Persephone’s Curse

by Sandra Bats

  She stared at me and I took a deep breath to sound less mean.

  “You have every right to be angry at me for telling him. But don’t believe for a second that it’s because I’m some sort of a bragging womanizer. I’m not the one who’s scared to commit to this. I haven’t thought about another woman since I’ve met you.”

  I left her standing. Truly I just didn’t want to be there for her to make the decision whether she could trust me. Didn’t want her to look at me and tell me that was the end of it. Also, maybe giving her some space would prevent me from saying even more stupid stuff. Heck, I didn’t even know what was going on with me. She had me all wound up.

  I walked a round without her. When I came past her again, she fell into step next to me but didn’t say anything. Not for another two rounds. Only then she took a deep breath.

  “I’m not trying to string you along, you know? Committing to anyone hasn’t even been in the cards for me. It’s new and scary and I have no clue what I’m doing here,” she said.

  I threw her a sideways glance, waiting because she looked like she was going to add something. “You’re telling me that you haven’t even thought of other girls since meeting me. But all I do is push you away when things get scary. And you don’t budge, so I wonder. When will you grow tired of this? When will you realize that I might be more broken than you want to deal with.”

  “Elin.” I brushed my fingers against her cheek, red from the cold. “I won’t leave. No matter how much you push me away.”

  Elin didn’t object but her eyes still searched my face. Maybe for honesty and it occurred to me how serious I was. I’d never before been so sure that I would keep a promise. She could do what she wanted, but short of her asking me to leave, I wouldn’t run. I was in this for better or worse.

  ◆◆◆

  Twenty-four hours later it was go time for the diesel heist. Saying I was on edge would’ve been a major understatement. The mission was planned in a hurry and I didn’t like it. But there was nothing to do about it, so I had to suck it up.

  After a quick briefing in my office, eleven of our guys, Elin and I arrived at the storage facility. I told them if anybody spotted Rowan tonight we’d abort and regroup.

  We split into two teams. My team was positioned uphill, where we’d wait for the team led by Malik to create a diversion. Once they set off a few explosives on the far end of the fence, we’d sneak in. While the guards were distracted, we’d check the trucks for diesel and drive off with three or four. Sounded easy enough.

  I gave Malik the sign that we were ready. We waited with bated breath. The first explosion went off and I saw the guards take off towards it. Joe and Will crept closer to the fence, cutting through it with bolt cutters. One of the guards stayed behind, and he looked right at Joe and Will. He reached for his gun but before he had the chance to move or alert anyone, I sent him tumbling to the ground with a bullet between his eyes.

  As the second explosion out of five went off, two-minute intervals between them, we walked right through the cut fence. We moved in the shadows; undetected. The explosions distracted them as planned. We found three trucks that were full, but I got the creeping feeling that things were going too smoothly. I’d surely jinxed it. Josh lent a hand hot-wiring the trucks before we drove off, right through the fence.

  Three guards had hung back when the explosions went off. They turned and bullets started whipping around us. I shouted at my team to take cover and we ducked behind a small wooden shed.

  “Injuries?” I asked.

  Luckily, a uniform negative. I risked a peek around the corner of the shed. I flinched back when a bullet whistled by. We had the undivided attention of five guards and they were closing in. The shed wouldn’t withstand their constant firing for long. We’d have to get out of there quickly.

  “Josh, Chris, Elin, run to the trees! We’ll give you covering fire, then you cover us. Go!”

  They listened to my order without hesitation. Joe and I leaned out of our cover, shooting at the guards. One dropped to the ground, one might’ve been scratched, but kept walking. Another one dropped; one we hadn’t shot.

  Elin, Chris and Josh had made it to the trees, taking aim at the guards. One glance at Joe and we sprinted towards them. I skidded on the snow, whipping my head around in time to see a glimpse of red speed past me. Still running, I saw Rowan’s motorcycles dart off into the dark. I cursed and pushed myself to run faster. The bike was bad news. It had come right out of the fenced-in area. I ordered an immediate retreat over the radio. Malik’s team would take an alternate route home.

