44. Zephyr
Zephyr
He fell. Hard.
My shadow cloaked around me fends off bullets, and I scramble over crumpled metal and smoke to get to him. I didn’t fall. My bike slowed, and the front wheel is the only thing locked into the collision.
Phoenix’s shadow is still cloaking him, but there is no telling how long it’ll hold out if he’s unconscious.
Choices fly through my head, and I can’t sort them fast enough. All I know is I need to get to Phoenix.
“Let’s go! Leave them,” one of the guys who was shooting shouts from my left.
Car doors slam, and I get over the last of the bike wreck to Phoenix.
I lower my shadow on the left as the car lurches.
As it pulls away, I’m relieved that a hailstorm of bullets doesn’t come with its departure.
A half second later, the other car follows the first. The sound of plastic cracking as the bumper and fiberglass of our bikes shatter finally alerts me that I’m safe on that side too.
Phoenix’s shadow flickers and fades. It won’t hold on much longer.
No. No. No. My body turns cold. A puddle of blood pools under his head and runs back toward the bikes.
I reach for my phone.
“Lamp Light County, please state your emergency.” The dispatcher’s voice is so calm and comforting.
“I’m at exit . . .” I look around, trying to find the signs. “Two Fourteen off Universal Twelve. My brother was rear-ended by a car. He fell from his bike, he’s bleeding, head wound.”
My voice is shaking, and I listen to the woman on the phone. She walks me through checking if he’s breathing. Then I open his cut and press my head against his chest.
“Heartbeat, yes.” I confirm to the woman on the phone.
A car pulls up on the other side of our bikes. It’s a beta, and my shadow lunges forward to protect us.
“I’m a doctor. I saw your bikes down, and I want to help.” He holds his hands up in surrender as he freezes just outside of my shadow’s reach.
Do I trust him? I can hardly breathe, let alone think.
I pull my shadow back, letting the beta come closer.
Phoenix starts to stir. “Honey. Guns.”
“Shhh, stop talking.” Relief that he’s waking up and talking warms up some of the frigid fear locking my spine, but I’ve never been in an accident before. I don’t know what this means.
An ambulance comes rolling up in the grass alongside the exit, and that’s when I notice the traffic I’ve stopped.
And time starts ticking away. Honey and Laz.
Our bikes are too mangled. Even though help is here for Phoenix, I can’t do anything to find them.
I’ve lost track of Honey. With each passing second, she gets farther and farther away, and I can’t do anything to find her.
The world is blurry through hot, angry tears. I’m trapped despite standing in the middle of the open air. I hate this. I hate it all. We’re back together. I can’t lose him. Not now. Not like this. Don’t fucking die on me. The hot tears roll down my face. I don’t even bother to wipe them away.
They put a medical band that emits light, similar to that of handcuffs, around Phoenix’s wrist to keep his shadow secure while they work. Instinctively, I wrap my hand around my wrist, remembering how painful that can be. A neck brace is put in place, and they load him onto a backboard.
Fox comes out of nowhere, running full speed. He doesn’t even stop to look at Phoenix. He whistles loudly, snapping his fingers at one of the EMTs and dragging them over to me.
“No, it’s Phoenix, he fell.” I push my older brother’s shoulder. Pain radiates through my chest.
Fox pushes on my side. He forces me to lie back on the concrete. His voice, something I haven’t heard since I was a kid, is all gravel as he scolds me. “You’ve been shot, idiot. Lie down.”
The world starts darkening at the edges. The sun is setting fast.