Chapter 23
When the haziness cleared from my vision, I was surprised to see that Wizzit had sent me back to the deserted Hawaiian beach that Bill and I had left not too long ago. "Make it quick, Blue," he said. "I can give you two minutes, no more."
I didn't have to ask what he meant. I ran out into the surf, higher now than it had been, searching for signs of Lily. Twice I jogged up and down the beach. Nothing. I was just about to conclude that she had woken up and found a way to teleport home when I saw it. At first I thought it might have been a dark strand of seaweed being tossed about beneath the waves, but it was too finely textured for that. It was hair, I realized. Long, black hair.
My heart racing, I ran over to get a closer look. Lily was lying pretty much as I had left her, facedown on the sand, but now she was covered by about six inches of water. I quickly grabbed her wrists and dragged her up onto higher ground. Rolling her onto her back, I wasn't surprised to discover that she wasn't breathing. I pushed on her stomach and forced her to vomit up some water, but that didn't revive her. Her lips were cold and slack as I bent to give her artificial respiration.
"I don't think that will help, Blue." Wizzit's voice was as kind as I had ever heard it.
"I have to try." I pinched her nostrils, blew a breath into her mouth and then did CPR compressions on her chest while it came out again. Sometimes, I knew, a person will start breathing on their own once you've done a little mouth-to-mouth on them. But not this time, not even after I had cycled through fifteen or twenty breaths.
"I detect no heartbeat and no brain activity," Wizzit said. "Metabolic activity is nil as well; her body is cold. I'm just relying on what I can pull from the sensors in your belt, Blue, but I don't think there's anything you can do for her. I'm sorry."
I straightened with a heavy sigh. "I know," I said quietly. I had known she was dead as soon as I saw her lying there underwater. I had needed to try to revive her, but I had also known it wouldn't work. Lily was gone.
I closed my eyes; they burned with unshed tears. I decided that I wouldn't cry, though. I wouldn't collapse into a sobbing heap; I wouldn't cradle her lifeless body and call out her name in despair. I felt like doing all of those things, but I couldn't afford the luxury. For one thing, I had no time to mourn; I was urgently needed elsewhere. For another, I realized that everything I did here, every action I took, would be subject to video review, and who knew what Mike would do if he saw me getting hysterical over Lily's death.
"I have to teleport you out soon, Blue. The others need you."
"Yeah, I know," I said, marveling at how calm and steady my voice was. "Give me about thirty seconds."
I reached into the zippered front pocket of Lily's black Enclave jumpsuit. Her cellphone had miraculously survived being submerged; given the things Lily normally did for him, JB Swift had probably made sure she had one of the models that was extra rugged and waterproof. I flipped it open. Her contacts list had just two entries -- "Home" and "Uncle Oswald". I punched the one for Oswald; I figured that JB Swift deserved to know what had happened to his attack doll. As the phone began to ring, I carefully laid it on Lily's stomach and stepped back.
"Okay, Wizzit," I said. "I'm ready to go."
Attack Doll 4: Primes Emeriti Page 24