  I made it up the hill, shouting at the others to get into the pickup we’d arrived in. I passed Chris who made sure the guards didn’t follow us. He scrambled to his feet.

  The bright flash followed by immense noise made it clear that the commotion was, impossibly, caused by one of our bombs. I hit the snow face first. Knocked over by the blast, everything seemed to move in slow motion.

  I rolled around and took stock of my body. Nothing hurt too much, so no serious injuries. A ringing sensation in my right ear dulled all the noise. I was disoriented as I stumbled to my feet. Black smoke rose from inside the storage facilities. Luckily the trucks we’d stolen were already gone. The entire area would soon be buzzing with military. Little diesel fires burned on the snow. Seemed like a few trucks had blown.

  I looked around for the others. Most of them were scrambling to their feet like I had. I heard their muffled shouts, glanced around, attempted a headcount.

  “Injuries?” I coughed out once again.

  Josh rushed past me, eyes fixed on the ground behind me. I turned around, finding Chris, who had been closest to the explosion. Blood pooled around his leg, which was buried under a large piece of metal. Well, that was what I thought initially. Coming closer I heard Josh suck in a breath and realized the piece of metal wasn’t on top of Chris’ leg. His leg had been severed.

  Josh rushed back to our pickup to get something to transport Chris. I knelt by his side. He was barely conscious. Slipping in and out of it and when he was alert, he moaned in pain. I pulled off my belt and looped it around his thigh. I pulled tight. His piercing screams overpowered the ringing in my ear. It was only surpassed by the silence when he finally passed out.

  Josh and Joe helped me carry him to the pickup’s cargo area. I was about to climb up to help Joe provide first aid when he pointed towards the back of the car.

  I was sure Elin had been ahead of me. Sure she was already inside the pickup. Now, as I saw her, it was clear she must’ve stood close to Chris. Of course she had. She’d obviously been right at the front line.

  The two steps I needed to close the distance between us felt like moving through quicksand. Her face was pale as clay. Cold sweat glistened on her skin. One look at her was enough to let me know she was hurt badly. I only asked where.

  She pulled the side of her shirt up, revealing deep gashes. I gasped at the sight of it. She felt so delicate and broken as I lifted her into the car and helped her lie down next to Chris.

  Josh had clambered into the front and we sped away. Hell, my mind was blown clear, no other thought than keeping her alive. Joe tended to Chris. First aid. That was what she needed.

  I glanced at Joe. He had his jacket pressed to Chris’ leg in an attempt to slow the bleeding. I stripped out of mine, as well.

  “Stay awake, ok?” I shouted over the noise of the wind. “Don’t close your eyes!”

  Elin shivered. Her lips were blue. Her response was lost in the wind, but at least she kept staring at me. I didn’t even feel the cold. I pressed my sweatshirt to her side and she flinched. I didn’t soften the pressure. Her teeth were locked and she tried to push my hands away. She clawed at my arms but I didn’t let up because losing her would’ve been worse than hurting her.

  I couldn’t meet her eyes. I even squeezed mine shut but then her hands went limp. I longed for her to fight me again.

  “Elin! Damn it! Wake up,” I shouted.
My voice sounded too far away, too scared. It was a tortured soul, crying her name until Joe interrupted me.

  “Dude, she’s out cold.”

  I knew that. Right. It was shock. She was in shock; her body was shutting down. I risked another look at her injuries. So much blood, so deep in parts I could’ve sworn I saw bone.

  The car rolled to a stop in front of the school. I picked Elin up and jumped out. Marco rushed up to me, followed by Pablo and Cam who seemed to know what had happened. I passed them with Elin hanging, unconscious, in my arms.

  “Pablo, get the generator running. Jane will need electricity,” I called out to him.

  “Sure. I’ll fill the diesel into the tank!”

  “Hook the damn tank up to the generator. Get it running now!”

  Jane’s office was filled with people. Elin on one exam table, Chris on the other. I gave Jane a quick recap of the events. She snapped into ordering people around right away.

  “Everybody I don’t need, get out! Jayden, you’re taking care of Elin, I take Chris. Cam, stay, you’re additional hands. Ray, there’s a list in my desk with everybody’s blood types. We need donations for Elin and Chris. Get to it.”

