CHAPTER
38
“MERCURY! DON’T YOU fucking dare die! Stay with me, Mercury Elizabeth Rhodes!
Mercury wanted to open her eyes and tell Stella to hush so she could sleep, but even that effort was too much. She’d just take a little nap. It felt good to relax—to give into the darkness and… Mercury screamed in pain as someone pressed fire into her back.
“Okay, hold the shirt on the wound. I’m going to try to wrap my belt around it to keep pressure on it. If we don’t slow this bleeding we’re going to lose her.”
Mercury thought Ford sounded terrible. His voice was raw with emotion, and then she couldn’t think about that as her body exploded in pain again. Her mind was a fog, and her vision had tunneled to shades of gray and black. And she was cold. So, so cold. Ford lifted her into his arms and continued to move forward.
Stella’s voice was close beside her. “You hold on, Mercury Elizabeth! We are going to get you to Gemma before you fucking die.”
Mercury tried to answer Stella, but it was impossible to formulate words. She could hear what they were saying, but they seemed far away from her—like Mercury had already drifted from their world toward another.
“Wake up!” Stella snapped. “I’ve lost everything. I’m not losing you too!”
“Please—don’t—die!” Karen said between sobs.
Mercury slitted her eyes open. Her vision had gone from grays and blacks to preternaturally clear. The newly risen sun was painting the dove-colored clouds with fuchsia and peach, and Mercury realized it was raining softly, like the sky was crying. The pain in her back was there, but she was detached from it. She was still cold, though her teeth no longer chattered. Her breath wheezed. She coughed—and was shocked to see blood and spittle wet Ford’s shirt, which was already plastered to his body with rain and sweat.
“We have to move faster,” Ford panted. His chest heaved as he gulped air, though he kept jogging along the rocky edge of the creek.
Mercury couldn’t speak. She was barely able to breathe.
“They’re here!” Imani’s shout echoed from ahead of them. “They’re here!”
“Finally! Imani, start the truck! Get the kids into the bed—now! And tell Gemma to get out here!” Stella cried.
Imani’s voice lent Ford a burst of speed, and Mercury had to close her eyes tightly and press her face to his shoulder as he jostled her so badly that her vision grayed again.
Ford staggered to the slab of cement as Gemma rushed up to them.
“No! Mercury!” Gemma cried.
Ford gently placed her on the concrete.
“What happened? What’s this wound from?” Gemma spoke frantically.
“She’s been shot,” Stella said. “There’s an exit wound. The bullet went through her.”
“Imani! Get the first aid kit! Mercury, can you hear me?” Gemma felt for her pulse.
Mercury opened her eyes and tried to respond, but another cough overwhelmed her as blood sprayed from her mouth. The pain wasn’t terrible—it was distant, like her body belonged to someone else, and she was just an observer. Her vision was strange, grayed all around the edges and remarkably clear in the center. She was cold—so, so cold. And more exhausted than she’d ever felt in her life.
“Shh, shh, it’s going to be okay.” Gemma’s hands trembled as she untied the belt that held a balled-up shirt against Mercury’s wound. “Oh God! It’s bad!” The teenager looked up at Stella. “She’s dying!”
Mercury felt a jolt of shock, but the soothing sense of detachment didn’t allow the shock to progress to panic. All she could do was observe silently as she gasped for air that wouldn’t come.
“Do not let her die!” Stella said.
Gemma lifted bloody hands beseechingly. “Then tell me how to save her! I’m not a doctor. There’s no hospital here! She needs adult people who know what they’re doing—not me!”
“Bullshit kid!” Stella dropped to her knees beside Gemma and took the girl’s shoulders in her hands. “Do you believe that I know things?”
“Y-yes.” Gemma wiped away tears, leaving scarlet streaks across her face.
“Then listen to me and believe me—you have more inside you than any surgeon or hospital or damn adult. Do not fucking think about it—just save our Mercury!” Stella gave Gemma’s shoulders a shake before she released her and pointed at Mercury. “Now, Gemma. Save her now!”