"You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it."
― J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
______________________
They didn't let me see him before he was ushered into the ambulance. Emma drove me to the hospital and held my hand in hers when we reached.
I had heard of the term 'hurtling through space' but I never knew how it felt like until now.
"Dawn," a familiar voice reached me. My head snapped towards it, my eyes meeting Adrian's. He stared at me, his eyes wide and glossy, breathing, "Where is he?"
My answer never left me, silent and paralyzed I only stared. From somewhere warmth spread in my fingertips. Emma was squeezing my hand, answering for me, "He was already inside the OT when we came."
"But --?" Adrian paused, his eyebrows furrowing at Emma. I turned to see her shaking her head.
"What is it?" My voice sounded foreign to my own ears. At some thought, I added, "He was wearing a vest."
Besides, he had been shot before. He had survived. Then again, we had come so far, had been through all of these together. It couldn't end that easily. Probably minutes later, June and Jared had arrived, Keira tugging along with them. June was the first one to pull me into an embrace.
"Oh, Dawn," she was half-whispering and half-sobbing.
It must have been the unbridled comfort that sent a searing pain through my stomach. I immediately stood. hearing my own thudding footsteps and heartbeat as I ran towards the end of the corridor, heaving. Before I could reach one toilet bowl, my stomach tightened and I felt something acidic coming out of my mouth.
"Ma'am, are you...?" One of the nurses trailed off as she tugged me at my elbow to prevent my fall. Another nurse came holding a white bowl and setting it down at my feet beside the already descended puke. The nurse who had held me was patting my back when I was only halfway. Tears were jerking out of my eyes now, my cheeks and throat hot and prickly.
I couldn't remember when I was done vomiting. The ground swayed beneath my feet, my knees felt weak when I let one of the nurses lead me towards the crowd.
"Someone has to tell her," Keira was crying, her hazel eyes glistening with tears, her small face flushed, her red hair matted onto her scalp unrulily. Everyone turned to me with concern. My parents had arrived, I thought dumbly, when mom sauntered towards me, wiping my face with something.
"Come here." She tried to drag me towards one of the benches but suddenly it had struck me.
"Tell me what?" My eyes darted at each of them in turns, waiting. The strange dryness in my throat was painful, cactus-like, and it burnt when I tried to speak.
The doctor who had entered the room just after Silas was taken in, walked out that instant from our right, snatching our attention. His spectacled eyes fell on us.
"Which one of you is Dawn Dale?"
"Yes, that's me." My voice was barely audible, it sounded more like wheezing air. I pulled at the hair on my scalp lightly to get rid of the ache, almost as an instinct. "Is he okay?"
"It..." He paused, his eyes pausing at something behind me, making me frown impatiently. Adrian was looking at the doctor, his eyes shining with tears, nodding. The doctor looked back at me finally. "He was shot in the head... He had no chance, Mrs. Dale. He was brain-dead by the time we took him in. I'm sorry."
YOU ARE READING
Here's to Us (Blood Money #2)
Romance"What we had is over, Dawn. You don't have to do this anymore. You're free to go." I traced the glass separating us with my fingers, looking into his green eyes and whispered to the phone, "So you want to know why I'm still here?" He just stare...
