Blood Hunter

by Debra Jess

  "Hydrogen is lighter than oxygen. It will rise. As long as Evan keeps pushing the oxygen away and he's cleared his immediate area of flames, he'll be fine."

  "But if he's not pushing away oxygen molecules at all, and doing something else instead, he could still burn in a second or two." Scott realized Alek was betting on Hannah healing Evan. "Alek — "

  "Tell her, damn you."

  Scott again had to use words to describe Alek's plan to Pathia.

  I'll let them know.

  The scent of sugar cookies disappeared again. "Pathia is passing along the message."

  Alek must have realized his hand was holding Scott's and released him. "It'll work. Once the gap around Evan is big enough, someone will fly in and pull him out."

  Scott fished out his phone. "Anything else they should know?" He could text Thomas, at least, and hope Thomas read the message.

  Alek shook his head. They waited. If T-CASS was still busy rescuing people on land and stopping the gunmen, they wouldn't contact either Scott or Alek until the situation was handled.

  "You don't have to stay." Alek was back to staring at the ceiling. "I'm in control now."

  "I've got nowhere else to be. Everyone's at the harbor except Hannah. She's with her new mentor." He tried to add a low chuckle, but even tone-deaf Alek could hear his cynicism.

  "It won't take long." Alek glanced at him. "Hannah's tough. She'll prove her control next time around. Mom won't let her fail again."

  "She didn't fail this time. That Chung woman screwed her up." This was the most Alek had said to Scott since he'd returned home. His relationship with Evan had improved because they had one thing in common: Hannah. Scott cared about her, but Evan had sworn to protect her. Alek hadn't made the same oath, but he'd follow his brother's lead.

  "Chung's nuts. She'd been pestering Mom since before you brought Hannah here from Star Haven."

  "About what?"

  Alek shrugged. "Claimed the doctors messed up her kid during surgery. Says her son isn't her son anymore. He's someone else. No one listens to her."

  "Maybe if someone listened to her, she wouldn't have attacked Hannah."

  Alek didn't sneer at his brother's bitterness. "You have to admit, though. It does sound crazy."

  It did sound crazy, but Hannah had said she’d found something. If she could talk to McNamara about it, maybe she could find a plausible reason for Chung's behavior. For her son's behavior.

  "Maybe." Scott pulled over a chair so he could sit by his brother's bed, but he swallowed a groan as he lowered himself into the plastic seat. Everything ached all of a sudden. "Hannah's a big disrupter in the Alt community. No one can do what she does. Everyone wants a piece of her. Even you."

  Damn it. Wrong thing to say. Alek tensed, his old anger making his eyes squint against the fluorescent lights.

  "I'm not expecting her to heal me."

  "No, but you're expecting her to heal Evan." Scott pulled his chair closer to the bed, his accusations sounding harsh, but he knew exactly what Alek was thinking. "If this scheme works, he's still going to be hospitalized. He could be burned, or oxygen deprived, or worse. Don't tell me you didn't imagine Hannah healing him. And you."

  "Yeah, okay, the thought did cross my mind." Alek kept staring at the ceiling, not meeting Scott's eyes. Scott didn't need to see his brother's eyes to understand how much pain he was in. "She's an asset. She belongs with T-CASS."

  "She's a person with her own goals. She won't let herself be used. Not by T-CASS. Not by Thunder City."

  "We're not trying to use her," Alek insisted, his fists clutching the sheets.

  "You're all trying to use her the way Catherine uses all of you. Don't tell me Catherine doesn't use you and Evan as publicity. How many flyovers have you two done for no other reason than Catherine wanting to remind Thunder City of how important Alts are? How powerful we are. How much they depend on us for their security."

  He’d hit a nerve. Alek was the quieter of the two twins. The more private one. Even as a kid, Scott had known not to bother Alek when he didn't want to be bothered.

  "You said we." Alek gave him a sly look.

