Page 34 of Bonds of Starfall

Vesperin in his arms, Auren stepped through the portal.

Immediately, the hustle and bustle of downtown Solar City greeted him. It was the weekend and early evening—humans walked the streets, giddy, laughing, and happily going about their lives.

The first person to see Auren gasped, holding a hand over their heart at the sight of him decked in all white, a gleaming scythe in one hand, and a passed-out girl in the other.

He ignored them all, steps sure and quick as he headed to the front doors and threw them open.

The waiting room was relatively quiet. He did not know if this was the emergency area or not. He did not care.

Auren only cared for his Soulbond in his arms.

The receptionist was a woman with a short, black bob. She stood from her chair so quickly that the wheels squealed as it rolled, bumping into the file cabinet behind her.

Auren breathed, "Save her. Help her. Please."

His eyes were wide, hood pushed back. The small Star under his eye was bare for all to see. He knew his unnatural looks spoke to his otherworldliness. The woman’s eyes darted to his scythe, then to the girl in his arms.

"Vesperin?" she questioned, rounding the corner of her desk and blindly grasping for a pager at her hip. "Oh my god, what happened to her?" The woman reached for her, and Auren stiffened, holding her closer to his chest. "I’m certified in the basics. Let me check her pulse."

"She needs… something. Medicine." Auren didn’t know. He was an immortal—any wound he had would heal within minutes or hours. Those with Stella did have elevated healing capabilities, but only slightly. He was out of his element.

The woman pressed a hand to Vesperin’s pulse, counting under her breath. Her eyes widened, and she clicked the pager, stepping back toward her desk where she fumbled for a button. The ends of her black bob brushed her chin as she leaned forward, speaking into a microphone. "Code blue. I repeat, code blue." The words filled the halls from the speakers, and she let the button on the microphone go, sighing. "He’ll hate me if I keep this from him…"

Whom was she speaking of?

From a set of white double doors, a team of staff emerged. A gurney was between them, being rolled in a flurry as a female doctor stepped up to Auren.

"Place her down there," she ordered.

Auren did, heart clenching as Vesperin’s head lolled to the side.

"What happened?" The doctor tugged down Vesperin’s shirt, pressing her ear to her chest.

"She collapsed on the field. She…" Auren’s words stalled. He would not tell them of the Aether, or the way the Rogues had all fallen to the ground, dead.

Thankfully, the doctor didn’t press him. "Prepare an automated external defibrillator. We need to get that heart rate normalized—stat." Two of the doctors broke off, heading back behind the still swinging double doors. A large man started to wheel the gurney, and Auren struggled to keep up, knees weak.

One of the doctors tried to stop him from following, but one look at his scythe, and they grew quiet—not explicitly permitting him to follow, but not doing anything to keep him away, either. He’d like to see them try.

The double doors fell closed behind him, and the murmur of the receptionist, phone held to her ear as she spoke in severe, hushed tones, was drowned out the further he walked. The halls were white and sterile, a mere blur as they wheeled her into a room.

"I need you to stand by the wall, or leave," the female doctor ordered, pulling gloves onto her hands as she stood over Vesperin.

Auren nodded, quietly taking up watch by the wall. They started to place sensors on her temples, hooked to an incessantly beeping machine. Her shirt was ripped open, from collar to bottom hem, revealing the soft lace, cupping her small breasts; then, that too was torn, baring her upper half to the cold room.

The concerned voices of the hospital personnel were but a buzz in his ears. Like standing beneath water.

Two circular pieces of medical equipment hovered over her chest.

"One… two."

They were charged, then pressed to her chest.

Vesperin’s body jolted as currents of electricity ran through her.

The female doctor held them there for a moment, then pulled them away.

Currents of green sparked around the doctor from her Earth Stella as she used it to ground herself, before she pressed the charged electrodes back to Vesperin’s chest.