Chapter 48
Alicia
The world exploded in a single, deafening roar.
One second I was running toward the emergency wing, the next I was thrown off my feet, slammed hard into the wall. Glass shattered, alarms screamed, smoke filled the air. My ears rang so loud I couldn’t hear myself breathe.
“Nurse Collins!” someone yelled. A nurse...Maya was crawling out from behind an overturned cart, blood streaking her cheek.
“I’m fine!” I shouted back, though I wasn’t sure I could even hear my own voice. I pushed myself up, coughing, my lungs burning from the smoke. “What happened?”
“I don’t know!” Maya cried. “Something exploded in the generator room!”
My heart stopped. That was two corridors down...too close. “Get everyone out!” I yelled. “Evacuate the east wing!”
She nodded and ran, limping toward the next hallway. I turned toward the thick smoke pouring down the corridor. Patients. There were still patients there. My instincts kicked in before my fear could. I grabbed a mask from the supply cart and ran into the haze.
“Anybody here?” I called, my voice echoing off cracked tiles. The lights flickered above me, one sparking before it went out completely.
A low groan came from behind a fallen door. I heaved it aside and found Mr. Jensen, one of my post-surgery patients, struggling to move.
“Nurse Collins…” His voice was faint, wheezing.
“I’ve got you,” I said, slipping my arm around his shoulders. “Can you walk?”
He nodded weakly. I guided him out into the hall, coughing as the smoke thickened.
We made it to the stairwell where two paramedics were rushing people out. I handed him over, heart pounding.
Then I turned back. There were more. There had to be but before I could move, a familiar voice cut through the chaos. “Alicia!”
I spun around. Damon. He was covered in dust, his jacket torn, eyes wild with panic.
“Are you okay?” he shouted, grabbing my shoulders.
“I’m fine,” I gasped. “What the hell happened?”
“Explosion. Generator room. You need to get out...now.”
“I can’t,” I said, shaking my head. “There are still patients inside.”
“Let the firefighters handle it.”
“There’s no time, Damon!”
He clenched his jaw. “Then I’m coming with you.”
I didn’t argue.
We ran together through the smoke-filled hallway, calling out for anyone trapped. The sprinklers had kicked in, drenching us both, mixing soot with water that smelled of metal and fire.
“Over here!” Damon pointed to a half-collapsed room. Through the crack of the door, I saw a woman pinned under debris.
We pushed our way in, Damon lifting the beam while I pulled her free.
“You’re okay,” I whispered, trying to steady her trembling hands. “You’re gonna be okay.”
Once she was safe, I turned back toward Damon. He was bleeding from his arm, but he didn’t even seem to notice.
“You’re hurt,” I said.
“I’ve had worse.”
“You’re impossible,” I muttered.
“Yeah, but you like that about me.”
Even there, covered in smoke and blood, he managed to grin...and somehow that made me want to cry.
“Come on,” he said. “We’re not done yet.”
We made it halfway down the hall before another explosion rocked the floor beneath us. Damon grabbed me, pulling me down just before a ceiling panel crashed where I’d been standing.
“Jesus,” I gasped.
“Stay down!” he yelled, shielding me as more debris fell.
For a few seconds, everything blurred...heat, noise, chaos. Then silence. Just the crackle of distant fire.
He lifted his head, eyes scanning the hall. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I whispered, my throat raw. “You?”
“Ask me when we’re out of here.”
We stumbled toward the exit, the sound of sirens growing louder outside but just as we reached the last turn, my phone buzzed.
I froze.
Damon noticed. “What is it?”
I looked down. A message. One line. From Evans.
Get out. Now.
My heart dropped. “Damon...”
“What?”
Before I could answer, another blast ripped through the far end of the hallway. Flames burst from the walls, sending a shockwave that knocked us both down. I hit the floor hard, my head spinning. Smoke filled my lungs.
Damon was shouting something...I couldn’t hear. His voice was distant, muffled under the roar. He was dragging me, pulling me toward the emergency doors. We broke through into the night air, stumbling into the parking lot where paramedics were shouting and hoses were spraying water at the burning wing.
I collapsed onto the pavement, coughing so hard my chest felt like it might tear open.
Damon dropped beside me, one hand gripping mine. His palm was warm, steady. “You with me?”
“Yeah,” I wheezed. “I’m here.”
He looked back at the flames, jaw clenched. “This wasn’t an accident.”
“What?”
“That blast...it was timed. Someone wanted it to go off when you were inside.”
I stared at him, my head still spinning. “You think someone’s trying to kill me?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. The look in his eyes said everything.
I pressed a shaking hand to my forehead. “Evans texted me.”
He turned sharply. “What?”
“Right before the explosion. He told me to get out.”
“Then he knew.”
“No,” I said quickly. “He wouldn’t...”
“Alicia.” Damon’s voice was hard now, steady in a way that scared me. “He knew.”
I shook my head, tears burning my eyes. “He’s my brother. He wouldn’t do this.”
He didn’t argue, just looked at me for a long moment before standing up. “Where’s your phone?”
“In my pocket.”
He held out his hand. “Give it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever he is now, he’s not the brother you remember.”
I stared at him. “You don’t know that.”
“I know what I just saw,” he snapped. “And I’m not losing you over someone who plays games with bombs.”
The anger in his voice wasn’t just anger...it was fear. I handed him the phone reluctantly. “What are you going to do?”
“Find him before he finds you.”
“Damon, wait...” I grabbed his arm. “We don’t even know where he is.”
He looked back at me, his face shadowed by the firelight. “I have a feeling he’ll find us first.”
Before I could say anything, a firefighter shouted for the last group to clear the area. Damon helped me up, guiding me toward the paramedics but even as we walked away, I couldn’t stop replaying that text in my mind.
Get out. Now. It didn’t sound like a threat. It sounded like a warning.
Maybe Evans hadn’t caused the explosion. Maybe he’d been trying to save me but if that was true, then who had?
I looked back at the burning hospital, smoke curled into the night sky, and for the first time since this started, I realized something terrifying...
This wasn’t about my brother. It was about me.