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“Here we go,” she said, scanning a list on her computer. “He’s in operating room 3-B, in the Neurosurgical Unit. Here,” she added, pulling out a piece of paper with a map on it. She drew a line in pen along the winding hallways. “You’re here. Follow the green line on the wall until it turns purple, then follow the purple line on the wall to the Purple Waiting Room. Our waiting rooms here are color coded.”
I followed her finger as she traced the route. “Thank you. Should I check in with the desk there?”
“Please do. Here, take this to guide you.” She handed me the map and, carrying it, I began to follow the labyrinth that was the Starlight Hollow Hospital. For the size of our town, the hospital was surprisingly robust, but when catering to Otherkin patients as well as human, the machinery and medical bases had to be more complex.
I followed the map through the twisting hallways, finally coming to the place where the green line on the wall gave way to the purple one. Then, it was less than a minute before I reached the reception area for the Neurosurgical Unit.
I checked in at the front desk. “My name is Elphyra MacPherson. I’m looking for Kyle Collinsworth?—”
“Elphyra!” Kyle came jogging up. “Thank you for coming.”
I checked in with the reception desk, then followed Kyle back to the waiting room, where I texted Bree the directions. “My friend Bree’s coming. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind? Not at all,” he said. “Anything that helps you get through this.”
“When do they start?” I asked. “Or have they started?”
“They’re due to begin the operation in about ten minutes. I’m sorry I didn’t have the chance to text you soon enough so that you could see him before, but he wasn’t awake, anyway.”
“I’m just grateful you let me know,” I said, sitting beside him and crossing one leg over the other. I laid my purse on the seat next to me, but kept my jacket on. Hospitals were always chilly. While I recognized that they needed to maintain a certain temperature to combat bacterial growth, that didn’t stop the temperature from giving me the shivers.
“Did the doctor say why they have to go in now?”
Kyle winced, looking more defeated than I ever remembered seeing him. “Yeah. Faron’s brainwave activity took a sudden nosedive this morning. He’s bleeding in the brain, so they have to go in. While they’re doing so, they asked me if they should go ahead with the experimental surgery. I decided they might as well, since they’re going to be inside his skull anyway. Why chance opening him up twice, if they can do both at once?”
I shivered for real, then. The thought of them poking around in Faron’s brain made me queasy. How easy would it be for the doctor to slip and boom—permanent brain damage? But I kept my fears to myself. Kyle needed hope now, not more fears to focus on.
“How long of a wait are we in for?” I asked.
“To fix the bleeders? Probably two hours. The experimental surgery? Another four. So we have a long ways to go. You don’t have to stay, though. I don’t expect you to.”
I glanced around. There were two other men in the waiting room, but I had the feeling they weren’t waiting on relatives. They had the same feel as Faron and Kyle. “Who are they?”
“Bodyguards. When I got the news about Faron, the council went ahead and transferred the powers of kingship to me on a temporary basis. If he dies, I become king. If he lives, then he’ll resume his leadership once he’s able. But it’s been too long, we need leadership and I’m the next in line. I took my oath of office an hour ago. The Eldership came to the hospital with me.” Kyle tugged on his collar, looking vaguely uncomfortable. “Those men are my bodyguards. Because the situation is so precarious, the Eldership doesn’t want to leave me unguarded.”
I knew that Kyle didn’t want to be king, and that he wanted nothing more than for his brother to come out of the coma and for everything to go back to normal.
“How do you feel about that?” I asked, watching as the two bodyguards watched us. Their gaze seemed to flicker over me, but then they looked away again, either unimpressed or unconcerned.
“You know how I feel,” Kyle said, his voice low. “But this is not the place to discuss these matters, so let’s change the subject.”
At that moment, Bree showed up. She was carrying a tray with three large coffee cups in it. “I thought Kyle would be here, too. I stopped at the espresso stand in the lobby and got three caramel lattes. Triple shots. Kyle, would you like one?”
He nodded, but before he could accept it, one of the men was standing beside him. Kyle silently handed the cup to him, and the man tasted the drink. Bree and I watched in silence, and after a moment, the man glanced at something on his phone, then handed the cup to Kyle without a word. I gave Bree a quiet shake of the head and she handed me my latte. I felt awkward sitting three in a row right next to each other, so I moved over to the banquette against left wall, and Bree joined me. I kicked off my shoes and folded my feet beneath me, hoping I wouldn’t catch hell from the nurses.
“It’s going to be awhile,” I said. “You don’t have to stay.”
“I’m fine, for awhile. I’ll need to go let Atlas and Oscar out to pee, and feed them after awhile, but I’ve got some time.” She sighed. “I’m so sorry, again about your shop. What happened sucks.”
“It does. I guess I should contact my insurance agency. I did have an alarm, so they can’t fault me for not having one. It’s going to cost me a thousand for a new one, and while I have the money—that’s not an issue—it’s still a lot. You don’t become rich by spending every cent.”
I glanced around, wanting desperately to focus on something other than the break-in or Faron. My gaze fell on the television, where some game show was playing. The closed captions were on, and the sound was down low.
“So,” I said after a moment, “what’s going on with you? I need distraction. Tell me what’s new in your life. We haven’t had a chance to have a heart to heart the past few weeks.”
Bree’s busy season was over, but she still had expeditions coming in, and she was in the middle of overhauling her offerings.
“Well, I led an eight-person expedition about ten days ago, for a three-day camping trip. That was…eventful. I haven’t told you yet because…” She let out a grunt. “Well, the truth is that I wanted to wait to see what kind of fallout I’m facing. It all came down yesterday. I’m being sued.”
