Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [98]
‘Your call, Kelly.’ The tech shook his head.
‘Thank you,’ Everett said. ‘They’ll want her awake for questioning. Stand back.’ He listened to her chest, eyes widening as he noticed an image embedded in the skin of her upper arm. An elegant creature, mammalian, possibly feline, with the tail circling her bicep. His hands trembled. Where was this woman from? ‘Let’s wake her up, people. Ten ccs E-lites, IV,’ he said, keeping his voice steady. ‘Get dialysis going. I want her blood cleansed and filtered in the next five minutes.’ He checked the wall clock. ‘And I want her heart back online, stat! She’s no good even to Donor like this.’
‘Like what?’ A nurse frowned at the flat line.
‘Dead.’
‘Is that possible?’
‘Apparently.’
‘Paddles?’ a fellow med student asked, charging the crash cart.
‘Do you know how to use them?’
‘I’ve seen tutorials.’
‘Then shock her!’
The nurse hooking up the intravenous drip set let out a squeal. She leaned towards the patient’s body.
‘Look at that.’
There was another image on the woman’s leg, going from the back of her knee to the top of her hip—a snake?
‘How real does that look?’ the med tech said.
‘I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen one, and neither have you.’
‘Well, she has. She had an animal with her.’
Everett studied her arm. ‘She’s been outside the borders,’ he said, keeping his voice calm.
‘How can you be sure?’
‘No injection scars.’ He turned to the woman entering the room. ‘Lena, get a message to Isolation Unit. Level Ten precautions.’ Goosebumps covered his arms. He continued to treat her, alternating cardiac stimulants with electric shocks, but there was no response. A half-hour passed.
‘Are you going to pronounce her dead?’ the medic asked.
‘Of course not.’
‘She looks dead to me.’
Everett turned to the man. ‘How would you know what death looks like?’
Everyone around him paused for an instant, the heart monitor alarm cutting through the silence. The tech backed away, gathering his gear and signalling to his partner to follow.
‘Clear,’ Everett shouted. ‘Where’s the attending?’ He shocked her again. ‘Get her and Richards! I need help, stat!’
Rosette felt a sense of relief, warm and comforting. As the fractured images in her mind merged into coherent scenes, the confusion she had experienced earlier gave way to a clear sense of self. She had no idea where she was, but she knew her name. She was Rosette de Santo, a witch of Treeon Temple, daughter to the High Priestess Kreshkali and Sword Master Rowan An’ Lawrence. She also knew the sound of her familiar’s voice, purring in her mind. Drayco?
Here, Maudi. I’m right here.
Her whole body sighed. It felt light, as if she was floating—a curious sensation. She checked her senses, trying to follow the line of her arms and legs as they extended out from her torso. Nothing. Her body was like mist, and she hovered over a deep valley. She couldn’t feel anything, yet she was definitely alive. Her inner sense of self confirmed it, but, like a dreamscape, her physical self felt nonexistent, or perhaps wrapped in layers of cotton wool.
She reached out, but there was no feeling of fingers, nothing to wiggle and no sense of touch. She couldn’t stretch her back or flex her muscles. Her hair didn’t fall over her shoulders and down her arms. There was no contact of air or cloth against her skin, no tightness as she tried to clench and relax her jaw. No feeling of teeth. She tried to blink, to open her eyes wide. Her lids wouldn’t budge. There weren’t any.
Can you still hear me, Maudi? Are you awake? Drayco’s voice felt nervous, like a cat scampering across the kitchen table when the light’s flipped on. Something had gone wrong. She slowed her stream of thought for a moment, wanting to laugh at herself. Wrong was an understatement. Drayco! I’m fine, more or less. Where are you?
Oh, Maudi. You didn’t know me. You didn’t answer me. I thought you couldn’t hear me.
It’s all right. I’m here now,