The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)

Chapter Forty-Nine - Brink Of Death

LUC

I PACED FOR HOURS in front of the doors. Every so often, elders or injured people in wheelchairs exited the grounds. Vehicles regularly pulled over the sidewalk and dropped off relatives. My gaze latched onto the cluster of ambulances parked across the dried-up lawn, wondering which one had sped through the roads to rush her inside. 

Damn it, I hadn't known—hadn't imagined Riley to get shot. Fuck!

I still had no idea of her state, and it was killing me faster than anything I've ever felt. When Raymond and I finished talking and he started the engine, I received the call from Greg. My soul leaked out of my flesh. I swear that what I heard next knocked down five years off my lifespan, and I probably turned blue, or green, or red, because Raymond's brows furrowed and he asked what was going on. He dragged me by the collar into his Audi and broke all the speed limits to reach the hospital. 

Ben and Devin were already in the waiting room. I barreled through the hall to meet them, ignoring all the bustling nurses and doctors and worried family. I didn't care. I didn't care, I just wanted to know exactly how all hell broke loose as soon as I skipped class. My sister was involved. Chuck was involved. A goddamn nightmare from start to end. 

Luckily, Heather was on shift and caught the case before another doctor would get a hold of Riley. Some of the staff in the building were mutants which ensured privacy whenever one of us got seriously injured. I couldn't heal all the afflictions, and nor could Lauren. 

I was too nervous to be contained inside, so I lumbered out for air. 

She was prepped for emergency surgery, and my hands were shaking from impatience. The school shut down for the afternoon due to the series of events. There had been a widespread puddle of blood in the middle of the main hall. 

I wiped my forehead with a sleeve, feeling like I was going to upchuck my lunch on the pavement. My mind wouldn't think straight or distract itself. The worry was so deep, so gutting that it reminded me of the day I woke up and realized that Lauren was gone. I spent the whole day searching. I came to see the obvious, and the sinking impression was like none other, rattling my whole world upside down. 

The glass door squeaked. I whipped around, recognizing Ben as he stepped out. His face was sunken and grave, and a flurry of additional jitters infected every cell in my body. I dropped my hands on his shoulders, steering him away from the doors until we were eye-to-eye. 

"Tell me you have good news." 

"I just talked with Heather who came out of surgery. Man..." His stare anchored into mine with a wary sigh. "It was a close call. She's still under anesthesia in the ICU, and they don't know for how long or if she'll be fine, but..."

Christ, I nearly collapsed and needed to lean on Ben. He shouldered me, standing solid, and clapped my back. The second he touched me, he grunted out a disapproval. 

"Jeez, you're tenser than a rock." With one hand, he stabbed his thumb into my shoulder until it hurt, then started massaging the knot. "You're not helping yourself like this, you know?"

I shook my head. "I can't fucking calm down, dude. No way."

He smirked lightly, but his gaze looked clouded. "Fair enough. It's not over nothing."

Far from it, I almost replied, but decided it didn't matter. I shrugged his hand off and paced again. "Where were you and Devin when it happened?"

"On the upper floors. We couldn't get past the crowd, and the monitors put us on lockdown. The only way to break out was through abilities, but we figured that if Greg was down there..." He combed his fingers through his hair. "We had no idea it was Chuck with a gun. Not until it was too late."