Unpredictable

Chapter 34-- Lacuna

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Lacuna (Noun)

Meaning: A Black Space, A Missing Part 

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<Kai's POV>

We keep her alive for as long as we can. Lloyd does CPR; Zane instructs Jay how and when to shock her, as to stimulate an AED. 

It's pretty much hopeless. She fades in and out, but it's all too clear that our actions have little to do with her state. Still, the need to do something— anything— keeps us on her, performing first aid on a wild strand of hope that just maybe one more compression is all it's gonna take.

The Bounty flies into the airspace above us. The anchor lowers with Sensei Wu on it. His eyes widen, then lower. "Pupils..." 

No. He can't— that's the exact same look I got right after my parents died. 

"Sensei, you gotta help us, we can't... her heart won't beat but she's got to live— the prophecy said— don't we need her?" Cole kneels next to Rose, hands open in his lap. He stands. 

Sensei trots closer and motions for us to get off Rose. Only Lloyd stays with her, continuing to perform CPR. Sensei Wu pats one frail, tender hand on his nephew's shoulder. When Lloyd doesn't respond, Wu pulls him off her.

"All flowers, I'm afraid, fade with their season." 

We stare in silence at Rose's body, broken before us. Angry red marks scream from her back. Dust and sweat sticks to her skin. A fly crawls onto her cheek. Lloyd waves it off.  

The Bounty's engines whir above, and the wind echoes as it bounces in the cave. The sky is a clear blue above us, and the sun shines on. 

I think about the promises we made Kit, Lloyd and I. My mouth opens, then closes. I try to lock eyes with Lloyd, but he's busy staring at the corpse. I glare at her. 

I should be screaming, or crying, or giving some soliloquy about how she died nobly as a shallow comfort to Lloyd and the team. All I can do is blink and beat down the building rage in my belly. I don't even know what I'm mad at: Myself, Jezebel, Rose? This entire screwed-up situation?  

I walk to Lloyd, my feet numb but hot enough to melt some of the rubber of my soles, and I wrap my arm around his shoulders. Cole, Jay, and Zane join in. Zane sticks his arm on my back as a simple reminder, or just a counter for my heat. I don't care either way. 

A little too late, there's a sapphire blue dot in the sky, barely the size of a small bird. The dragon dives down, landing with a thud. 

Lloyd's voice breaks. "Aquila, She- she's—"

"Fools. She's not dead." An old women in a sweater crawls off Aquila's back. Wait, isn't that the tea lady who sold Wu the Tomorrow's Tea? 

The old woman's voice warbles and wobbles as she speaks, high-pitched and haughty. "She's just mostly dead. 85% dead, really, give or take a few decimals..."

Wu strokes his beard, eyes fallen and tired. "Mystake?" 

Cole lets go of Lloyd. "If she's 85% dead...Rose is 15% alive?" 

'Mystake' rummages around in her bag. "No, she's just 15% not dead. There's a fine line between not dead and alive, and you're looking right at it."

Mystake squats beside Rose. She pauses, swiveling her head to face the other unconscious body there. Her eyebrow raises, eyes falling on Jezebel's pointed ears. "Oh. Another one."