Mount Mercy

by Helena Newbury

  Beckett, where are you?

  50

  Amy

  I WAS PANTING, my lungs sucking down big, shuddering gasps of freezing air as I pounded down the stairs to the basement. What if this doesn’t work? Rebecca and Krista and all the others were relying on me.

  It was inky black in the stairwell. All I could see was the few steps in front of me, lit up by the bouncing, twitching cone of my cell phone’s flashlight. Then I crashed through the door into the basement, coughing as the stink of burnt diesel hit me.

  I sprinted through the parking garage to my car, jumped in and mashed the start button. What if it doesn’t start? What if I forgot to—

  The car came silently to life, headlights blindingly bright after all the darkness. I pushed the pedal to the floor and screeched up the ramp and into the open air. It had started snowing again and with no streetlights all I could see was darkness and whirling flakes. I didn’t dare slow down: momentum was the only thing keeping the little car plowing through the bumper-deep snow. I had to guess where the street was and pray no pedestrians loomed out of the blizzard.

  Come on, come on! In my mind, I could see Corrigan desperately trying to keep everyone alive. I couldn’t see a thing. I had to drive by pure memory as I headed for the front of the hospital. Right at the corner. About that far and right again and then right a final time about here—

  I misjudged it. I wound up driving at a patch of wall about six feet to the right of the hospital’s main doors. I wrenched the wheel and felt the steering go light. The wheels slid on hard-packed snow and the car pirouetted like an ice skater, heading straight for the concrete wall at forty miles an hour. I wrenched the wheel the other way. Please, please—

  The car reluctantly straightened out and I got it heading towards the doors. Two police cars were parked outside, shining their headlights inside, and I shot between them. I stared at the sliding glass doors, willing them to open. They were made to cope with speeding gurneys so they should activate in time. But ten feet from them, they were still firmly closed. Six feet. Four—

  There’s no power. Shit!

  I screamed as the car crashed through the doors, safety glass showering down all around me. But I was in. The car sped through the ER, tires fighting for grip on the tiles. Everyone had looked round at the crash of glass and most people had jumped aside but a few patients were still standing right in my path, mouths open in shock. I slammed my palm on the horn. “Get out of the way!” I yelled desperately.

  They scattered and I raced along the hallway. Thank God this thing is so small. I clipped a supply trolley and it went flying, then scraped a bed that was sticking out, but I kept my foot down, focused on the frantic group of people gathered around the critical care beds.

  I screeched to a stop, groped for the button that released the hood, and jumped out. Maggie, being Maggie, had figured out my plan as soon as she saw my car. She grabbed the power cables from the ventilators and started splicing them into the batteries that powered my car.

  I rushed over to the beds, staggering a little because my legs suddenly didn’t want to hold me up. I was still shaken from the skid, I guess, and the exhaustion was hitting, too, but I had to help. Every one of the ventilators was dark and silent and nine people were doing CPR in unison.

  It was tempting to make straight for Rebecca but the guy resuscitating her, his back turned to me, looked like he knew what he was doing. I gently took over from a woman with a bandaged head and she slumped into a chair, relieved. As I pumped the patient’s chest, my eyes met Corrigan’s and the worry and affection in his gaze made all the exhaustion and shock melt away. He looked at me like I was the single reason he got up in the morning, the center of his whole world. Deep, tender care, that burning lust and a hint of caveman anger, too that made me feel warm and protected. What did you think you were doing, running off like that?

  I held his gaze as we worked away, all nine of us falling into the same desperate rhythm. Everyone was tired, but no one was quitting. Come on, come on—

  Suddenly, the ventilator next to me came to life, bathing my face in its glow. All of them lit up, the ER filling with the sound of slow, mechanical hissing. We staggered back from our patients, arms aching. Maggie straightened up from my car, grinning in relief.

  “There should be enough power to keep them going for hours,” I told the group, shocked at how tired I sounded. Then I blushed. “I, um... keep it fully charged.”

