The motel room suddenly felt way too small.
The air too thick.
Anchor finished with dispatch and shoved his phone back in his pocket.“Ambulance is two minutes out.”
“Better if it were one minute,” Prime muttered from the doorway.
McKayla climbed carefully onto the edge of the mattress beside her sister.I stayed close enough to catch her if she lost it.She reached for Erin’s hand slowly.“Oh my God,” she whispered.Tears rolled down her cheeks now openly.“This is my fault.”
“No,” I said immediately.
Her eyes lifted to me.“If I would’ve found her sooner-”
“This ain’t on you.”
Her face crumpled for half a second before she forced it back together again.Strong.Jesus Christ, she was trying so hard to stay strong, even seeing her sister tied to a damn bed looking half dead.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Everybody in the room shifted slightly.
Cross stepped back from the bed to make room.“Need space when they get in here.”
McKayla nodded quickly and climbed off the mattress, but she never let go of Erin’s hand until she absolutely had to.
The paramedics burst through the busted motel door seconds later carrying bags and equipment.
The room exploded into movement.
Questions.
Vitals.
Commands.
“How long has she been unconscious?”
“When was she found?”
“Any known drug use?”
McKayla stood frozen beside me trying to answer while watching them work on Erin.I kept one hand against her lower back, holding her up, because I could feel her shaking harder now.
The medics worked fast as hell.
One started an IV and another checked Erin’s airway.They cut open part of her shirt to place leads across her chest.
One medic looked up sharply.“We need everyone out of the room.”
Nobody argued.We all backed into the parking lot while they worked.
McKayla stopped right outside the doorway.“I’m not leaving.”
“You’re not,” I told her quietly.“We’re right here.”
She nodded fast without looking at me.
Inside the room, the medics kept moving around Erin rapidly.I caught pieces of conversation.
