Page 14

Scorpions and Chaos

“ O h, my gods!” The high-pitched declaration came from the changing room entrance. “Do my eyes deceive me, or is that River fucking Waterborn, half an hour early for her shift?”

River spun around; an enormous grin stretched across her face. She’d gone directly from the temple to the hospital, and she was happier than ever about that decision.

The fire fae wore a pair of black leggings and an off-the-shoulder oversized grey sweatshirt that would’ve looked lazy on anyone else.

Somehow, River’s best friend managed to make it high fashion by pairing it with the barn-sized fuchsia purse slung over her shoulder and the matching four-inch heels on her feet.

“Em!” River squealed, shoving her locker shut before racing across the room and flinging her arms around her best friend. “You’re back!”

The tall fire fae laughed and returned the embrace. “Always so observant, Riv.”

“Oh, hush. What brings you back early?” Ember wasn’t supposed to be back for another week.

“I’ll show you.” She pulled out her phone and tapped a few times on the screen before holding the device in front of River. “See this?”

An eight-legged creature filled the screen, with two enormous pincers at its front and a curved tail. River’s skin crawled, and she instinctively took a step back. “Em, tell me that isn’t a scorpion.”

“I wish I could.” Ember crossed her arms and shuddered, her phone dangling from her fingertips. “But unfortunately, it is a fucking scorpion. That was the third one this week, and it was the last straw.”

River’s hand cupped her throat, and she shivered. “Gods, I don’t blame you for hating them. They look disgusting. ”

River would rather lie down in a pit of live snakes before touching a single scorpion.

By the Black Sands, the creatures looked like they had crawled straight out of a nightmare.

She had never seen one in person, but she’d heard enough tales from Ember and Nikhail, who’d both grown up in the Southern Region, to know she never wanted to.

“They truly are awful.” Ember opened her locker, hanging up her purse.

“I told Mom and Dad I’d be back in a few months if they needed more help, but I’m here for now.

I called ahead and got myself put back on the schedule.

” She slid off her heels, swapping them for a pair of white running shoes.

“Besides, I heard my best friend’s been having trouble without me. ”

The first thing River had done after Doctor Collins’s reaming was go home, shower, and call her best friend. Ember knew everything that had happened, from how their boss had taken her off the surgery to her waking up in Nikhail’s bed the next morning.

Ember had been outraged on her best friend’s behalf and ready to return to Lakewater that second, but River had insisted she stay in the Southern Region. After all, she was doing good work there.

Still, she wouldn’t deny that it felt good to have her best friend back in the same city.

Tugging on her running shoes, River bent to tie the laces. “I’m so glad you’re back, Em. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” Ember rubbed her temples. “These trips are good, but gods help me, they’re so draining.”

River studied her best friend. She was undeniably beautiful, but no amount of makeup could hide the dark shadows beneath her eyes. For quick healing fae, they were as telling as someone screaming, “I’m exhausted!” from the top of their lungs.

“Did you sleep?” River asked.

“Enough.” Ember lifted a shoulder and pulled out her hair elastic.

Shaking out her hair, she raked her fingers through it before putting it in another bun.

“You know how it is. There’s always so much to do, it feels never-ending.

I swear, every time I go to the clinic, there are more people who need our help.

Mom and Dad are doing their best, but it feels like they’ll never get to everyone. ”

An only child, Ember had been adopted at birth into a family of doctors. Her grandmother, Lucille Ash, was a renowned fae surgeon in Golden City, and her parents ran a not-for-profit clinic in the Southern Region.

The Sunrise Clinic served poor and underprivileged youth and their families—the ones that the Representatives conveniently seemed to forget existed. Since she was still doing medical work, Ember had been granted a leave of absence from LGH to go to the clinic.

River popped into the restroom to take care of her personal needs while Ember finished getting dressed. She was washing her hands when Ember appeared over her shoulder.

“Is Doctor Assface still being a jerk?”

River’s eyes widened, and her head whipped towards the door so fast, she nearly pulled a muscle. It was still closed, and they were alone.

“Hush, Em,” she quietly admonished. “If he hears you, he’ll tan your hide.”

Ember, the gods bless her, rolled her eyes.

“I’d like to see that smarmy man try to get that close to me.” Pulling a tube of pink lip gloss out of her pocket, she applied it to her lips, smacking them together. “We both know he’s afraid of me.”

Ember was right. River wasn’t entirely sure why, but their superior seemed to steer clear of her best friend.

“Send some of that my way, would you?” River elbowed her friend and smiled. “I could use it.”

Otherwise, the next few years were going to be incredibly long.

“I’ll do my best.” Ember held open the door, and River nodded appreciatively, heading to the charging station by the door.

Grabbing a tablet for each of them, she double-checked that they were charged. She handed one to Ember, hooking her arm through her best friend’s.

“So, Emmy. Did you meet anyone fun while you were gone? A nice guy or girl?”