  Corrigan grabbed my waist and lifted me off my feet, crushing me against his chest. “Of course you do, Beckett,” he told me. I could feel him ruefully shaking his head. “God, I love you.”

  A hot wave of emotion rippled down my body, hearing that, and I tightened my arms around his shoulders. God, I was ready to drop. I had no idea what time it was, only that it was late. Between the bank robbery and then Rebecca’s surgery and then the hospital shooting and then Krista and the fire and then this, I hadn’t stopped in about fourteen hours. Waking up in Corrigan’s bed felt like a lifetime ago.

  But now, finally, we could stop. I disentangled myself from Corrigan just long enough to join everyone else in high-fiving Maggie, and to check on Rebecca. The guy who’d been keeping her alive turned around—

  Seth?! Colt’s son?!

  I twisted around and looked at Corrigan, but he just gave me a solemn nod. I bit my lip, then turned back to Seth. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. I hesitated. After everything Seth’s dad had done….

  But Corrigan had trusted me, with my crazy plan. I had to trust his judgment too. I checked on Rebecca and her vitals looked strong. “You did great,” I told Seth. And I meant it.

  Seth nodded quickly. He still wouldn’t meet my eyes, but I saw his shoulders drop in relief.

  “Let’s all just take a minute.” Corrigan had raised his voice so that everyone in the ER could hear, that gorgeous Irish bass filling the room in the way mine never could. All of the volunteers nodded gratefully and stepped away from their patients, Seth included. I stayed where I was but let my head hang down and my eyes close. Corrigan was right: we deserved a moment’s rest. We had plenty of time now to get a new generator back here to power the hospital. Everyone had made it through alive. We’d won.

  Big, warm hands closed on my shoulders and started massaging them. It was just about the best thing I’d felt in my life. I hadn’t realized how much the hours of surgery had wrecked my back but under his strong fingers, my muscles turned from freezing, brittle concrete into warm taffy. I leaned back against his chest. A freezing wind was blowing through the ER from the smashed doors, chilling my front, but as long as I could snuggle back against him, I didn’t care. “What do you say,” he asked in a deep, Irish rasp, “to a cup of just-warm, six-hour-old coffee from the break room?”

  “I would pay a thousand dollars for that, right now,” I told him, my eyes still closed.

  He leaned closer and his lips brushed the back of my neck. “I’ll be right back,” he told me. As his footsteps died away, the cold hit me. Thanks to me destroying the main doors, the ER had gone from chilly to absolutely freezing: it was so cold I could see my breath. When Corrigan came back, I was going to cuddle into his chest and never move again.

  I took a long, slow breath and let it out. The ER was strangely quiet, now that all the ventilator alarms had gone quiet. The volunteers had all moved with Corrigan down towards the break room and were swapping stories and laughing, high on adrenaline. I thought about joining them, but I didn’t want to leave Rebecca. And, if I was honest, staying in this quiet little corner, away from everyone else, was comforting. I’d changed a lot, in the last few days, but I was still a dormouse at heart. Maybe when Corrigan got back, we’d go over there together. Baby steps.

  I opened my eyes.

  Colt was standing right in front of me.

  51

  Amy

  HE HAD THAT vicious-looking hunting knife in his hand and he thrust it at me warningly, the point stopping an inch from my cheek. He needn’
t have bothered. As soon as I’d seen him, my throat had closed up. I couldn’t have screamed for help if I’d wanted to.

  I was suddenly aware of how isolated I was, down at this end of the ER. With the room almost totally dark, both of us blended right into the shadows unless you were a few feet away. No wonder he’d been able to slip in unobserved, especially with everyone occupied with CPR. And now he could shove the knife between my ribs and no one would even know. Why did I stay here on my own? Why didn’t I cluster with the people, like a normal person? But if I had, he would have found someone else: Lina or Adele or Corrigan, and that thought scared me even more.

  “Where’s my son?” That voice: freezing, rusty metal clawing at my spine.

  I didn’t dare even jerk my head to show him. “He’s over by the break room,” I whispered. Then, “He saved this girl’s life. He’s a hero.”

