Your Voice

Chapter 31

I left you guys hanging AGAIN! Sorry 😁

Erik

No.
There is a faint - very very very faint - warmth on my fingers; she's still alive, but barely. I say a silent prayer of thanks to whoever or whatever's listening and breathe out a sigh of relief. As quickly as humanly possible, I scoop her limp form into my arms and head towards the exit.

"Stop. Right. There." Will's voice is accompanied with the click of a trigger. I halt in my tracks and turn around. The bastard points the gun at me. "Kindly put Christine down, thank you, cuppycake." He gives his command with an overly sugar-coated sarcastic smile.

"What do you want?!" I ask him violently, frustrated.

"PUT HER DOWN!" He booms, the fires of hell ablaze in his eyes, pointing to Christine threateningly with the gun.

I am stuck; if I don't obey, he will shoot her but if I do, Christine won't get the medical attention she so desperately needs. In a split second, I make up my mind and turn on my heel quicker than lightning and run, Christine - who is merely a step away from death - laying pale-faced in my arms. Footsteps follow behind but I don't stop.

With a deafening boom, an agonizing pain pierces my left shoulder, centimeters away from Christine's dangling head. I take that as a warning and continue to sprint as fast as my feet can carry me. I take a few turns (nearly accidentally knocking Christine's head on a corner) just to lose Will. I dash through the labyrinth that is the theatre. Thankfully, I know the place well; I designed it. I race past dimmed hallways and past shut doors until I find the room with two big oak doors - the infirmary. I kick the door open.

"Help me, please," I beg the groggy doctors and nurses that are already rushing forward to get Christine from me. As they remove her from my arms, the pain in my left shoulder comes back. A doctor shows me to a bed where I sit, looking over at the other side of the room to see how Christine is doing. They pull the curtain around her bed and I immediately hop off the bed to get to her, but the nurses and doctor reassures me that she's fine and because of the pain in my shoulder, I give in and sit back down.

They give me a tiny cup of a translucent brown liquid. "Drink up," the nurse instructs. And I do. Before I can count to ten, I fall back onto the soft duvet and drift off.

Christine

I hear muffled voices around me as my eyes heavily flutter open.

"She's awake," someone says. My eyes open fully and I am staring at a white ceiling. Under my arms I feel cold sheets and an odd scent of bandages and remedies.

I bolt upright. "Where's E-" I lean forward and vomit mid-sentence. Someone places a damp towel to my sweaty forehead and lays me back down. I feel a burning sensation in my stomach and my head throbs like a drumbeat. I let out a groan of pain as nurses hurry to get the sick-covered sheets off me. I drag the back of my hand across my mouth. Blood.

I moan uncomfortably, both shivering and sweating. "Don't worry, sweetie," one of the nurses gently touch my shoulder. "Just drink this." She places a tiny cup in my shaky hand and I gulp down the liquid quickly.

"Shhh..." The nurse strokes my head as I feel the ache everywhere in my body subside. I feel my eyes flutter shut.

Erik

I was released from the hospital earlier than Christine; she's still throwing up blood and very feverish. On that day I left the hospital, I immediately went home to the children. Melody and Gustave came running out of the house.

"Papa!" We squeezed each other tightly. "Where's mother?" asked Gustave.

"She's in the hospital," I tell them reluctantly.