Page 87 of Dark Verse

“I…I can’t feel my arm,” Venny said.

She said something else, but I couldn’t hear her words with Cash’s voice coming from down the hallway and the blood rushing to my head momentarily. Fully awake yet still feeling dazed, I still stood by the now wide-open window, searching the dark streets for any clues to which direction our attacker went. A cold breeze hit my skin as I stared out of the window, but I hardly felt any discomfort.

“Knox?” Raven cried.

The frantic sound startled me enough to drop the knife, pulling me from the window and back towards her.

“I’m here, honey,” I assured her.

The soft gray bed fabric was drenched in crimson, the red pool spreading out under Venny. Her naked body was covered in sweat and blood, and the wounds to her shoulder and forearms were deep. The cut across her collarbone seemed to bleed like a curtain, covering her chest in the gruesome color.

I pressed my sliced palm across the hole in her shoulder, my hiss of pain covered by her wail.

“A tie,” I said, turning to Octavia. “Get a tie or a belt or something to stop the bleeding.”

Octavia left my line of sight as she rushed towards the tall dresser. She brought back a pair of long white tube socks. Working quickly, we tied the fabric across Raven’s shoulder and right wrist. They both slowed, but the shoulder sock was completely red by the time the EMTs arrived.

As they got Venny on a gurney and left the room, I tried to follow, but Cash stopped me.

“Whoa, man, wait.”

“Get the fuck out of my way, Cash,” I warned, ready to fight him. Ready to fight anybody.

“I’m not trying to stop you, but put some fucking pants on before you jump in the ambulance.”

I deflated, looking down at my naked body, which was covered in its own layer of blood and sweat.

“Sir, did you sustain any injuries?” the EMT asked.

To her credit, she kept her eyes completely locked on my face even with my dick swinging out.

“Yeah,” I admitted, turning quickly back to the room to grab the clothes I had been wearing earlier.

I only agreed to show her my hand once we were standing outside the ambulance and I could look in on Raven. They had clearly already administered something for her pain, her brow sweaty but softer than before.

“Knox?” she asked again.

“I’m right here, Venny. I’m not going anywhere.”

I look up once more to the sound of the door opening. Both Zeke and Cash have changed and washed their faces and hands. Octavia, too, seems to have taken the chance to change and wash up from the last hours. I take the offered items and head to a more private area to change. Via thought to grab my and Raven’s phones, but I leave them in the bag.

When I arrive back, a doctor in scrubs stands with my bandmates. My heart rate spikes as he turns towards me. I’m unable to read his expression or if his news is good or bad.

“Are you the boyfriend?” he asks as I approach.

“Yes. How is she?”

“Raven is out of the woods. She lost a lot of blood, and there was damage to the veins and arteries in her right wrist, but the cardiovascular surgeon was able to repair it. The muscles and tendons in Raven’s shoulder were also damaged. Luckily, the knife missed the major vessels in her shoulder. My team is closing up her wounds as we speak, and she should be in recovery within the next hour.”

“She said she couldn’t move her arm when we were still back at the house,” I tell him.

“We’ll know more when she wakes, but with the way the muscles were severed, it would lead to weakness on that side. Full limb paralysis is possible but unlikely given where the knife entered. ”

I reach out to shake his hand instinctively, but pain shoots through my whole right arm when our grasps meet.

“Shit!” I hold up my other hand as he starts apologizing. “My fault, I forgot. Thanks, Doc. When can I see her?”

“Once she’s settled in her room, I’ll have one of my PAs come find you. She’ll still be heavily sedated, but you will be able to stay with her.”