  “He’s soft.” He said it as if there was no worse crime. “You’re going to go and get him. And my pilot, you’re going to get him, too. Bring them.”

  I nodded. Anything. Anything to get him out of here. The FBI would catch them eventually. I turned to go.

  “Wait.” His voice was vicious and stinging, a whip soaked in whiskey.

  I froze.

  “Get your medical stuff. Need you to patch me up.” He stepped a little closer and nodded downwards. I used the flashlight on my phone and caught my breath when I saw the blood soaking through his jeans.

  I thought fast. If anyone saw he was here, it might turn into another firefight and more people would get hurt. The idea of being alone with him terrified me but… “I’ll take you upstairs,” I whispered. “Somewhere quiet, I can treat you there.”

  But he shook his head. “You can do it at our camp. You’re coming with us.”

  My insides turned to ice. That happy, warm moment with Corrigan, our plans for the future...I felt it all being ripped away from me. I’d seen how little this man valued life. If I went with him, I was dead.

  My plan to get him out of there without anyone knowing evaporated. I had to get help. I nodded to Colt that I’d do it. As soon as I’m away from him, I’ll get Corrigan and the cops….

  Then I froze inside as Colt put the knife to Rebecca’s throat.

  “You care about this one, don’t you?” he said. “You tell anyone, I see a cop or that Irishman or anyone, she never wakes up.”

  I stared down at Rebecca’s sleeping face. I’d stopped breathing. Oh Jesus.... As soon as I’d treated him, he’d kill me.

  But I had no choice. I nodded that I understood.

  52

  Amy

  I DIDN’T WANT to see Corrigan. I was already so scared...if I saw him, it would be impossible to go through with this. And I had to, for Rebecca. So I sidled around the edge of the ER, staying in the shadows.

  I found the pilot, bandages still covering his eyes. I had one of the cops uncuff him, telling him I needed to run a test, then led him off to a quiet spot. When I whispered Colt’s plan in his ear, he went pale: God, he was as scared of Colt as I was. But he grimly nodded.

  Seth was next. I sidled closer to the group of volunteers, trying to attract his attention without—

  “There you are!”

  My heart nearly stopped. Corrigan came up behind me, his warm chest against my back, and pressed a cup of coffee into my numb hand. “Drink that, you’ll feel better.”

  I nodded silently and sipped some, not even tasting it. God, this was even harder than I’d thought. My whole body was screaming at me to tell him Colt was there. I didn’t even have to say anything. All I had to do was turn around: as soon as he saw my face, he’d know something was wrong.

  But then what? Rebecca would be dead. And if Corrigan ran in to try and save her, very probably he’d die, too.

  Corrigan put his hands on my shoulders, trying to turn me around so he could kiss me….

  I stepped away, stumbling out of his grip. “Got to go,” I muttered. “Some stuff I need to take care of.”

  I could hear the confusion and hurt in his voice. “What…? Beckett?”

  But at that second, the beep of a heart monitor stuttered and fell into a continuous tone. Shit! It was Earl: his heart had stopped. Corrigan and the other doctors rushed to help. Maggie gave a moan of horror and ran to Earl’s side. I took a step forward to join them, then hung back. He had plenty of help... and this was my chance. No one was watching me.

  I grabbed Seth. His eyes went wide as I whispered in his ear. I saw the emotions play over his face: shock, guilt, hurt. He glanced at Taylor, but she was occupied with Earl. He nodded and went to wait by the pilot.

  I quickly ran to the supply closet and filled a bag. The floor was still red with Krista’s blood and my stomach twisted: I was going off with the man who’d done this. But I had no choice.

  I ran back through the ER. I’d almost made it to the safety of the darkness when Corrigan’s voice brought me up short. “Beckett!”

  I slowly turned around. I couldn’t let him know.

