m just the lucky girl to comfort him after the hard work is over. I’ll cuddle him when they can’t be saved and smother him with kisses when he beats the odds, but no matter what, I’ll patiently wait for them to receive his attention first.
“She’s not responsive,” Liam says. I want to ask who he’s talking about, but my lips won’t move. Drool collects at the corner and soaks the pillow. How embarrassing! Oh, Liam, get your friend out of my room!
“Alette, Alette,” Frank’s frantic calls join Liam’s babbling. Why are there so many people in this room? Why isn’t Frank responding to the emergency? If he’s ignoring the emergency to see me, I want time alone with him.
“Alette, please look at me. See me. It’s Frank,” he says, taking my face in his warm hands. He’s always so warm. I want to lose myself in his earthy, brown eyes…but I can’t focus on them. Why can’t I focus on his face? My head swims as my thoughts jump from Frank to the pain to trying to decipher what Liam is saying.
Pain. White, hot pain.
I push my tongue against the back of my front teeth to tell him…anything. A moan escapes, unformed by my efforts. I’ve lost control. My sheets are wet under my bottom. Heat gathers at my belly as my limbs go cold.
A weight dips the mattress beside me. An arm holds me. Why won’t they hold my hand? I’m so alone…but someone rides this bed with me. I can’t be alone when someone’s wrapped their arms around me. I don’t know how or why, but I know I’m safe…Maybe it’s because the rails snap into place to cocoon me. That’s it, I’m going into my cocoon like a moth lady.
Maybe today I get my wings.
“Move! Prep OR Seven for Alette and Dr. Stein! Now! Go!” Liam’s voice yells over the ambient noise of the busy hospital.
“Get Dr. Burton! I need my OR now!” Frank yells like a general. He’s mad. I hope he’s not mad at me for running. I wouldn’t have run if I knew he’d fight for me.
Pain comes in waves, threatening to drown me.
My hair flutters…I’m on the move. Lights flash as I fly down the hallway. Crashes from doors opening and closing seem miles away, but they can’t be. I’m traveling inside a building. A stampede rushes down the hallway around me. An army of miracle workers escorts me to Frank’s battlefield.
“I’ve got you, Alette. Believe in me. I’ve got you,” Frank says as everything goes black.
I hope I get the chance to tell him…I believe in him…
*
Frank
“Please, God, Goddess, Universal Source…if you even exist…” I whisper as Drake throws a sterile gown over my shoulders and ties it behind me. Bracken does the same for Landyn. Nobody dares to make eye contact with me as I pray to a higher power, when yesterday, I considered myself a god. “Please don’t take her from us. Our world still needs her.”
“Focus Asshole,” Bracken yells.
“Just do what you do best,” Drake adds, cinching the ties at my waist extra tight.
“Dr. Stein, miracle worker,” Bracken says with none of his usual humor.
“Give me three to put her under,” says Mindy, the lizard lady anesthesiologist. Her elongated pupils can’t hide the worry in her eyes. Somehow, Alette must have touched her life, too. It’s as if the entire hospital holds its breath for her. Praying for me to save her.
I’ve never felt so inadequate in my life as I soak my tools in sterilization solution.
The oxygen mask dominates her little face and hides the lips I want to kiss again. She’s so small and helpless. Liam unfurls her limbs from where she had shielded her body from the pain. She’s flat, open, and vulnerable. Her flat belly lies calmly, while a war wages beneath her skin. It won’t be long before the purple contusions give away where blood pools within her, threatening to drown her in the fluid that gives her life.
Someone, probably her, painted her toenails a bright pink. I don’t know why I notice them now. They shine at me like a reminder of what’s at stake…a beautiful soul slips away while we wait for her to breathe the chemicals that take her mind far away from here. I promised her an escape from the pain of her intestines and the control of her pack, but is this it? After she’s healed, will she return to the forest? Will I never see her again?