  Scott winced again. Leave it to Alek to use Scott's own words against him. He had say we, hadn't he? Had he reached that turning point? Did he now consider himself one of the Thunder City Alts? A member of T-CASS even if it wasn't official yet? The Shield thought otherwise, said he could teach Scott what T-CASS couldn't. Wouldn't. Scott thought about Highlight and the beanbags. He thought about this afternoon, shooting terrorists in tandem with the Shield.

  "Yeah, well. We'll see. Maybe."

  Alek returned to staring at the ceiling. Evan was still in danger. Neither of them would leave the other until they knew for sure.

  Hannah watched the news streaming on McNamara's computer. Numbness had taken over her limbs, so she melted into the leather executive chair and let the rapidly shifting scenes across the screen lull her into a state of mindless ease. So mindless that even when she heard the odd sound of dogs barking or the wind rushing through the walls, she didn't react.

  She still clutched the box containing Roger’s ashes.

  The scene shifted to the hospital. Harbor Regional earned its name because of its proximity to the harbor. Ambulances lined up outside carrying the wounded, most of them from Star Haven. The Star Haven delegates had been closest to the ship when the first gunshot had been fired. They had been the ones to run toward the ship, not away from it, their fear of Alts making the horrible decision for them. Now, they were entering a hospital that had a clinic dedicated to Alt medicine attached to it. The Star Haven victims wouldn't appreciate the irony.

  McNamara appeared in the doorway without warning.

  "Will you be okay for a little while longer?"

  Hannah could only nod, her vocal cords too tight to speak.

  "I may have to head to the ED," he explained. "Everyone's being called in from all departments. We're trying to shuffle the non-emergencies to other hospitals. Air ambulances are being diverted.

  "Star Haven is already demanding my head because I arranged this whole debacle. I'll have to make a statement at some point, but I will come back to bring you home."

  Hannah nodded again, still not ready to speak. The scene changed again on the computer screen to the activity outside the hospital. All she could do was watch. McNamara disappeared, leaving the door still open.

  Between the open door and the news, Hannah imagined she could feel the frenetic energy running through the hospital. Everyone had a job to do. Everyone knew where they had to go and what to do. Everyone except her. She had nowhere to go and nothing to do.

  A tremor shook her body, her own pent up energy loosening its power. The box shook in her hands. She had to do something, so she opened the box. Inside was a simple brass urn.

  Roger. Her stepfather. The man who had sacrificed himself to make sure she survived. The man who had warned her to run so she could escape Miranda's clutches. What had he figured out right before he died? Had he learned of Miranda's secret prison? Had he known that she murdered all of her previous husbands? Had he suspected he was next?

  Maybe he had, but not that it would happen quite so soon. Hannah had heard the glass break from the gunshot through the phone.

  Roger had never stopped fighting for her. Even before he discovered whatever it was that had tipped him off to Miranda's true nature, he'd fought for her. He maneuvered his life in such a way that he shielded her from the bulk of Miranda's abuse.

  He kept trying to save her, when he didn't have to. He put himself in harm's way and didn't care about the consequences to himself.

  Hannah looked back at the computer screen as the first air ambulance arrived. Scott was up there, trying to find his brothers. The newscasters didn't have any information on Rumble or Roar, just that one of them had fallen into the fire and the other looked as if he had a broken leg.

  Hannah brushed her fingers over the smooth surface of the urn. No engraving or anyth
ing. Star Haven hadn't cared about Roger Dane after he died. Miranda no doubt had stolen all of his money to support her prison operation. Did the Court of Blood take control of her accounts?

  Determination stopped the wobble in her legs, the involuntary shudder of indecision. Damn them all. She couldn't sit here when she could do something. If Roger could sacrifice everything for her, then she could sacrifice her right to remain in Thunder City. She could save people, even if no one else thought she should.

  No one was in the hallway, so she figured the voices she heard were through the vents from the floor up above. She used her card to bring the elevator down to the VIP level and take her one floor up.

  McNamara had a cluster of young women and men around him near a row of offices. Hannah marched right up to him, the urn still in its box, and didn't wait for him to give her permission to speak.

