Spy School King's Cage (Completed)

Every Moment Counts

The long awaited update is here!!!!!!!

Erica's POV

"...I think she's waking up."

"Is she?"

"Erica..."

"Can you hear me?"

I opened my bleary eyes. I'm alive?

There were beeping machines all around me. An IV was stuck in my arm and my left leg was in a huge white cast, but nothing hurt. I was in a hospital gown and under that, my waist was wrapped in white gauze.

Mom was in tears. "You're okay. Thank goodness you're okay."

I tried to talk, but I was too tired to force anything out of my mouth. My eyes searched the room, and I found Mike, Zoe, Jamie and Cynthia all standing around me, while Mom sat in a chair next to my bed.

"What-what happened?" I managed, sounding like a weak person.

Jamie smiled, though it was strained. "We did it. Your mom got the Queen and I got the King. We defeated them. We did it."

I exhaled. "P-Piper?"

Zoe shook her head. "She's gone. To where, we don't know. When the duels started, we told her to run. She did."

"Ben?" I asked next.

No one said anything.

"Where's Ben?" I asked. Still silence. "Someone say something!"
Silence.

"Someone say something!" I begged.

There was a very uncomfortable silence. Mike turned around, hanging his head. Zoe bit her lip and avoided my gaze. Jamie frowned and Cynthia looked like she was going to cry.

I looked into Mom's eyes. "Mom?" I asked. I sounded like a timid little girl. I sounded scared.

"Erica..." Mom began, "Ben...Ben was...he was...shot in the...the chest. He's in surgery."

The words hit me hard. Like a rock thrown on a floor. Like a wave on the shore. Like trash thrown into a trash bin.

"He's surviving, but barely," Mom continued. "He's on life support. The survival rate is..."

"Is?" The voice was Jamie's. I was too shocked to say anything. My voice had given up on me.

Mom was silent for a moment. "10%."

Ten percent. My heart skipped a beat.

"You've survived your surgery. He will too. Be strong. Every moment counts," Mom said slowly.

Tears rolled down my eyes against my will. I closed my eyes and bit my lip.

I felt a hand on mine. "He'll be fine." The voice was Cynthia's. She was trying to hold it together. I opened my eyes. She was sitting right next to me on my bed. "Remember when the building blew up? He survived that. He will this time too."

"Ben can't die. He won't die." This time it was Mike. He was sobbing too, but he was strong. I, on the other hand, was an emotional wreck.

I wiped my tears and forced a weak smile. "Right."

"We just have to wait," Mom said. "Wait and watch."

"How-how long is it going to take?" I asked.

Everyone slowly walked out of the room, leaving Mom and me alone. Mom smoothed my hair. "It will take a while. Maybe two hours. Maybe three. Or even four."

I felt like a little child. I wanted to cry some more. But I didn't. I listened to Mom.

"You can't possibly stay awake that long now, can you?" she said softly. "You need to rest. Recuperate."

She got up and left. I stifled a yawn and closed my eyes. My sleepiness had overcome my concern for Ben, and before I could decide on what to do, I fell fast asleep.

Zoe's POV

Catherine closed the door to Erica's room and headed over to us, heaving a sigh of relief. "She fell asleep. Now that she's resting, I can worry about other things."

I stood up. "Alexander just got here."

"Oh," Catherine said. "Where is he? I need to talk to him."

Jamie pointed down the hallway. "Over there."

She headed that way and I sat back down in front of Erica's room. We weren't allowed outside the operation hall, so we were waiting with Erica. Only Catherine and Alexander were allowed.

Ben and Erica had been airlifted to a hospital in North Carolina. D.C. was only a while away, and we were staying in a hotel nearby, though we hadn't gone there yet. Catherine had checked us into two rooms, dropped our luggage in there and came back to the hospital.

I was dying to sleep in a comfortable bed where I didn't have to be worried.

I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes. The fight had given me a sprained ankle and bruises. Cynthia broke her wrist. Mike was free of injuries minus a few bruises, but Jamie had a bullet in his shoulder.

Shortly after we got here, the bullet was pulled out and Jamie's shoulder was padded with gauze. Somehow, he remained expressionless the whole time, not even wincing in pain. Cynthia had described him saying he was 'as tough as a brick'.

"You good?" came Mike's voice. I opened my eyes and saw Mike's hazel eyes staring into mine. He put his hand on my leg, gave it a squeeze and smiled sympathetically.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I replied, smiling back. "Are you okay?"

He smiled sadly. "Yeah, I'm good. Hopefully. It's just so strange."

"He'll be fine," I replied, and I could only hope that I was right.

Okay, this chapter is short. But the next one's long. It's the last chapter. Have a great day!