Four

Bobby

"Sir, you need to move aside," one of the medical professionals said, and I started to release his hand. But then something drew my attention to the ceiling in the room where they were now feverishly working on Cole. In a matter of seconds, he'd gone from in and out of consciousness to no heartbeat, and if I had to guess he looked dead. I didn't know this guy. I hadn't met him at all until a few short minutes ago, but right now something told me if I let go of his hand, he'd never see the light of day again.

"I'm not moving," I said before I could even think about the consequences of it and tried to stay out of their way as they hurried around him trying to save his life. One of them started chest compressions while another used a mask with a ball pump to force oxygen into his lungs. His skin was grey and his whole body was limp. The hand I clung to was lifeless, and when I glanced at his face, his eyes were half open and staring blankly at nothing. "Come on, Cole, fight." Squeezing his hand far too tight, I hoped it didn't hurt him while at the same time I hoped it got his attention.

A rumble sounded in the distance, but I barely heard it over the noise of the medical staff trying to save Cole's life.

"Stop compressions," the doctor said, and everyone stood back while he listened for a heartbeat, but he shook his head and stood back for the nurses to go back to trying to get his heart beating.

"Doctor—" One of the nurses paused and waited to see what happened next.

"Get the crash cart," he said, and a nurse rushed over to Cole wheeling a cart that had brought into the room a few seconds earlier. He picked up the two handles and held them out while a nurse applied gel. "Everyone, stand back."

His eyes met mine and I knew he meant me, but I just couldn't make myself let go. I closed my eyes and prepared for what could very well be the shock of my life. The building rumbled and shook with a roll of thunder and I clenched his hand tighter.

"What the fuck is that?" someone said just before the building started to rattle and the machine sounded an alarm that it was charged. Bottles and instruments started to fall off tables and shelves and the whole room was in motion. The bed moved with the vibration, and a few people tried to cover their heads while others tried to cover Cole.

The air around us changed, and my ears popped as the vibration turned to a deep hum that pulsed against my chest. My eyes were all over the place, not knowing where to look or what I should do, when suddenly Cole gripped my hand. Not the gentle squeeze of someone who had just come back to life, but the grip of someone with far more strength than me.

His body crackled with electricity as sparks flickered and danced across his body. The hair on my arms stood up and I really hoped I wasn't about to get shocked by whatever the fuck was going on. But then I realized the electricity was only on Cole. None of it touched me where I held his hand, almost as though it avoided my skin and anyone else who was nearby.

Slowly his body started to levitate off the bed. There were shouts of shock and disbelief but all I could focus on was Cole and how tight he still gripped my hand. Lightning crackled and wrapped around him.

"With a flash of blue there will be two. One of old, and one of new. Wisdom and innocence must combine, if one of them is to remain alive," Cole said, but it wasn't his voice. It boomed with power that shook the walls of the room even more than the thunder or whatever had shaken it a few seconds before. I stood and braced myself against the bed to stop from being thrown all over the room. His hand was still clenched in mine, but I looked at his face while the voice spoke. His lips didn't move, and he still looked grey.

Whisps of blue electric bolts wrapped around his arms, legs, and body as he continued to rise higher off the bed. The noise in the room rose to a deafening roar and I wondered if a tornado had hit and we were in the middle of it, before I remembered we were nowhere near where a tornado would or could form.

With a whoosh, everything stopped, and the room fell silent as Cole flopped down on the bed at the same time the noise ended. As soon as his body hit the bed he sucked in a big breath of air and his eyes opened. "What happened?" he said and looked around in a panic.

"Sir, you had a—I'm not sure what happened, but you've had an incident," the doctor said.

"Bobby, get me out of here," he said. His eyes were wide with fright, and his grip on my hand tightened even more while he grabbed at wires and anything else that was attached to him with the other hand.

"Sir, please calm down. It's a really bad idea for you to leave," one of the nurses pleaded.

"Bobby, I can't stay here." His eyes begged me to understand, and help, and a voice in the back of my head told me to get him the hell out. Something took over and I had to restrain myself from shoving everyone away from him.

"He can leave if he wants to." I helped him stand and draped a hospital gown around him when it was obvious there wasn't enough of his shirt and shorts left to worry about. He clung to my arm as a nurse brought a wheelchair for him to sit in.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" he asked as he helped me ease Cole into the chair.

"I'm sure," Cole said.

"You'll need to sign this." A woman in scrubs brought a clipboard to Cole and held it for him while he struggled to grip the pen enough to sign it.

"Thank you, I'm sorry," Cole said before reaching back to squeeze my hand where I gripped the handles of the wheelchair.

As soon as he'd finished, I hurried through the door and back out to the van that was still where I'd left it near the emergency room door. "Are you sure you're okay to leave?" I asked him as I helped him into the seat.

"No, but if I stay there everyone else is in danger." His eyes met mine and the electric blue color seemed to glow, mesmerizing me. "Including you."

I glanced away and forced myself to consider how deeply I wanted to get into things with this guy that I didn't even know. But a force I couldn't deny—or resist—pulled me to him. "Let's get you something to eat, and maybe some clothes."

He looked down at the hospital gown he now wore and at his feet where the tops of his socks were all that remained. "And some shoes," he said, before meeting my eyes with a grin.

That grin did something to me that I wasn't willing to name, and I forced myself to give him some distance as I helped him buckle his seat belt. But when I met his eyes again, he was still grinning. I looked away and chuckled. "And some shoes."