Devereaux

Prologue

Dedicated to @antiquated for the ace cover :)

Prologue

I wasn't allowed to ride in the ambulance.

It took exactly one hour and thirty-seven minutes to arrive at the hospital with my mother, including the time it took her to come and pick me up from school.

And when we asked for any details about Phoenix, they wouldn't give them to us.

We weren't related to him.

It was two fifty-three when we first entered the building.

The clock was striking eleven fifty-eight PM when a man in a doctor's coat tapped my shoulder. I was lying across a row of seats with my head on my mother's lap.

I shot to a seating position and shook my mother's shoulders. She was sitting back in her seat with her head bent forward as she dozed off.

Her eyes split and she blinked a few times, blinded by the dimmed hospital lights.

The doctor was a dark-skinned male with a straight, white smile that was slightly remorseful as he spoke. "I apologise for waking you," he started in his strict doctor's tone. "It is to my understanding that you are the two females that were enquiring about the patient that is under my care?" He glanced down at the clipboard in his hand. "Phoenix Knight?"

I nodded rapidly and my mother responded with a drowsy, "Yes."

"Normally, we are not permitted to release information about a patient to people that are not direct relatives but we do not seem to have any of his immediate relations on our records...," he looked up from his clipboard.  

"His parents' and grandparents' are deceased," my mother stated blandly.

"And he prefers not to speak with his aunt," I added.

The doctor nodded. "As I previously mentioned, I am not allowed to talk to non-relatives about a sick patient –"

"We're all the family he has," I interrupted; annoyed that he was repeating his point when I had so clearly heard him the first time.

He smiled softly. "I understand that, which is why I was going to state that in this circumstance – and only this particular circumstance – I will break the rules." I folded my hands in my lap and nervously wringed my fingers, expecting the worst but hoping for the best.

"I will try to make this as brief as possible." The doctor cleared his throat and stared at his trusted clipboard. "He sustained an almost fatal amount of blood loss. The gunshot wound punctured his lung and, in addition, hit his body dangerously close to his spinal column. We have placed him on a medical ventilator to assist his breathing but he may not be conscious for at least a few days, maybe weeks. I cannot be sure with these sorts of accidents."

The saliva in my mouth felt thick. I wanted to puke as I opened my mouth to speak. "So he is on life support and even if he comes to, he might be paralysed?" I had lost my will to cry.

The doctor paused. At last, he nodded his head and smiled sadly. "I do not wish to instil false hope but I believe he might just pull through," he said, his tone still hard. "The bullet luckily remained lodged in his body and he was brought in just when it was possible to stabilise his vitals so now all you need to do is give him some time."

I turned to my mother and smiled sadly.

"Also." I turned back to the doctor, making sure not to raise my hopes. He had tucked the clipboard under his arm. "I said that the bullet was dangerously close to the spine, we cannot be sure about paralysis until he is awake... but from my vigorous studies of his body in its current state, I can assure you that it is unlikely." I nodded and offered no real response.