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CRUX

I jumped into the Jeep and punched the letters H-O-S-P into the GPS. Several popped up and my finger froze with indecision. Whatever the paramedics told me had flown right out of my brain.

Caduceus Hospital

Caduceus University Medical Center

Phoenix House of Wellness and Holistic Healing.

The ambulance sirens started to wail, thoroughly fucking up my concentration.

C’mon, you fuck, think!

Hospital. Hospital, right? It had to be the hospital.

I jabbed Caduceus Hospital with my finger and the route took shape on the screen.

The sirens faded as the ambulance took off.

Rubber tread screaming, I peeled out of the driveway and overshot, my rearview camera bleeping in a panic as my tires sank into the lawn.

I slammed on the gas, kicked up turf and followed the ambulance.

“Call Halo,” I demanded.

“Calling Halo.”

The mellow ring of the line filled the car. Once. Twice.

“The number you are calling is not available. To leave a message–”

I hung up with a button on the steering wheel. “Call Halo,” I ordered again.

“Calling Halo.”

More ringing, another redirect to voicemail. This time I left a message.

“Skye collapsed. We’re at Ced– or… Cad… I forget what it’s called. The hospital. Call me. I don’t know if Sev has his phone.”

I hung up. Tried again. Voice message.

I kept trying and trying, but Halo didn’t pick up. She must’ve been on stage, or rubbing elbows and sipping champagne with other fashion icons.

Come on, you fucking worthless piece of shit, you have one job.

“FUCK.” I pounded the steering wheel with my fist. Skye was the only good thing I had, and I refused to lose her.

I wrung my hands on the wheel and tasted salt on my upper lip. “Call Charisma.”

“Calling Charisma.”

The line rang, before redirecting to another automated voice message prompt. I hung up, and tried again.

It rang twice before a somewhat familiar, distant-sounding voice came over the speakers.

“This is Charisma Evercrest.”

“Charisma!” A small splash of relief washed over me at the sound of her voice. It immediately gave way to anxiety as I had to be the bearer of bad news. “Skye collapsed. I can’t get a hold of Halo. We’re headed for the Port Haven Hospital.”

“Oh, dear. Oh, Crux. Yes, thanks for telling me. I’ll get a hold of Halo as soon as I can. Keep me updated to the minute.”

“I will.”

Out of everyone on earth that wasn’t our pack, no one loved Skye more than her aunt Charisma.

Message delivered, I felt just a little bit more focused. I did my job, now all I had to do was get to the hospital and be there for when Skye woke up.

I barreled into the hospital and ran to the nurse’s station. I slammed my palms on the desk. “Skye Heller!” I demanded.

Behind the desk the nurses looked at me wide-eyed, startled. I might as well asked them to give me all the drugs in the building.

“Skye Heller!” I said again. “Where is she?”

“Sir,” said one nurse, rising from her wheely office chair. “We’re here to help you, but we need you to calm down.”

“Omega. She might be under Skye Evercr–”

“Crux.”

I turned toward Severen’s voice and saw him walking down the hall, toward me at a quick clip. I abandoned the nurse’s station and went to meet him.

“What’s happening?” I asked. “Do they know anything? What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know yet,” Severen said. “They took her to emergency and I wasn’t allowed to follow. Did you–”

“I couldn’t reach Halo,” I said. “But I got Charisma. She’s going to pass the message.”

“Good.” Severen squeezed my shoulder. “You did good, man.”

I looked at him, then at my shoes. I did what I could, what I was supposed to, but it still didn’t feel like enough.

Severen guided me to a neat and tidy seating area. The waiting room was modern, state of the art, at least, on first glance. In reality the seats and carpet were showing subtle wear and witheredness from hundreds of waiting passers-by weighed down by the most difficult nights of their lives.

“Sit down. Wait here. I’ll get you a coffee.”

“Soda,” I said. I wanted something cold to hopefully snap me out of this stifling anxiety.