Chapter Twenty-Seven
They had been sitting at the clinic for three hours, Adam didn’t know who was more anxious, him or Penny. Sarah didn’t look any better, actually, her already shallow breathing was now coming out in short rapid breaths.
The machine next to the bed alarmed, the sound making both Penny and Adam jump. A nurse ran in, Dr. Larson followed quickly behind. “Step outside for a minute, let us see what is going on.”
Adam had experienced a lot in his life but being asked to walk away at that moment was probably one of the most difficult requests he’d ever been given.
Penny grabbed his arm and pulled him into the hallway. “There is nothing we can do except get in the way, come on.”
She sounded strong but Adam could see the tears rolling down her face. He didn’t know her well but he knew how healing a hug was. He awkwardly pulled her close and let her cry on his shoulder. Before Sarah he hadn’t hugged another person in years, now he’s had contact with two people in the last week and both human. His life had certainly taken a turn, except now he felt like he was on the edge of a cliff and his ability to survive hinged on Sarah waking up.
Ten excruciating minutes later Dr. Larson joined them in the hallway, “We had to intubate her, she’s starting to go into heart failure. We are running out of time, I’m going next store to talk to Seren.”
Adam’s throat felt like it had shut, the air was not making it to his lungs. Heart failure, how was this even possible?
“Who’s Seren?” Penny stared at Dr. Larson’s retreating back.
“He’s the apothecary or a pharmacist, actually he’s a wizard and much older than I am. Dr. Larson is smart to talk to him.” Adam called over the nurse who had been working on Sarah, “Can you have someone get Alizon,” he looked back at Penny, “she is the only residing witch in the area,” he turned back to the nurse, “she may be able to help Seren and Dr. Larson.”
The nurse nodded and went back to the desk. Adam and Penny cautiously walked back into Sarah’s room, neither was ready for the site of her with a tube in her mouth.
“She doesn’t deserve this, she’s had enough bad in her life.” Penny stroked the hair from Sarah’s pale face.
A quiet knock on the door got their attention. Sebastian and Aristide stood staring at Sarah. “Seraphine called me. Does the doc really think this was intentional? That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen around here.” Sebastian’s fingers tapped subconsciously on the handle of his gun.
“They don’t really know what is causing this but she’s getting worse by the hour.” Adam’s voice hitched. “Maybe we should bring Alex to see her?”
No one was thrilled with the idea of explaining the situation to the boy. “Let’s give it a little more time, Pascal, Toussaint, and Asald took the boys flying, they have a whole day of fun planned. Alex won’t even notice he hasn’t seen his mom until later tonight.” Adam appreciated Aristide’s optimism.
“When she wakes up she is going to kill Asald.” Adam looked questioningly at Penny, she shrugged, “she is extremely protective of Alex, when she finds out he went flying without her knowledge she is not going to be happy.”
“Do you guys want to go get showers and food, we can sit here till you get back?” Sebastian offered.
“I don’t think I can leave her.” Adam nodded at Penny’s statement, he agreed completely.
“How about this, Adam come with me to the bakery, we’ll grab some food and bring it back.” Adam started shaking his head at Aristide’s offer, “You need the fresh air, come on, clear your head for a few minutes.”
Aristide grabbed his arm and dragged him out, his stomach decided at that moment to be a traitor and growl loudly. Aristide gave him a knowing look as they crossed the street.
They ordered quickly, Adam tapping his foot nervously as he waited for their order to be bagged. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a commotion outside, dread filled him as he saw Dr. Larson running from the apothecary back to the clinic. He didn’t wait, he took off at a dead run, only steps behind the doctor as he ran into Sarah’s room. Sebastian was holding a sobbing Penny in his arms in the hall, he reached out and stopped Adam from going inside.
“Let me go!” Adam roared in anguish.
“There is nothing you can do.” Adam tried to see Sarah but couldn’t between the doctor and nurses working on her.
“What happened?” He couldn’t pull his eyes from the room.
“Her heart stopped, the nurses were there in seconds. It’s going to be fine.” The confidence and strength in Sebastian’s tone were the only things keeping Adam from falling to pieces.
Aristide walked up with the food in hand, Sebastian whispered the update to him, he squeezed Adam’s shoulder, he knew his friend was trying to comfort him.
It was a long time before Dr. Larson came out, their group had sat in chairs across the hall, everyone jumped up as he approached.
“She’s okay, I’m not going to lie, that was touch and go there for a few minutes. We’re racing the clock, Seren and Alizon are meeting me in the lab. We’re working as fast as we can but you need to prepare yourselves in case,”
Adam didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence, he couldn’t listen to him anymore.
When he reached the door, he was able to see her again and it broke him. Her eyes were sunken in, the blue had spread to most of her skin. He staggered to the bed and collapsed in the chair. He grabbed her cold hand and held it as he leaned on the bed, resting his forehead on the side of her face.
“I’ve tried to die, I wanted to leave this Earth so badly I tried killing myself more times than I can count.” Tears fell from his face to hers. “You don’t get to come into my life, give me hope and a reason to want to live then try to leave me. If you die, I want to die too but I can’t. I’ll be stuck here; the world will go on and I’ll be alone again.” Anger laced his words, “For a brief moment I actually thought I was going to find love, for the first time I pictured being a father to that amazing little boy who is waiting for you to wake up.” His voice had risen, someone’s hand touched his shoulder trying to pull him back, he jerked away, this was his confessional and she was going to listen to every last word he had. “I’ve tried giving up so many times, I didn’t have anyone begging me to stay but that’s what I’m doing now. I’m begging you to fight, to come back to me, and to Alex. It took two centuries for me to find you, I’m not giving you up already. I don’t know how to live if I lose you, I need you to come back to me.” He ended in a whisper, despair still clear in his voice.
The room stayed silent except for the beeping of the machines. Adam didn’t look around, he stayed against her, pushing his will towards her, picturing his strength pouring into her.
He didn’t mean to sleep, he didn’t want to risk losing even a minute with her but he had nothing left to give, his body needed to recharge. His eyes fluttered closed, he prayed it would be a dreamless sleep.