27. MADDY

27

MADDY

“We have to move!” the guards shout.

Two of them run toward us, grab Raven by the arms and legs, and start running into the jungle toward Ayana.

Raven is unconscious, bleeding, with at least two bullet wounds, his hands shredded by glass. I want to tell the guards to be more careful, but an explosion sends me and Little to the ground. I haul him up, and we resume running, the other guards shooting in the opposite direction, covering us.

Explosions start raining on the jungle and Ayana in the distance. The sound of the blasts is defining, but I don’t look back. Tripping, darting through the jungle with branches whipping in my face, I hold Little by the hand, pulling him after me as I keep my eyes ahead on the guards who carry Raven until we reach the all-terrain vehicles.

We always knew that Zion would come to this, a standoff. But we could’ve never thought that it would be so violent. That it would involve children. That it would jeopardize the lives of our loved ones. We envisioned the war outside our walls. We never thought that it would reach our homes. That’s what happened during the Change. We thought that war would always be on TV. Until it blasted through our doors.

As soon as our side-by-side pulls up at the medical center, I fetch the gurney for Raven.

He’s bled a lot, unconscious. Little is covered in Raven’s blood, holding the cloth against Raven’s neck wound.

Dr. Hodges’s white coat is bloodied. There are injured guards in the hallway—the patient rooms filled up fast. There are children everywhere. Kat. Margot.

I grab Dr. Hodges and tell him what happened.

Raven is being wheeled in. Dr. Hodges shouts orders to the nurses. Little tries to run after Raven, but I tell him to stay back and look after the kids.

And I run after the stretcher and into the operating room.

Everything happens fast. The whole building is in emergency mode. Guards inside. Guards outside. Explosions now and then rattle the windows. There are gunshots outside the building.

The sounds drown my wild heartbeat but not the thoughts racing through my head. I failed him. I failed him. I failed him . I swore that we’d be safe, but I failed Raven, despite shooting Butcher.

I feel like I’m having a heart attack. My nerves are on edge. My heart is pumping. All I can see is Raven in front of me, being transferred onto the operating table. My entire body is shaking, but I breathe in and out in controlled breaths. He needs me now. Now more than ever. He needs me calm. He needs me not freaking out.

Dr. Hodges gives sharp orders. A clear mask is placed over Rave’s face. Someone is cutting the shirt and jeans off his body. An IV appears from behind me. I’m helping, obeying doctor’s orders like a soldier, but I can’t process what’s really happening, because all I keep thinking is, “Stay with me. Stay with me. Please, stay.”

“He lost a lot of blood,” the doctor says. “He needs a blood transfusion ASAP. We need to find a match or have it delivered from the mainland. But he might not make it by then.”

“The mainland?”

“He has A-negative. It’s quite rare.”

“I have A-negative,” I blurt out.

There are many coincidences in life that set you on the right path, precisely where you are supposed to be. Raven and I have had many. But this one might just save him.

A nurse yelps when she jerks her hand from Raven’s and inspects her fingers. “What sort of wounds are those?”

“Glass shards. Shrapnel. All kinds. They need to be treated. His knees too. Possibly his entire body.”

We removed his bulletproof vest on the ride back to Ayana, and after they cut off Raven’s clothes, his entire body is covered in blood, shredded, cut.

“Oh, God,” I whisper.

I’ve seen worse before, but not on him. Not on my Raven.

“He is losing his heartbeat!” Dr. Hodges yells.

And despite me being strong for Raven, I feel everything blur around me.

“Rave, please, stay with me,” I whisper as tears spill down my face.