Undercity: Manifest

Chapter Twenty-Two

Under any other circumstances she would have laughed at Zach and Dante dressed in operating scrubs complete with matching hair nets, each wearing a mask pulled down under their chins. But she was too focused on getting through the next part of the plan to comment. 

Ben was out of his uniform now, dressed in suit trousers, a pale blue shirt and a long white doctor's coat. He was to pose as a consultant and escort the four of them out of the operating room, as the real team went in after them to carry out the operation on her sister. The hope was that Emilie would be too out of it to notice the change of staff. 

Ben helped her into the dark blue trousers, allowing her to lean on his shoulder for support as she rushed to get dressed. Her arm got caught in the tunic top as she wrestled to get it over her head. 

'Damn it!' She shouted in frustration before Ben helped her pull her arm through the sleeve. 

'You don't have to do this.' Dante's gruff voice sliced through the room. 

'Yes, I do.' Sadie replied firmly. 

No more words passed between them, and minutes later she was standing in an operating theatre looking down at her unconscious sister laying on the raised bed in the centre. The intermittent beeping of machines was the only sound beyond people moving around and getting into position. 

Sadie inhaled a gasp as she looked at Emilie. She looked lifeless and pale.  

'She's sedated.' Zach said as Ben ran a comforting hand down her arm. 'The anaesthetist will bring her around once we're done.' 

Sadie fought for every bit of determination she could muster and straightened her back. This

was it.

Payden eventually entered carrying a leather-bound notebook cracked down the spine from use. She nodded at each person in turn signalling that she was ready to begin. 

Zach and Dante used their magic to put up an invisible light barrier designed to keep sound in and people out. Ben had stepped outside just before they raised it to monitor the corridor. 

Sadie stood next to Emilie and reached out to hold her hand. Partly to offer confort, but also because the spell Payden was about to cast to transfer Emilie's magic to Sadie, required a physical connection. 

Payden began reading from the notebook in a language Sadie had never heard before. The energy room almost immediately picked up as the air seemed to vibrate and pulse in an irregular rhythm. The pulsing grew stronger the longer Payden recited, rattling the equipment and tools scattered around the theatre. The tension grew and grew until suddenly it snapped sending a wave of energy cascading around the room. Emilie's lifeless form jumped off the bed before landing with a gentle thud. Payden continued to recite in the strange syntax. 

Sadie's entire body grew hot to the point of burning up. She felt like she was melting from the inside out and wasn't sure how much more she could take. She let out a pained moan and saw Zach moving towards her. Before he could reach her, Dante gripped his arm and held him in place. 

Suddenly, there was a white-hot flash of light which filled the entire room blinding them all for the blink of an eye. An invisible forced crashed into Sadie's torso without warning and sent her flying backwards. Her head connected hard with something metal. She barley noticed Payden shouting her name before she was consumed by darkness. 

...

A gentle touch to the side of her face caused Sadie to stir. She was lying on something soft. It took several forced blinks for her vision to come back into focus. She saw three forms standing over her and took in the faded orange walls connected by a white ceiling. Remembering instantly, she shot up from where she lay only to be greeted by a screaming pain in the back of her head. She winced and moved her hand to touch the source of her pain and noted for a second the wetness she felt. 

Not caring about her own condition, she asked to nobody in particular, 'did it work?' 

'Take it easy.' Zach, she realised, was standing at the end of the sofa she was now sitting on with her legs extended in front of her. 

Payden was kneeling beside her, and she saw that Dante had his back to them all staring at the door as if expecting danger to strike at any moment. 

'How do you feel?' Payden asked gently. 

'Like I'm going to scream if somebody doesn't tell me if Emilie is okay!' She practically bit Payden's head off and didn't miss the slight flinch she failed to mask.

Dante turned around with a hard look in his eyes, jaw clenching at the side in an unsteady beat. 

'The doctors are working on her now. Ben updated us a few minutes before you woke up. It's looking good. Chris is in with her, and she was awake just after we carried you out.' Payden said, in the same soft tone she had used before seemingly unbothered by Sadie's outburst. 

Sadie pulled her hand away from her head and looked at it. Her fingertips were covered in blood from where she hit her head. 'What happened?' She asked looking at Zach. 

Payden moved her hand over the back of Sadie's head. There was a gentle warmth before Sadie felt the skin move, presumably to close the wound, and she cringed at the unfamiliar sensation. 

'The force of Emilie's magic being absorbed knocked you off your feet and you hit your head on the monitor'. Payden explained.

'Thank you.' Sadie finally said. 'All of you. If Emilie gets through this, I will owe you everything.' Her eyes were filling with tears as she spoke. She wiped away the first one that fell. 

Dante let out a soft grunt as Zach gave her a gentle closed-lipped smile, and Payden gently squeezed her arm. 

Sadie swung her legs off the side of the sofa and swayed as a wave of dizziness hit her. Zach rushed to her side but she waved him off before righting herself with Payden's offered hand. 

'How long has it been.' Sadie asked in the absence of a clock. 

'Twenty minutes.' Zach provided. 'You should sit down. You took a nasty blow to the head, and we still don't know the impact Emilie's magic will have on you.' 

Sadie wanted to argue for no other reason than being stubborn, but thought against it and flopped back down onto the sofa. Payden followed and sat next to her. Dante and Zach remained standing. 

'That's a problem for another time. I just need to know she's okay.' 

Beyond sympathetic glances, nobody spoke again until Ben came through the door to what Sadie now knew was a private staffroom. He was flanked by a doctor still dressed in her scrubs and hairnet. Her mask was swaying as it hung from her ear. Everybody looked to the Doctor. 

The Doctor's attention was directed at Sadie, and she smiled widely. 'Would you like to come and meet your nephew?' 

Sadie's final ounce of restraint snapped, and she burst into relieved sobs.