  I didn’t know where to start. Sure, Jane had taught Cam and me a few things so we could give her a hand but this — this was way out of my league. Not just that. This was Elin and I was shaking for fear of losing her.

  “Jay! Get to it. Gloves. Cut her shirt away. Assess her injuries. Then report to me.”

  Jane’s instructions had me stumbling through the moves. I couldn’t even see how many of the gashes held shrapnel for all the blood there was. Cam helped me push a pillow under Elin’s side for a better look. Jane worked on Chris, cussing about how there still was no electricity.

  On cue, the bright neon lights flickered back on. I reached for the body scanner. A scan would show whether any shrapnel was lodged in organs or arteries. Time trickled by as the handheld device produced an image. I rushed to Jane’s side for interpretation. Those pictures made no sense to me, but she read them like a foreign language, while still tending to Chris.

  “Ok, the black is shrapnel. It seems no arteries or organs are hit. That one’s a sliced vein, though. Remove the shrapnel and do field sutures. Quick and effective, not pretty. Once you’re done, pack with gauze in case of more bleeding.”

  Cam had hooked up a monitor to Elin. Little sensors monitored her heartbeat and blood pressure. So unsteady. My hands shook as I reached for the tweezers. I couldn’t bring myself to move them. Jane threw me a look over her shoulder. Even as she was busy trying to save Chris’ life her voice was steady and secure.

  “Take a deep breath! Calm down and focus. You can do this. It’s just like I taught you.”

  I did as she told me. Forced myself to inhale and exhale. Once. Twice. Until my fingers stopped trembling. Things slowed. I started picking shrapnel from Elin’s body. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been focused on that, on cleaning wounds and closing them to slow bleeding. Everything else existed only on the fringe of my attention.

  Things spiraled out of control all at once. Chris’ monitor started beeping like crazy the very same moment Elin’s blood pressure bottomed out. I didn’t know how to deal with that. Jane had only taught me first aid and stitching people up. There was so much blood everywhere. I worked faster, packing Elin’s wounds with more gauze.

  “Jane,” I called out over the noise. “She’s crashing.”

  I threw a glance over my shoulder. Jane was basically walking in Chris’ blood.

  “Cam, I need more hands!” Jane called out. “Press here.”

  The next moment Jane rushed to my side, roughly pushing me away. I didn’t know what she was looking at, but she cussed under her breath doing so.

  “She’s losing too much blood. Give me the forceps!”

  I didn’t even know what she meant. Jane just hastily grabbed past me and snatched something off the equipment table and then clamped something in Elin’s wound. She spun around when Chris’ heartbeat flatlined.

  “Cam! CPR!” Jane called out. For a second, I was frozen but then she called back out to me. “Keep stitching her up. Find that sliced vein, the one I clamped, and close it.”

  I tried to ignore what was going on behind me and focused on the task at hand. I fumbled to do as Jane had said. It was hard to see anything with all the blood. There was so much shouting behind me. Jane yelling orders at Ray to jump in as well. The steady beep indicating Chris’ lack of a heartbeat. Suddenly, Jane cussed loudly, just once before she told Cam to stop the chest compressions. I had no time to think about what that meant before she was back at my side.

  “Ray, where’s the blood for Elin?”

  He rushed up next to us. His voice was throaty as he stuttered that Elin shared my blood type: O-negative. Jane didn’t give him time to compose himself. She urged us to hurry and we moved over to the donation equipment.

  I heard the steady beep as Ray pulled the needle from my arm. I rushed back to Jane’s side. I didn’t need to be told to do CPR. Instinct forced me to keep Elin’s heart beating. Jane bit out orders to Ray and Cam. A blood bag was attached to Elin’s IV. My voice shook when I told Jane CPR wasn’t working. Elin’s heart still wasn’t beating on its own. She ignored me instead telling Cam to prepare the epinephrine.

  “Stop the CPR,” Jane instructed.

  I couldn’t. I just couldn’t stop pumping Elin’s heart, despite knowing Jane needed to see if the epinephrine had worked.

  “Jayden, stop!”