  "I'm going to the Emergency Department. I'm going to use my ability to save the victims of this attack." She made certain to look McNamara in the eyes before she turned to look at each and every one of McNamara's staff as she continued. "Anyone who has a problem with that can lodge their complaint with the Oversight Committee tomorrow. I'm done waiting for them."

  She turned and marched back into the elevator. In the background she heard McNamara say something to the others before he joined her just before the doors slid closed.

  "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

  "Yes." Hannah punched the number for the floor she wanted.

  "They won't let you leave, you know? The law is very clear and very specific. It's not like before, when you ran away before you committed yourself to training. You're making the deliberate choice to break the law after you'd been warned. They will put you in jail."

  The elevator headed up one more floor. She didn't shake in fear for the entire ride. "They'll try. If you want to return to your office, I'll understand."

  McNamara laughed. "Oh, no. I'm not missing this for the world. Watching you use your ability is a privilege Hannah. Too bad the rest of the Committee can't see it that way."

  The elevator doors opened, and Hannah turned toward the swinging doors leading into the Emergency Department. Inside, the noise slapped her with urgent need. Doctors, nurses, orderlies, all milled about in the controlled chaos. She looked around for Scott, but didn't see him. She didn't see anyone she knew.

  "I'll need you to triage for me," she told McNamara. "The worst first. And if you can get me a bottle of water, I'd appreciate it."

  McNamara kept his hand on her shoulder. "Fine, but let me do the talking."

  Hannah was okay with that. Despite the talking she had already done, her throat still felt tight with the sick feeling of loss. She had lost Roger. She'd lost any sense of security she had in Star Haven. Now she was going to lose Thunder City. So be it. She was done being dictated to by people who did not understand her. She laid Roger's box with the urn in the corner behind her.

  McNamara had a way with words. She could hear him speak, using a combination of subterfuge and lies of omission to negotiate her first patient into the back corner of the ED she had staked out for herself. Most of the Committee was comprised of various specialists who didn't work in the emergency department, which made things a lot easier. In less than a minute, she had her first patient.

  Lots of shrapnel embedded in the skin. First, push the shrapnel out, stitch closed the cuts. Now stitch up the bones, clean up the leaking blood, and keep the heart pumping and the blood flowing. Then rebuild the skin of the third degree burns, refill the oil glands, realign the collagen fibers to prevent scarring. Patient one done.

  She reemerged. Folks had taken notice of her by now. McNamara handed her a bottle of water, keeping hospital security at bay.

  "Let her do her job," he said. "She knows what she's doing. Let the second patient through."

  The guards looked undecided.

  "Let's do this," she forced herself to shout before gulping down half the bottle. Just keep them coming. Don't stop to think of what you're going to lose.

  The first patient pushed himself off the gurney. He looked at her, then down at himself. He must have been from Thunder City because be turned to the crowd. "Let the Blood Surfer heal!"

  Someone else from deep in the crowd echoed the words, followed by a third. Maybe the guards realized they were on the verge of a riot because one of them motioned the others to back away.

  "One at a time." McNamara directed a second gurney in front of her. "Worst cases first. Do not crowd her. Do not touch her. Do not wait for her if you need immediate attention, let the other doctors help you — "

  She didn't wait to hear what he had to say about other doctors. Her second patient was rolled in front of her.

  She's pregnant. Four, maybe five months. Did she know that before she went to the harbor? I've never worked on a pregnant person before. All right. I can't save the baby if I don't save the mother first. Heart, lungs, brain, then baby. After the baby, then back to handle the bones. One last check. All systems normal.

  Hannah emerged. "Done. Who's next?"

  McNamara had moved to the middle of the crowd, directing traffic. Another gurney rolled in front of her. Other patients streamed past her into the exam rooms. Nice, neat, and in the order McNamara demanded of them. If anyone had protested, she didn't see the evidence. Another water bottle was pushed into her hands. She drank without thinking. In the background, phones rang while equipment beeped and sirens screeched.

