“No! None of you are leaving this room until you put her back together!” a male voice yelled. There was a deafening alarm blaring, but I couldn’t identify it.
“Sir, please. Let’s be practical. She’s lost too much blood.”
“I said save her!”
“Let them go. I can finish the job,” the calm doctor tried to negotiate.
“No one gets out!” he yelled at them, then his breathing got closer to my ears. “Little One?” Warm hands cupped my cheeks. “I’m here now. Little One, I need you to wake up, okay? Wake up. Right now.”
It sounded like Sir, but it couldn’t be; he was dead. I was daydreaming again, wishful thinking. As the voice became more and more familiar, it cemented me to this world, but I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be with Killian and Daddy where I was loved and happy.
The tape pulled at my eyelids when it was yanked away. “Little One, I need you to wake up right now,” he whispered, kissing the edge of my ear again and again. “Magdalena? Please.” Instead of waking, I tried to find my way back to that sweet memory when everything was so beautiful, loving, and perfect.
“Goddammit! What the fuck did you do to her?” Sir sounded hysterical and furious. “What are you putting in her veins? I want her awake!”
The snapping of a stapler was followed by tiny teeth sinking into my skin, sending thin wires of pain through my body.
“We did what we always do, Sir, we followed orders. It’s best if she’s not awake while I staple her back together.” I only heard him because his voice was so near me.
I left the room again, and a sweet, restful peace blanketed me. I never wanted to go back. But then warm fingers interlaced with mine, bringing me back despite my fighting to run away.
“My little one, you can’t die.” Was he crying? No. Sir wouldn’t cry for me. A thumb caressed my forehead. “You need to live.”Kiss.“You’re so young.”Kiss.“Today hurts, but maybe tomorrow will be the best day of your life. Maybe in a few months.”
I can’t. Please let me go.
He kissed my eyebrows, my forehead, my cheek. Each kiss brought me more and more into this cold world, waking me to the excruciating pain on the side of my body.
“Don’t go to him. Stay here for me. I promise I’ll fix it. I’ll make everything right. I promise. I’ll do everything to free you. I’ll give my life. They won’t hurt you again.”
“Sir, we need to go, the smoke?—”
“Finish your fucking job, or I will blow your motherfucking brains out,” Sir threatened through his teeth.
I kept coming in and out. For a few seconds, I felt the ripping of my insides as the breathing tube slid out of me. I coughed, desperate for water, anything to soothe the dryness.
37. Don’t Ever Let Me Go
MAGDALENA
Arms were carrying me, and the world bounced with every step, sending a thunder of pain from my new wound to the rest of my body. It stole my breath. I was covered in sweat. There was a wall of heat to my left, behind him, as if we were running away from a fire. The smoke burned my throat, with tiny speckles of ash forcing me to cough.I managed to open my eyes slightly, enough to see the burning building. People were running, screaming.
The sudden agonizing cold woke me even more. I fought to open my heavy eyelids, finding us outside with the overcast sky. A cloud of giant gray smoke was rising. It took too long to register what I had last seen.
The building had been burning.
How? Did Scarlett finally set it on fire? Did she get out? Where was Summer? Was it snow that was falling on us or embers?
When I dropped my gaze, I realized the person carrying me was Sir. I gawked at him as he ran and panted. Every step he took sent a current of excruciating pain from the side of my belly.
Boom!The gunshot startled me into gasping, and I became rigid. People screamed in the background but Sir didn’t stop for a second. It was pure chaos. As he ran farther and farther with me in his arms, one question solidified in my mind.Where have you been?Eventually, when we were deep in the forest, he slowed down but not enough because he slipped on a rocky incline and lost me.
My body hit the rocky ground hard. I couldn’t help the scream that escaped me as my body tumbled down the ravine. Then I realized I was wrapped in a blanket. “Fuck!” he protested. I tried to stand, but the pain from all my wounds took my breath away. I placed my palm over the new slash only being held by staples, then saw fresh blood. It was all so confusing.
“Come. I need to get you as far from here as possible. They’ll be after you in the next hour. The more ground we cover, the better.” He was in too much of a hurry to be gentle about it.
“Where were you? I—They told me you were dead.”
He didn’t answer me, too focused on walking as fast as possible.
