The Flightless

Requiem

The first thing that registers is the taste of blood and dirt on my lips. Next is the pain. Each breath forced out of my lungs feels similar to ash rising from a hearth. I've been in this position before. I was trapped in Falcone's warehouse by the docks. I don't remember that explosion hurting nearly as much.

This time, I'm not alone. I struggle to open my eyes. Loren lays beside me on her stomach. She's bleeding out and unconscious. Flames engulf the clinic.

Kent groans. He's holding up the entire building without his helm. Sweat collects in his gray hair.

"Get her out of here, Sera."

A burning beam traps her leg. My thumb immediately takes to the choker. It clatters on the ground. The breath I take in isn't a pleasant one. The air is full of debris and smoke. I cover my mouth with my shirt and crawl over to my friend. Inch by inch I rise. I lift the collapsed, burning beam with my bare hands and hurl it to the side.

Dizziness sends me back to the ground.

"I can't hold it for much longer, Cardinal. You have to move!"

I stand and sling Loren over my shoulder. How do we get out? I can't make sense of any course. Everything is on fire and no path is clear. Desperately, I scream in all directions. A window shatters to my left. I run to the exit.

"Hand her to me!"

"Can you catch her?" I shout.

"Let her go, Sera!"

I release my friend into the care of my brother. Oswald stands at his side. Our eyes meet for just a second. Kent forcefully grabs me by the waist. For a single moment, I feel like I'm flying. I soar high above the ground until we land hard on the concrete as Haven collapses.

"Sera," Oswald shakes me. "Sera, breathe. Jim!"

The ringing in my ears dulls the sound of his voice. We meet up with my brother, who's loaded up an entire truckload of injured bodies to be taken to another clinic.

"Don't leave me," I cry.

"We're right here. Oswald, take them to the clinic up north. The doctors will be able to take care of them, there." He pauses when he reaches Kent. "Whoever the hell you are, make sure she stays awake."

He situates me in the passenger seat. My husband drives off with our friends in the back. 

Breaking the silence, Oswald yells. "This is not happening again! I will not lose her again!"

Kent carries me inside. Penguin has Loren positioned over his shoulder. When we run into the main hall, we come face to face with Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth. Their eyes are as wide as my friend's must be.

"Come with me," Bruce says. "There's a nurse in here."

Fate chases behind him. We reach an infirmary where nurses and doctors bustle about.

"I have a pregnant woman here," Kent announces. "She needs immediate medical help."

The staff jog up to us. They take one look at my form and start barking a list of orders and demands. Someone installs an oxygen tube in my nose, I think. Another nurse takes my vital signs.

"Is Dinah okay?" I murmur to anyone who will listen. "Is my baby okay?"

Someone else runs an ultrasound. She gives me a supportive thumbs up.  "She's perfect, Miss Gordon. Just fine."

Relief washes over my chest in cool waves. Despite the pain I'm feeling, I can rest easy knowing that my child is not.

Loren is in the bed beside mine. She's still unconscious. From the looks of it, she's suffered some pretty bad burns to her leg.