“I love you.” I only wish my heart didn’t hurt so much when I say it. It disturbs me because I know I’m not making a mistake. She’s the one. So why? Why am I hurting?
“River! River!” I hear one of her sisters yell.
We book it downstairs and find Meg with her clipboard and checklist.
Checklist. Respect.
“What’s wrong?” River asks Meg. “Where are the other girls?”
“Uh, hello! They left already. I’ve been calling your name for three minutes.”
“Jesus, Meg. Why didn’t you come and get me?”
“I’ve been gathering supplies.” Meg points to a big red wagon.
“You packed Uno, wine, and…a microwave?” River doesn’t look happy.
“And popcorn. Can’t really have card games without kettle corn, now can you?” Meg says.
Meg’s phone blares with a siren that nearly busts my eardrums. She digs her cell from her pocket and stares.
“What’s wrong?” River asks.
“Emergency alert. The hospital where the girls are at. Part of the roof collapsed. The alert is telling people to go to the other hospital across town if they need medical help.”
“What?” River says before I have a chance to process.
Meg gets onto her browser and starts searching something. “They’re saying it’s mostly the ER wing.”
River turns to me, her eyes pleading.
I know what she’s thinking. “Don’t. Don’t ask me to leave you,” I say.
She blinks her big loving eyes at me. “My sisters are there, Huff. I’m asking.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine. You think helping them is going to end this? We’re epic.” She cups my face. “We are invincible. Crunchy snacks forever.”
I look away. I really don’t want to go.
“Please?” She grabs my hands and squeezes.
I nod but can’t look at her. I’m not mad. I’m not hurt. I’d do the same if I were in her shoes. But the thing that pulled me here is now telling me to stay.
“What’s going on?” Meg asks.
River ignores Meg, and her gaze locks on my face. “You once swore you’d never run from a fight again.”
That’s not fair. I said it years ago. “That was before I had everything I want in the grasp of my hand.” It was before I had her.
“I’m not going anywhere, Huff,” River says reassuringly. But she doesn’t understand. Something in my gut is screaming.
“Guys! Do your drama some other time! We have to leave!” Meg yells.
“I’ll go to the hospital. For you,” I say to River.
“Hospital?” Meg asks. “Who’s going to the hosp—”
I blink, and I’m standing in the rain outside the ER. From my view near the driveway, it looks like a movie set. The roof is partially collapsed; the front doors are crushed. Water is pouring in. I think about how lucky I am that River didn’t drink mimosas and end up inside there with her sisters.
I walk around the building and find another way in near the back by the flooding parking lot.
I step inside the building, where the emergency lights are flickering. Water and debris cover the floors. Nurses and doctors are helping patients out of their rooms, getting them ready to leave. It’s all too surreal.
I rush to the first nurse I see. “Where are we taking them?”
“Huh?”
“The patients! Where are we supposed to take them?” I yell.
“Uh-uh, next building over. Fourth floor.”
“Got it. And how many need to be moved?”
“Why?”
“Dear God, woman! Just answer. I know I look young, but I’m here to help.”
She blinks. “Uh. I’m not sure. Twenty. Twenty-one, maybe. We got the critically injured patients out already. The rest need help getting to the new location safely.”
All right. I have twenty people to help move. Then I’ll check on River’s sisters and make sure everyone’s all right.
I zip to the first section, where an older man is hooked up to a monitor that’s already unplugged. Probably a good idea since the floor is covered in water.
“Who are you?” he asks.
“I’m Huff.” I carefully unhook the wires and grab hold of his IV bag before scooping him up. Ew. Ew. Ew. I’m touching his naked ass. “What’s your name?” Might as well know whose ass I’m palming.
“Harold.”
“Nice to meet you.” I take him out the side of the building, the way I came in. It’s pouring buckets, and he’s getting soaked, so I move as fast as I can without scaring the poor man to death. I climb the stairs and find an empty gurney in the hall on the fourth floor. The hospital staff is running frantically to each patient, trying to get them set up with whatever they need.
“Okay, buddy. Here you go.” I set him down and hook his baggie on the elevated arm attached to the bed. I grab a blanket from another gurney and place it over him.
“How’d you run so fast?” He looks terrified.
“Oh, uh. Vitamins.”
I try to zip back to the ER, but now the doorway is completely blocked. Crap! It looks like more of the ceiling came down. The patients and staff are probably trapped inside. I have no idea if they’re dead or alive. I just know that there are no rescue workers, no cranes, no people to help.