“Yeah, good idea. I’ll be right back.”
Moments later, Jagger dismissed the others from the room. He used some vague excuse about letting me rest until Quinn returned.
Hello! What exactly did he think I was doing if not resting? He offered to stay and stand watch. Whatever.
“Cordelia, I think you can hear me. Your body responded before when I asked if you could hear me. Can you?” Jagger’s voice was soft, but firm.
Yes! I can!
“Okay, your body responded again, so I’ll assume you can hear me. I knew something was wrong when your wall came down, so I went to find you. By the time I found you in the corridor, your heart had stopped, so I’m beating it for you at the moment. I need you to start healing yourself, and you’re going to have to beat your own heart for that. I’m going to disengage my pulse from yours. You’re going to need to take over to survive. Now.”
Panic washed over me. What if I couldn’t get my heart to beat? I would die.
No!
I cried.
Jagger, no
!
“Baby, I can feel your fear. But we have to try this. I won’t let you die, but I’m going to make you take back your own life.”
I felt my heart rate slowing. Terror rushed through my body, surging adrenalin into my system. I knew what to expect–our biology classes had covered it all–but it still made my brain swirl. My muscles tensed to the point I thought they would burst through my skin and take on a life of their own. My palpitations increased so much that I could probably power a small town. I began to convulse, my fear turning to desperation when my brain felt as though it had been struck by lightning.
A scream welled in my throat, but I couldn’t get it out.
“It’s okay, Cordelia. You’re doing great. I’ve disengaged, and you’re going at it all on your own,” Jagger said. “And you’re moving and shaking, a bit like that funny Donna. Remember her? It’s all good.”
All good? I was in the middle of a complete meltdown, and he was deeming it
all good
? I was going to kill him!
“Okay, babe, time to calm down a bit. Your blood pressure is through the roof. Think of something calming.”
“Is she okay?” Quinn asked.
I hadn’t heard him come back in the room.
“Did she move?”
Whatever had been inserted in my throat made me cough, and I gagged.
“Let me take that out,” a stranger said. The thing was suddenly pulled out, and the pain made me heave and gasp. I tried talking, but could only cough.
“Here, take my hand.” Quinn laced his fingers through mine. I instantly felt calm. He put his other hand on my head, running his fingers through my hair.
“Cordelia, you are healing very fast, but it’s going to be at least a couple of hours before you can sit up. So just rest. We’ll leave the bandage over your eyes for the moment. It’ll keep the light out.” I guessed that was the healer talking. “Everyone out, I’ll call–”
“I’m staying,” Quinn interrupted.
“As am I,” Jagger added.
“No, you’re not,” the healer responded firmly. “Out!”
And they were gone.
“Cordelia, sleep. When you next awaken, you’ll be able to sit up and talk.”
“Food…” I desperately needed to be fed.
“Sip on this,” the healer ordered, bringing something to my mouth.
I started to protest that water was the last thing I needed, but the healer pushed what felt like a straw between my lips, and I involuntarily sucked on it. A flow of scrumptious beef broth filled my mouth, lifting my spirits to the point that I felt as though I were flying around on a fluffy cloud. I let the broth trickle down my throat, enjoying every meaty mouthful as I kept sucking until only air came through. I let go of the straw, happy and sleepy.
When I was left on my own, it was a bit frightening, especially since I couldn’t see. I had to assume that I was safe, or Quinn and Jagger wouldn’t have left me. So many thoughts, mostly frustrations, washed through my mind. I couldn’t do anything about any of them, not until my body was up to it. So I blocked them all out, blanking my mind and falling into a black, dreamless sleep.
The next time I woke up, every inch of my body was in agony, with my insides feeling as though they’d been through a meat grinder. I yelped in pain.
“Hang on, Cordelia. Let me increase your dosage; you’ll feel better in a minute.” The healer’s soothing voice failed to calm me. But moments later, I felt almost euphoric.
“Cordelia, I’m so sorry this happened. Are you gonna be okay?” Faustine whispered, her voice breaking.
“Faustine?” I whispered hoarsely.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to talk. I’m fine. You don’t look good, though. Pretty awful, in fact. Those animals!”
I felt good now that the painkillers were numbing my senses. I was especially happy at hearing Faustine’s voice. What a relief! How had she escaped the shifters? I squirmed, trying to sit up.
“Hold up,” Quinn ordered. He slipped his arm under me, drew me close to his chest, and helped me to a sitting position. Someone stuffed some pillows behind me for support, and Quinn laid me back against them.
“Take the eye bandage off,” I whispered.
“Are you sure?” the healer asked. “I can take it off, but your body is in bad shape. You’ll have to be prepared and not get upset. Your skin will heal fast, and you should be back to your normal self by tomorrow. You may want to keep the bandage on until then.”
“Yes, Cordelia. The doctor’s right. Best to leave it on,” Jagger confirmed.
“No. Take it off.”
The healer sighed. “Okay. Put your head back on the pillows and relax. Quinn, hold her hands. Now, I’m going to peel it off slowly, but it’s still going to be very painful. The skin under it is torn and oozing with pus.”
