12. Tempi

CHAPTER 12

TEMPI

T he rig feels the same as it always does, which is silly. It should feel different, foreign, or something. I sure do. But it's the exact same as it always is. Ole reliable. This baby hasn't broken down in a few years now, a new record in the hub. Everyone thinks it's because it's just built better. I know it's because Leo is meticulous about checking the oil and doing maintenance. That's the reason our rig hasn't broken down. He a wiz with mechanics.

It feels almost normal to ride in the rig after so many days of insanity. This is what I know. This is what I love. Helping people. Fixing them. Getting them the care they need. While it's not great pay, it's honest pay. I should probably go speak to the boss and ask for a raise. I'm gonna be homeless soon if I don't make a little extra for my increased rent and these blackholes are cutting into my hours.

"How's your coffee?" Ben asks from the back where he's strapped in.

I grimace and glance at Leo. It's bad. It's so bad. Weirdly, the coffee tastes like he tried to add cinnamon to it, but he added too much. "It's alright. Thanks, kid."

I can feel his answering smile. He's probably beaming back there. It takes so little to make his day.

Ben is still relatively new. He's still working to finish all his probation hours. He's okay as a paramedic but he's definitely still learning. He often follows my lead more than Leo's, choosing to take my word over anyone else's. Leo says the kid idolizes me. I think he just knows he can trust my process. I wish I could teach him to make a better cup of coffee.

"Come in, Rig zero-zero-two-seven-nine. We have a code one in your area. Please confirm your position."

I grab the microphone. "This is rig zero-zero-two-seven-nine. We're confirmed at South Harold Lane and Jubilee Street."

"Confirmed. Location updated."

I flip the switch for the sirens and the lights, and Leo hits the gas. When we arrive outside a normal looking building, I see a crowd gathered around someone on the ground. I immediately flip into work mode, jumping out of the vehicle and going around to help Ben with the stretcher.

"Clear a path, please," I command as we get a good look at the man before us.

He's dressed in a suit, pristine and probably worth more than I make in a month. It's crusted with blood now from what looks like a gunshot to the chest. He's unresponsive, but he's breathing. A good sign even if it's not a guarantee.

With Leo and Ben's help, we get him prepped and onto the stretcher fast before rushing to the rig. A cop comes over and takes over handling the people while we focus on saving the man's life.

I get to work running an IV and getting him stabilized just as Leo pulls out and heads to the emergency room as fast as possible. The gunshot wound is just below the heart. His ragged breathing tells me his lung is likely to be or about to collapse. Within a few seconds, I get the confirmation when he starts gasping for air.

"Fuck. We're going to lose him," I growl. "Prepping a needle thoracostomy for tension pneumothorax," I announce, reaching for the supplies.

We fight for a good five minutes, but we're still another five minutes from the nearest hospital. Leo navigates to the hospital, trying to get him there in time for the doctors. Ben works in the back with me as we try to get the man breathing. But with four minutes left to go, he stops breathing altogether. Still, I run the needle thoracostomy, hoping I can still save him. I work and work and work, but as we near the hospital, I grimace.

"I think I lost him," I admit to Leo and Ben as we drag up.

Leo throws the rig into park and hops out to come around to the back. "You sure?"

"I've been doing chest compressions. Tried everything. His heart hasn't been beating in four minutes." Our eyes meet as the nurses and ER staff appear at the back door.

"Code blue," Leo tells them. "No heartbeat."

The man who hasn't breathed in the last four minutes suddenly sits up and I think we all collectively nearly shit ourselves. Someone screams. I don't think it's me. It might have been Ben where he stands to the side. It's hard not to scream when a dead man sits up with wide open eyes. When he turns to look at me, I freeze.

"The worlds are colliding," he says. "The worlds are crashing!"

I grimace. "Sir," I say, reaching out to him. "I need you to take deep breaths for me. Can you do that?"

"The worlds will collide and we're helpless to stop it!" he screams, beginning to flail around on the stretcher. He's strapped to it, so he can't fall off, but it makes the stretcher jerk around violently. His eyes meet mine again. "You don't belong in this world, Tempest."

And then he collapses back on the stretcher.

My heart stops and I freeze, but the moment the nurses gesture for us to move, I snap out of it and help them get the stretcher out. I watch them cart the man inside with wide eyes.

What the fuck? What the actual fuck? What did that mean? And why was a strange man I was certain was dead saying shit like that?

