“No, don’t move her, Creed.” Sloan put a small hand on his biceps, but it was the look on her face that stopped Creed, not her touch.
“The vest didn’t catch all the bullets.” Evan grimaced at the blood dripping slowly off the edge of his mother’s vest.
Sloan’s steady fingers had been searching for a pulse in Margo’s wrist, but it was so faint that the jostling of the van speeding down the two-lane highway made it very difficult to calculate accurately.
She ducked her head down to see for herself what was making Evan’s face turn a sickly shade of paste.
“That doesn’t look good, Evan. The fluid looks more watery than it should.”
“Spinal fluid,” Evan gulped loudly.
“I think so. She needs medical attention immediately.”
“We cannot risk stopping. We have to get the heck out of Germany and the further away, the better. Williams has probably already sent half the facility into full alert and they’re prepping to start their hunt for us even before the fire goes out on that blaze we left.” Evan’s face was ghostly pale.
Sloan sighed, trying desperately to stay calm and think clearly.
“Meg? What do we do?” Like everyone else in the van, Alik had been listening to the exchange between Evan and Sloan with bated breath. He knew his sister was the best chance they had at making the right decision for the family.
Meg sat, holding the baby, gently rocking him back and forth and rubbing his back. Her eyes were glassy with concentration.
Everyone waited for her to respond, knowing she needed time to spread her empath wings to feel.
“I can’t find her.” Meg’s eyes glistened as she searched her mother’s face.
Without shifting the baby in her arms, Meg positioned herself closer to Creed and her mother so she could reach out and touch her skin, trying to strengthen her empath connection.
“I’ve never had to do this with Mom,” Meg mumbled, a look of anguish on her face. “I’ve always just thought of her and could feel her emotions.”
She sat quietly with her hand pressed against her mother’s cool temple. Her dark eyes closed with concentration.
Creed watched her with a mixture of admiration and love.
How could such a small girl be so strong? To offer herself not only to a stranger’s dying baby but to reach out and give of herself so she could try to pull her mother back from the edge? Creed knew in his heart what she was doing. He felt her lean her shoulder heavier against his with her effort. She was drawing strength from him, and he nearly beamed with pride that she chose him to be that person for her.
After a few moments, Meg sighed deeply and opened her dark eyes, now rimmed red.
“She’s far away. I can barely feel her.”
“Should we stay and find a hospital or go to the airport?” Evan asked his sister, eyes wide with worry.
Maze whined, scooting closer to Meg and pressing his warm, furry body against her leg, offering his quiet support.
“I’m torn. Part of me wants to run screaming into the nearest hospital and demand immediate attention for her.” Meg shook her head, her hand still gently pressed against her mother’s temple, as though she was afraid if she let go, she would never feel her mother’s emotions again.
“The rational side of me knows we wouldn’t be able to get away with that. Not only are we on Williams’ home-turf, but there’s no way we’d be able to explain away the bullet wound without getting local police involved. Once they realize we’re Americans, we’ll have the US Consulate breathing down our necks.
“All of that and we still have to worry about the entire Facility showing up at the hospital and destroying it with us along with everyone else unlucky enough to be there. Williams is pure evil and he is going to demand payback.” Meg looked over at Alik and caught his eyes in the rearview mirror. He nodded solemnly, knowing full well what she was about to say.
Everyone sat in silence, waiting for Meg’s final call.
“We have to do what we know she would want us to do now. We go to the airport as previously planned and get everyone to safety. Evan and Sloan, what can we do to help you take care of her as best we can until we’re home?”
Alik nodded in agreement with Meg’s logic and would later look back on this moment, replay it with perfect clarity thanks to his eidetic memory, and appreciate the strength it took for her to make this decision. The old Meg would have acted on pure impulse and her emotional outburst could have been the end of them, but she wasn’t that Meg anymore. His sister had truly evolved.
Evan and Sloan looked at each other briefly. “First thing we need to do is get her into a flat, stable position where we can stop the bleeding and prevent her from further damage,” Sloan said, logically.
Evan’s eyes were scanning the inside of the van as though looking at the contents for the first time.
“There,” he said pointing. “We can use those two long broom handles and that tarp to make a stretcher.” He jumped up, holding the ceiling of the van to steady himself as they sped down the road to the bright lights of the airport in the distance.