“I’m fine,” I reassured him, laying back on the pillow and squeezing Quinn’s hand. I felt the healer’s fingers fiddle with the corner of the bandage, and a draft of cold air seeped under when he lifted it. The skin on my eyelids tore as he lifted it. I cried out, digging my nails into Quinn’s hands. The whole procedure seemed to take ages as the healer painstakingly lifted the bandage from my eyes.
“There,” he said, sounding satisfied. “Feel free to try opening your eyes if you want. But your lids are raw, so be prepared for more pain.”
Marvelous! I debated the sense of trying to open them, thinking maybe I should wait until they got better. But I was fed up with living in a dark world, so I struggled to open them. After what seemed like hours, each excruciating minute spent willing them open, I gave up.
Or rather, Quinn gave up for me. “Cordelia, stop it! You’re probably damaging them even more. Rest them. There’s not much to see here anyway.”
“Where am I?”
“You’re in the infirmary. In a private room.”
“How long have I been here?”
“Since yesterday.”
“What?” Faustine protested. “No, she hasn’t. She was brought here a little while ago. I should know! I was with her.”
“What do you mean?” Quinn asked. “Jagger brought Cordelia here yesterday. Where have you been anyway? You had everyone worried–”
“What do you mean, you were with her?” Jagger interrupted.
“I was with her when we were attacked. Didn’t Cordelia tell you guys what happened?”
“No. She’s been out since yesterday and can’t really talk even now. So tell us what happened.”
Faustine described the shifter attack. “Then, this eagle flew into us, knocking me off of Cordelia, and I began falling. But before I hit the floor, I felt something grabbing at my shoulders, and that’s it.”
“What do you mean,
and that’s it
?” Jagger asked.
“I don’t really know. Everything in front of me faded. I got wrapped in… like a warm blanket or something and stayed like that forever, until I suddenly got dropped off outside this room. So I came in.”
“So, you didn’t see Cordelia get beat up?”
“No. Last I saw, she was trying to grab for me. What happened?”
“We don’t know,” Jagger replied. “She was unconscious when I found her.”
You mean
dead
. I shuddered at the thought, wondering exactly how torn up I had been.
“Okay, everyone out!” Frau Schmelder boomed. “All apart from Jagger.”
“I’d like to st–”
“I know, Quinn.” Frau Schmelder’s voice softened. “But I need you to take care of Faustine for me. Faustine, I’m glad to see you. I have been searching for you everywhere. Your dad’s in my office. I want you to go see him with Quinn. I’ll meet you there in a little while.”
“Cordelia…” Mom’s voice broke.
“Mom! Did you just come in?” I held out my hand for her.
“Yes, we just got here. Look at you.” Her voice broke as she hugged me.
“We came as soon as we heard. Who did this to you?”
“Dad! I’m so glad you’re here. It was some shifters,” I whispered.
Frau Schmelder coughed. “I have the surveillance video with me. I’ve watched it, but I’ll have to get it enhanced so we can properly identify the perpetrators. It is especially tricky with the shifters; they may have shifted into borrowed human forms. I’m hoping not; otherwise, it may be impossible to identify them.”
“Can we watch it? I want to see what happened,” my dad asked.
“Yes, but it is gruesome. Perhaps in my office?”
“I want to watch it, too.” I forced my eyes open. My tear ducts worked overtime, making it difficult even to distinguish shapes through the fluid film.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea–” Frau Schmelder started.
“No. I have to,” I said as forcefully as my throat would allow. Jagger dabbed my eyes, and my vision cleared slightly.
“Okay, let’s watch it,” my dad ordered.
Mom came over, grabbed my hand, and kissed my forehead.
Frau Schmelder had a large flat-screen TV brought in, and by the time they set up everything, my vision was almost back to normal.
“My tech team stitched the content of the various cameras together, so we’ll see split screens where more than one camera captured the events. Cordelia, just shut your eyes if it becomes too much.”
I nodded, and the show started. The first section showed Faustine and me heading down the corridor, smiling and chatting. Everything was as I remembered it, though it felt odd watching us from that angle. Very Big Brother. Our whole conversation had been recorded. I’d need to remember that in the future.
Then, we came to the part where I had caught the scent of the shifters. I almost laughed as I watched myself sniffing the air like a dog. I saw that Faustine had grabbed my shirt, something I hadn’t noticed at the time.
Then, the screen split. The shifters were shown on the right side. They had pretty much detected us at the same time as I had sniffed them out. I had been ahead by a few seconds, though. Ha! The screen showed them walking up the corridor as I stopped. They kept moving, talking, and laughing for about ten steps more, then the leader extended his arms, stopping the others in their tracks. They scrunched up their noses trying to pick up a scent. The leader’s face suddenly broke into a wide grin, and he glared at the others with a maniacal gleam in his eyes. They huddled, obviously communicating via thought because they suddenly lined up and started striding down the hallway again.