  Corrigan was in the middle of a flurry of activity. They were desperately trying to get Earl’s heart going again and it killed me that I couldn’t be in there with them, helping. From what I could see, Corrigan was putting pressure on a bleeder: he couldn’t move. One of our repairs from earlier must have given way. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

  My mouth opened, but nothing came out. This is the last time I’m ever going to see him. The very last time. As soon as that thought hit, there was no chance of brazening my way through. I saw his face change: he could see something was horribly wrong. All I could do now was run, and get Colt out of there before he hurt Rebecca. But my feet wouldn’t move.

  “Beckett,” he said again. Then. “Amy?”

  I silently shook my head. I didn’t dare get close enough to kiss him because he might grab me and not let go. I mouthed I love you.

  And then I ran. I grabbed the pilot and Seth as I passed them and we raced to Rebecca’s bed. Colt put his knife away as we approached and nodded for us to follow him. In seconds, we were at the rear door. Outside, a pickup was waiting.

  “I’m not coming,” said Seth. “I want out.”

  Colt spun and stared at his son disbelievingly. Then he grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed him up against the wall, speaking in a low, dangerous voice I couldn’t hear. At first, Seth twisted away, not wanting to listen. But then his face went pale and he stopped struggling. What? What’s he told him?

  Colt finally stepped back. Seth stared at him for a few seconds more, still aghast, then nodded. “I’ve got to get someone,” he told his dad.

  “Get in the damn pickup!” snapped Colt, pointing at the door.

  But Seth squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. “No!”

  Colt moved closer and the two of them faced off. But for the first time, Seth looked just as determined as his dad. “I’m not leaving without her,” Seth said quietly. “I’ll meet you at the camp.”

  They stared at each other. Seconds passed...and it was Colt who finally looked away. “Be quick,” he told his son. Then he grabbed me and pulled me towards the door.

  53

  Dominic

  “PRESSURE’S dropping,” said Adele, her voice tight with panic.

  We had Taylor doing chest compressions to try to get Earl’s heart going again. Maggie was frantically trying to wire up the defibrillator to Beckett’s car so that it would charge. Lina was giving him a dose of epinephrine. And I’d got my fingers tight around the artery that had torn open. “Hang another two units,” I ordered.

  I looked desperately towards the darkness where I’d last seen Beckett. What the hell is going on? All I knew was, something was wrong. I needed to go after her, but if I took my hands away, Earl was dead for sure. She wouldn’t want that. She’d tell me not to. But with every second that passed, I could feel her slipping away from me. It was Chicago, all over again. She was in danger and I was stuck here working—

  I saw Bartell appr
oaching with an armful of supplies. “I need you to take over!” I yelled. “I have to go!”

  He looked at me in shock, then frowned. Shit. I didn’t have time to argue with him, or explain—

  Then he saw my expression and his face softened. “Go,” he told me. He snapped on some gloves and took my place. “I got this.”

  I slapped him on the arm in thanks and ran. Where the hell is she? I ran through the darkened hallways, yelling her name. When she didn’t answer, I got really scared.

  Then I felt the wind. Since Beckett had smashed through the main doors, the temperature had dropped and dropped as freezing air surged in from outside. But now there seemed to be an actual current: the wind was blowing in through the front of the ER and out—

  I jogged around a corner and saw the open rear door. Raced outside yelling Beckett’s name….

  It was snowing thick and fast. There was only one vehicle moving, a pickup speeding away from the hospital. And inside, twisting around to look back at me as they heard me yell...Colt and Beckett.

  “No!” I called uselessly. I ran after them—

  But it was too late. Their taillights disappeared into the blizzard... and they were gone.

  54

  Amy

  FOUR MEN were waiting for us at the camp. They were all carrying guns and that was scary, but what was truly terrifying was the way they reacted when they saw Colt. They snapped to attention, but it wasn’t with that look of fierce pride I’d seen in soldiers. And when they ran forward to meet us, it wasn’t with the eagerness and smiles of cultists greeting their leader. They were meek and grim.

  They were scared. Many of them were bigger than Colt, younger, with more muscle. But every man in that camp was terrified of him, of what he might do to them. That was the power Colt wielded. And now he had fifty million dollars to build his army. Soon, he’d have a thousand times the manpower.