Fairest (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale, #2)

He took the silver stethoscope while tears poured out of his eyes. He put the plugs in his ears and leaned forward to listen to Nan’s lifeless heart. Mina waited with baited breath and prayed. They pulled onto the main highway, and the ambulance picked up speed. Veronica encouraged them to use the siren, and they caught her urgency.

Minutes ticked by with nothing. What is going on? Mina thought to herself. Maeve promised that she was going to save Nan’s life. Dr. Martin took down the hand pump and put it over Nan’s mouth and nose. He adjusted the knob on the air tank and started her on the artificial breathing; he listened to her heart and then began the chest compressions. There were no obvious signs of life coming from her, so he continued the basics of lifesaving CPR. They ambulance turned off the highway and onto the main road to the hospital. Still there were no signs from Nan.

“Come on, baby,” Veronica whispered, holding her daughter’s hand between hers. “Come on, baby, breathe.”

“You can do it, Nan,” Dr. Martin coaxed. “Do it for your mom and me.” He continued the chest compressions, but after another thirty seconds Mina could see the defeat in his eyes.

Mina began to cry again as the ambulance turned into the hospital and headed for the emergency entrance. This wasn’t part of the deal. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end.

Dr. Martin reached for the stethoscope to take it off, but Veronica grabbed his hands, desperation ringing in her voice. “Please, Robert, listen one more time.”

He hung his head afraid to look at her, but he did it. He leaned down, placed the metal circle over Nan’s heart, and listened.

Mina and Veronica held their breath in anticipation, hoping to make it quiet enough for him to hear. The ambulance pulled up to the doors, and nurses ran out to greet them. Dr. Martin dropped onto Nan’s chest and began to cry loudly. Veronica covered her mouth to keep the sobs from spilling forth. She touched his shoulder in comfort.

“It’s okay, Robert. You tried your best,” she soothed.

The back doors opened up, and the emergency team grabbed the stretcher and pulled it to the street and took Nan’s body indoors to the emergency room.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t...I couldn’t…” He raised his head to look at Veronica. His eyes were not filled with grief but with guilt.

Veronica’s hand flew to her heart in despair as Dr. Martin’s shoulders began to silently shake. “What is it?”

They began to shake even harder. “I heard it,” he laughed, tears streaming out of the corner of his eyes. “I didn’t believe it at first, but I heard her heartbeat! Veronica, Nan’s alive!”

They both looked in wonder at the hospital stretcher being rolled into the first emergency room, as doctor after doctor ran in to take care of a living, breathing Nan. The paramedics from the front seat turned to look at the motley crew in the back seat and started cheering.

Chapter 19
While it wasn’t the full recovery that Mina had hoped for, it was better than being dead. Nan’s heart started beating and she was breathing on her own, but she was in a deep coma. It didn’t matter to Veronica; all that mattered was that her baby was alive.

What confused Mina was the fact that she was still in a coma. That wasn’t part of the bargain, but she did try and recall her words with Maeve. Well, she fought for Nan, but obviously it wasn’t enough. She changed, she was more angry than confused. It wasn’t until she cornered Ever at school that she got some answers.

“What is going on, Pixie!” Mina hissed into the Fae’s ear before first period. The slamming of locker doors helped disguise Mina’s words. “I had a talk with Maeve. Apparently she isn’t keeping her end of the deal.”

Ever turned on Mina with eyes blazing angrily. “How dare you talk about the Fates that way?”

“Fates? What’s with the plural anyway? Are you telling me Maeve is one of the ruling Fae?” Mina asked bewildered.

“How dumb are you? Of course, she is. She’s our Queen. Haven’t you ever heard of the royal ‘we’ when speaking? When we speak of our royals, it’s always Fates.” Ever pulled out her books and shut her locker door. She walked quickly, trying to outpace Mina.

Mina wasn’t letting her get away. “Yeah, whatever. I’m talking about this bargain I made with Maeve, and she didn’t keep her end.” She picked up her speed to keep Ever from outdistancing her.

“You don’t get to call her by her first name. To you, Grimm, it’s either Fates or Queen. But did you ever stop to ask yourself if you kept your end of the bargain? The Fates aren’t dumb.” Ever turned into her classroom and blocked the door so Mina couldn’t enter.

“Don’t think you’re getting away from me that easily, Pixie,” Mina hissed out loudly. “I know that your kind is disappearing. Do you want it getting out that you are here in this school? Do you want to disappear like Mrs. Porter.” She was done with playing the helpless heroine; she had best friends to save and a family to protect.