Chapter 2 - The Whisper|
The darkness was absolute, but the sounds of the courtroom echoed in my fading consciousness. I could hear the heavy thud of the courtroom doors bursting open and the frantic static of a police radio.
Before I had slipped entirely under, Colonel Carter had leaned in close. His voice was a low, urgent hum.
“Your pupils are pinpoint, and your heart rate is bottoming out,” he had said, his breath warm against my ear. “Sarah, think. What did you ingest this morning? Did you take anything?”
My tongue had felt like lead, but survival instinct forced the words out.
“Nothing,” I breathed, the edges of my vision going black. “Just… the special tea. Daniel makes it… every morning. For my nerves.”
That was the moment Carter froze. That was the moment he looked at Daniel with a stare that could have melted steel.
Now, I was floating in a bizarre limbo. I heard the rhythmic beeping of monitors. I felt the cold, sterile air of what had to be an ambulance or an emergency room.
“Push two milligrams of Naloxone, now!” a voice barked. It was Carter. Why was he still here?
“Sir, you don’t have privileges at this hospital,” a female voice—a nurse—argued.
“I said push it! She’s in acute respiratory distress! It’s an opioid toxidrome mixed with something else. Look at her vitals!”
I felt a sharp pinch in my IV line. Seconds later, a strange, burning sensation rushed up my arm, flooding my chest. It felt like someone had kicked a door open inside my lungs.
My eyes snapped open. I gasped, a violent, rattling breath that arched my back off the hospital bed.
“Easy, Sarah. Easy,” Carter’s voice was suddenly gentle. He was standing right over me. “You’re at Mercy General. You’re safe.”
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I blinked against the harsh lights. “Daniel…” I choked out.
“He’s outside,” Carter said, his jaw tightening. “And he is incredibly eager to sign your discharge papers. But that is not going to happen.”
