Hadley’s eyes narrowed, her fingers curling tightly around the whistle. Though it wasn’t sharp, it still hurt her palm.
It was him. Eric was here. It wasn’t a dream.
A rush of panic seized her. She had been trapped underground, barely able to breathe. Her limbs had grown heavy and unresponsive, and the air around her had begun to thin. Just as she started to lose consciousness, she heard a whistle—and then she heard it several more times.
“Tamara.” Hadley turned to her and spoke with quiet certainty. “Eric is here.” It was a statement, not a question. She felt it in her bones.
Tamara was caught off guard by the sudden conviction in Hadley’s voice. What was she supposed to say? Eric hadn’t told her how to handle this. Her silence was as good as acknowledgment.
Hadley’s brows knitted as she pressed on. “Where is he?”
Tamara parted her lips, uncertain whether to respond.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Hadley asked, confused. If Eric was really here, why the hesitation? Why keep it from her?
Tamara’s uneasy silence only deepened Hadley’s suspicion. Could it be…
“Is he hurt?” Hadley sat up and suddenly grabbed Tamara’s arm. “Is it serious?” Or was it something else? He had a blood clot in his brain to begin with!
“Tell me! What happened to him?” Hadley’s scalp tingled as panic surged through her. Heart pounding, she tossed the covers aside and moved to get up. “Is he in the ER? I’m going to him…”
“No!” Tamara quickly stepped in to support her. Faced with Hadley’s rising fear, she could no longer hold back the truth. “Don’t worry,” she said quickly. “Mr. Scott is injured, but Mr. Brown is with him. I don’t know much beyond that, though.”
“Where are they?”
“Outside.”
g?lnσνs﹒o is where stories live
“Take me to them, now!”
Because of the facility’s limited resources and the overwhelming number of casualties, Eric hadn’t been taken inside. He was in one of the tents set up just outside. The flaps of each tent were drawn back due to the constant foot traffic, making it easy to see inside without going in.
Eric was sitting shirtless on a chair. A doctor was behind him, carefully tending to a wound on his back.
“It’s not a serious injury… no sign of bone damage. If you’re worried, you could get an X-ray, but that’s not likely to happen tonight.”
Phillips, who had been standing nearby, immediately grew agitated. “Not likely? Are you serious? Mr. Scott just coughed up blood! And you’re saying it’s not serious? Are you really a doctor?!”
“Please calm down!” Startled by the outburst, the young doctor faltered, swallowing nervously as he rushed to explain. “I suspect it’s a rupture in the pulmonary capillaries, likely caused by flying debris…”
“You suspect?” Phillips snapped, then laughed angrily. “If anything should happen to Mr. Scott, will you take responsibility?”
“Well… I mean…”
.
.
.