Thirty minutes later, the stretcher comes back out and we're dismissed.

"Is he alive?" I ask the nurse who comes out.

She nods. "He's stabilized. You did an excellent job. He's going to be okay."

I frown. "You're certain?"

She laughs. "Of course I am. You saved that man's life. I don't know how, but you did."

"Has he said anything else. . . weird?"

The nurse shakes her head. "He's still under right now. Do you know him?"

I shake my head. "No. I don't know him. Thanks for letting me know."

Leo watches me carefully, his eyes taking in my posture and the questions I'm asking, but he doesn't say anything. Not until we get into the rig and all our seatbelts are fastened again.

"You wanna explain what's going on?" he asks.

Ben is silent in the back, listening, but not interrupting.

"What do you mean?" I respond, my eyes focused out the windshield.

"Why did that man's incoherent babbling effect you so badly?"

I glance at Leo and see the concern written on his face. Shrugging to reassure him I'm okay, I sigh. "I'm fine, Leo."

He hesitates. "You know. . . Martha said she overheard you talking about portals and stuff at the ER when you went in there."

"Martha needs to mind her own fucking business," I snarl. The ER nurse was always sticking her nose where it doesn't belong.

"That woman knows everything," Leo laughs. "And I like to hear the tea." But he sobers a minute later. "I'm worried about you, Temp."

"I'm fine," I say again. But I keep glancing at my arm to see if it sparkles. It doesn't look any different here from before, but I know I saw sparkles in the Deep Seas. Puss said there's no magic here so maybe that's why. But still, I'm as human as they come, right?

"You said that after the crash, too, and it wasn't true then," Leo points out. I don't answer, my heart throbbing painfully in my chest at the reminder of one of the worst days of my life. "Look, I'm your friend. I just want to help. You can tell me what's bothering you. You can tell me anything."

I hesitate. It's probably not a good idea to tell Leo what I've been going through but if there's one person in the world I trust, it's him. He won't tell anyone, and I know he'll hear me out. I don't know if he'll take me seriously though. It's kind of a farfetched idea to believe in.

"Promise you won't laugh?" I ask.

"Scout's honor," is his answer.

"You were never in the boy scouts," I point out.

"I wanted to be. That's gotta count for something, right?"

I stare at him and shake my head. "Fine," I grumble. "Just remember, you asked." I take a deep breath and adjust myself in my seat, trying to get more comfortable. "Our world isn't the only one that exists. I've been to others."

Ben makes a sound in the back, but when I glance at him in the mirror, he's looking away, hiding his expression.

Leo blinks at me. "Okay."

"I keep getting sucked into these. . . these. . . portals. That's the only word I can think to describe them. They suck me in, and then they spit me back out. Real crazy shit. Puss thinks it's because my abuela was a bruja , but I don't. I don't know what to think. I just want things to go back to normal."

The words come tumbling out before I can stop them, one after the other, like word vomit. I know it's a lot of information all at once, but when I finish, I look at Leo expectantly.

Leo meets Ben's eyes in the back of the rig. For a moment, I think they're taking me seriously, that they're understanding what I'm saying. And the two burst into laughter and I realize I shouldn't have had my hopes so high.

"You said you wouldn't laugh!" I growl.

"That was before I knew what sort of story you'd spout," Leo laughs. "It's creative. I'll give you that."

"It's true!" I spit, crossing my arms. "I shouldn't have told you."

"You missed your calling as a children's book writer," he teases. "What's the book with the wardrobe and the fatherly lion? The silly one?"

"Narnia," Ben supplies helpfully.

"That's the one!" Leo says. "You been to Narnia, Temp?"

I grit my teeth and sink into my seat. "No."

At least not that I know of. Is that place real, too? I don't know.

"Oh, don't be mad. I'm just joshing you," Leo says.

I stay silent as he continues to drive, and Leo looks over at me. His grin slowly falls into a frown when he sees I'm being serious. It's like he expects me to tell him I was just kidding, and when I don't, he realizes I might actually be insane.

"Look. Temp—" Leo begins when I remain silent.

"Leo! Watch out!" I scream, pointing out the windshield.

There, right in front of us, a large portal opens up right in the middle of the street. When Leo swerves, not fully understanding what he's swerving, the portal moves with us, apparently intent on sucking us inside.

Without any bit of hesitation, the entire rig drives right into the blackhole and the New York streets disappear around us.

Well, fuck.