“I went on a few dates, but nothing serious.” Ember bumped her hip against River’s. “Besides, you know my motto.”

“Casual is best,” they said in unison, giggling.

Gods above, laughing felt good. Freeing, even. When was the last time River had felt so happy?

“So, there was nothing?” she prodded. “You went to bed alone every night?”

Somehow, she found that hard to believe. She knew her friend, after all.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that.” Ember smirked as they walked towards the elevators. “I got around.”

There it was. “Honestly, I’d expect nothing less from you, Em.”

This was another reason River got along so well with Ember. The fire fae was equally uninterested in long-term relationships, instead preferring to “sample the flavors,” as she called it.

In all the years River had known her best friend, the fire fae had never been on more than three consecutive dates with the same person. Ember seemed to like it that way, and she always had willing bedroom partners lined up.

Ember used to encourage River to be more open with her sexuality, but a few awkward encounters had taught River that she wasn’t one for casual sex.

It wasn’t that she had anything against it, but it didn’t fulfill her.

Each encounter had left River wanting more, which was out of the question, thanks to her curse .

After the last man she’d had sex with had been a selfish asshole who’d left her sorely wanting in the orgasm-department, she’d decided to stick with her ever-growing collection of vibrators. At least they wouldn’t let her down.

They reached the elevators, but before either of them could call it, the doors opened on their own. A human nurse in blue scrubs stood inside. Relief flashed through his eyes as he saw them.

He put out a blood-speckled hand and stopped the elevator doors from closing.

“Doctors Waterborn and Ash. Thank the gods you’re here early.” River had never heard that phrase before in her life. “I was coming to see if anyone was available. We need reinforcements in emergency.”

River glanced at Ember, raising her brows. Her best friend shrugged, and they followed the nurse into the elevator. He mashed the button to close the door, directing them to the second floor.

“It’s been one of those days,” the nurse said wearily. “I swear to the gods, everything that could go wrong has. Every bed is full, there were two accidents on the freeway, and all the available surgeons and residents are currently in the OR.”

“It’s the damned full moon tonight,” Ember said. “It always brings out the crazy in people and fills up the hospital.”

River used to think that things like that were nothing more than old wives’ tales, but the first full moon she’d ever worked had been hectic from dusk until dawn.

Ever since then, the cycle had always repeated.

It didn’t matter how many doctors and nurses were on the schedule; the full moon was always a chaotic scene.

“Exactly.” The nurse pressed some buttons on his tablet. “And now, we’ve just received word that an ambulance is bringing in a new patient who requires critical care. I’ve called for help, but the closest doctor is half an hour away, thanks to the pileups. It’s been a day .”

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open.

The noise hit River first. Machines beeped, people yelled, and a child on the far side of the room wailed while a doctor stitched the laceration on their arm. It was loud and chaotic, but River didn’t mind it at all. There was a beauty to it, manic in a way that spoke to her soul.

Now, she’d get the chance to actually work. These people needed help, and she could provide it.

This was why River had become a doctor. Why she’d worked so damn hard to graduate at the top of her class. Why she trained every single day, expelling her magic so she didn’t lose control. Why she repeated Eliza’s mantra, reminding herself that her magic was a tool she’d been given.

Here at the hospital, River helped people. Here, she was useful. A bringer of life, not death. Here, she laughed in the face of her curse.

River and Ember hurried to a handwashing station.

“Ready for this, Em?” she asked.

The fire fae nodded. “Always.”

The friends shared a grin, and then, the time for speaking passed.

Ember was called away, and River dried her hands, grabbing a pair of blue latex gloves.

She was shoving her fingers inside them when a gust of cold wind announced the opening of the emergency room doors behind her.

She turned as paramedics rolled in a stretcher with a groaning man on it.

“We need a doctor!” a bearded paramedic shouted over the chaos. “Gunshot to the abdomen. The patient is in critical condition. The bullet was laced with prohiberis! ”

River’s feet were already moving, her mind already preparing to save this man’s life.

“What happened…” Her words trailed off into a half-mangled moan as she skidded to a stop in front of the stretcher. “Oh, no. No, no, no.”

River was used to seeing people at their worst, in various states of pain and injury. She was used to blood and gore. Used to thinking on her feet and being ready for anything.

But this…

Nothing could have ever prepared her for this.

Her heart stopped beating for one never-ending moment, and she squeezed her eyes shut, wondering if perhaps this was an awful nightmare. Maybe she hadn’t gone to the temple yet. Maybe she was still in bed.

She pinched her leg. Pain shot through her thigh, and when she reopened her eyes, the scene in front of her remained unchanged.

This was real.

Oh, gods.

All River’s training fled her mind as she gripped the edge of the stretcher with trembling hands. Her eyes were wide, and her breath came in short bursts as she stared at Nikhail’s bloody, barely breathing body.