ey's

nees hit the

oo heavy for a room dresse

ems to pause, balanced on that brief, impossibl

s body

eside him. Cold marble bites into my knees through silk that was pristine minutes ago. Someone screams.

ngs

ike mine. It's stripped

and my hands s

t I'm touching. Then the smell hits me-metallic, u

oo

uch o

against his side, trying to find where the damage ends and where he begins. The silk of my go

't part o

though he isn't movin

y wrist. It's shallow, uneven, but it's there. Rel

per. "That's it

noise without meaning-voices overlapping, shoes

ll, calm and commanding, sharp en

es down. Anyone filmi

en quiet under firmer hands. Someone kneels

n't o

n a way that feels unnatural for someone who stood so solidl

ath shakes against his cheek. "You d

, low and involuntary, and my fingers curl refle

d. Hands replace mine, gloved and effici

sita

t to let go. My hands feel like the only thing

pulle

ls colder i

harp sound from his throat, and my chest tightens in

walking alongside th

ehind us, and the world shrinks

ch, knees pressed together, hands clasped so tightly my fingers ache. Across from me, the paramedic

way Kingsl

ssors is obscene

placed. A mask covers his mouth. I watch his chest rise and fall, too shallow,

one of them asks w

nswer too

hoes in the

can't seem to shorte

mouth. It felt heavy,

ame beside mine, a shield in boardrooms and headlines-not this. Not

feel it. My eyes are fixed on him, on the way his brow crease

st of the fabric, someth

sc

with age. It doesn't belong to tonight. It's old-o

ath st

ow t

ure behind my eyes, sudden and disorienting. My hand lifts befo

't tou

him, palpable ev

t, dust, a voice calling my name-but it fractures before it can form

ling my fingers into the bl

are

t a question. It

he man I just

rings in my ears. The doors are thrown open, cold night air rushing in,

g moves f

before I fully register it, my body following automatically, step

red line cutting

t final. His eyes flick to my ruined dress, to my hands stil

Nor

lands wi

r into the ER, swallowed by blue and green scrubs,

g with hi

or doesn

ys quietly. "We need to operate

rs swin