  Back inside. Third degree burns. Easy enough to fix, but also diabetes, type one. She could handle that too while she was in here. It wouldn't take too long to fix, but it the future she'd have to establish her own protocol. Fix it all, or stop and move on so she could save someone else who might be in danger of dying. She'd figure it out another time.

  She emerged again and demanded another patient. Then another, then another. A polite crowd stood across the room, held back by security. Cameras flashed. She was being recorded. Whatever, as long as no one interfered.

  She worked on three more patients before Scott stood before her, his brother stretched out on the gurney he pushed. She stopped just to look at Scott.

  "We waited until the emergencies were done," he said. He didn't sound angry, even though he knew what she had done. What McNamara had helped her do. Maybe he thought McNamara should have talked her out of it. Maybe he didn't. Whatever he thought, he kept it to himself. She had a job to do. She looked down at her newest patient.

  "Hey, Alek. Looks like you're all banged up."

  The smudged face turned toward her. The doctors must have pumped him full of painkillers because his hazel eyes looked glassy and lethargic.

  "Hey, Hannah. Evan is alive. They’re going to get him out."

  A relief she didn't know she'd been waiting for loosened the last few remnants of shock holding her back. She touched his cheek, but didn't surf. "Oh, Alek. I'm so glad."

  "Yeah."

  "I'll heal him, too. I promise. No matter what."

  He nodded, his eyes already closing. "I know you will."

  She looked up at Scott. He reached over his brother to caress her face. She didn't even mind the glove, but leaned into the cool fabric. How long had she been at this? Scott had said he'd waited for the emergencies to go first. Which could only mean the crisis had passed. At least as far as this hospital was concerned. For her, the crisis was just starting.

  In the background, the cameras still rolled, people still witnessed her touch Alek. Witnessed Scott touching her. Were any of them from Star Haven? Had she only poured more fuel on a smoking fire?

  She pulled her face away from Scott's touch. Somehow blood had smeared her fingers and her clothes. When had she gotten this sloppy? It didn't matter. What mattered was making a difference. What mattered was that people would live. She couldn't guarantee a happy life, but she could guarantee they would live.

  She touched Alek's cheek again and surfed. His broken leg was fixed in less time than it took her to
sneeze. His uniform had kept the worst of the shrapnel and flames at bay, but he still had some minor damage, which she repaired in no time.

  When she emerged again, the guards were back. Surrounding her. Doctor Johnson stood to the side.

  "Arrest her."

  Scott turned on the guards. "Don't you even think about it."

  The guards hesitated. Maybe it was the look in Scott's eye or maybe it was just the rumors they'd heard about his own wild power.

  "You have no authority here." Johnson pushed his way past the guard to challenge Scott. "I can have you arrested, too."

  Scott opened his mouth, but once again McNamara intervened. "Gentleman, this is not the time or the place."

  "You are not on the Oversight Committee." Johnson pointed a finger at McNamara. "You have no authority here, either."

  "I have sufficient authority." McNamara stepped closer to Johnson, using his height to intimidate, though it didn't appear to have any effect. "Hannah works for me. I filed the paperwork yesterday. I gave her permission to be here. I escorted her here myself."

  Johnson stepped back. "What do you mean by this? Do you have any idea of the danger in which you've placed us? How many laws she's broken? I'll have you arrested, too."

  "Yes, yes, fine. Have us all arrested. Make a spectacle of yourself." McNamara waved to the all-seeing media. "Let's put on a fine show for Star Haven about how Thunder City treats its Alts. Let's show them how small, and mean, and uncompromising we are in the face of — "

  "Hey, assholes."

  Hannah looked to Scott, but he appeared as surprised as she did at the profanity. He wasn't the one who’d spoken. Alek sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

  "Could you take this somewhere else? You're giving me a headache."

  "You think this is funny?" Johnson turned his ire on Alek. This time both Scott and Hannah stepped back as Alek slid off the gurney. Scott knew his brother better than Hannah. Hannah had seen Alek's sometimes funny, sometimes gentle, sometimes awkward side whenever he was around her, but she also knew he had a temper and held grudges. Scott knew that better than she did.