  It was an order. I lifted my hands, hovering them over Elin’s chest. My instincts screamed at me to keep going. Jane knew best, though. A beep, then another. Elin’s heartbeat came back online. I might’ve sobbed in relief. Jane instructed me to step back from the table. My legs threatened to give out from relief. I dropped into a chair, watching as Jane tended to Elin.

  When she was finally done she looked at me. An IV supplied Elin with necessities I couldn’t name. She was resting on a pillow again, to keep weight off her freshly closed wounds. They reached up her left side, all the way around to her back. Jane did another scan. Elin had suffered two additional broken ribs from the CPR, but her injuries were contained. If Elin stayed stable for the next few hours and didn’t get an infection she’d be fine.

  Fine. What a strange word considering she was unconscious. She could’ve died as well. Had been almost as close as Chris.

  Shaking I walked over to Chris’ corpse. I’d seen dead bodies before, but it was still shocking. He was so pale. Most of his blood must’ve been on the ground. I even double-checked his pulse. Just to make sure Jane hadn’t made a mistake. Of course she hadn’t.

  She stood by my side with her shoulders slouched. I knew she felt his loss even more than I did.

  “I did everything I could. He lost too much blood. I couldn’t … Even with better equipment it would’ve been impossible.”

  I reached out to squeeze Jane’s shoulder.

  “It’s not your fault,” I muttered weakly.

  It was so unfair. We didn’t have enough equipment and we only had one doctor. Jane hadn’t even had a chance to save Chris no matter how brilliant she was. She wasn’t the type for hugs, so I didn’t offer one. Instead, I stood by her side a moment longer until she took a deep breath and stepped away.

  ◆◆◆

  Cam and Ray returned a while later letting me know they’d gotten everything ready for the funeral. We had no place to store corpses. It was either do it right then, before everybody went to sleep, or first thing in the morning. I told Cam I’d catch up with them in a minute. They busied themselves wrapping Chris in a crisp clean sheet.

  Jane offered to stay behind and watch Elin. Leaving her still felt wrong. I bent close, whispering to her that I’d come back. I brushed my lips against her cool temple, not caring if anybody saw. They had better things to do anyway.

  Heavy-heartedly, we stood in the dim light coming from the building. Except for the youngest kid
s, everybody had gathered around. There were gut-wrenching sobs as we lowered Chris into the ground. They all looked at me, expecting me to speak a few words.

  I felt like a liar as I stepped forward. Of course I was grieving for Chris. He was my friend. But my mind was with Elin. She was still fighting for her life.

  I cleared my throat and looked around at the drawn faces. I struggled for the right words. Words to describe the pain we all felt.

  “We’ve lost a friend today. Chris was part of our family. There are no words to describe how sorely he’ll be missed. He was always there to make you laugh. I still remember that was the first thing I did when we met him. He stumbled across this place, drunk, and when we warned him he mumbled that he’d always known school would someday kill him.

  “He was always the first to be by your side with a kind word when you needed it. When nightmares kept you awake, he never asked, but always offered kind distracting words. He was always honest, too.

  “I won’t lie and tell you his death was an accident. It wouldn’t do him justice. Chris died because he remained behind, making sure to cover our retreat. Chris was a hero, he always looked out for his friends and family. Let’s not become casualties to his death. We’ll keep going and we’ll remember him. We’ll never let him be forgotten.”

  They stepped forward, one by one shoveling dirt into the grave before returning inside. Cam and I were the last to remain. As we finished, he looked over at me, asking how I was doing.

  “I’m ok.” My voice betrayed me.

  He shook his head, giving me a pointed look. “Don’t give me that shit. We just lost a friend and you still have Elin’s blood on your clothes. You look like you’re about to lose it.”

  We sat down on a nearby fallen log. I forced my voice to sound steady. “She’s stable. She’ll live.”

  The look on his face was lined with doubt. Cam knew I was lying and I couldn’t keep the facade up. “I pulled thirteen pieces of shrapnel from her body. Her heart stopped! I could feel it each moment I stopped during CPR. I can’t … I didn’t think I was in this deep. I didn’t think it’d hurt this much.”