Page 45 of The Hollowed
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” her words trembled out as she closed the final inch between them. Their kiss lingered with desperate urgency, as though it might have to carry them through the long night ahead.
This wasn’t just affection. It was an oath, a tether anchoring them both to hope. They would survive this. They had to, and no matter what awaited them outside those walls, she clung to the belief that it would only be minutes until they found their way back to each other again.
Their foreheads rested against one another for one last breath before Myra forced herself to pull away and set the timer on her watch.
Ninety seconds.
That was all she would have between pressing start and Cipher disabling the hospital’s security system from the control room. Ninety seconds to slip past the cameras, reach the pharmacy, and get what she needed. It wasn’t nearly enough time, and the knowledge of how razor thin the margin was made her stomach twist in knots. There was no room for hesitation or error. Failure now could cost all of them their lives.
“I’ll see you in ten,” Myra whispered, lifting her gaze to meet Cipher’s. He already had both of their bags slung over his shoulder, ready to move. To anyone watching, it would look routine enough, like he was just another guard running errands. That was the illusion they were counting on. In reality, Myra knew they were about to risk everything they had left.
She didn’t wait for Cipher to respond. Instead, she moved as fast as she could while keeping her boots silent against the floor beneath her. She could hear her own pulse as she counted down the seconds left and ran up the stairs and into the main floor. Then, just as she reached the pharmacy doors, the overhead lights blinked off and on before completely going dark.
Cipher had cut the security grid.
She had ten minutes to get Jace’s medications, find him, and get down to the basement.
She shoved the door open and slipped inside. The pharmacy was eerily empty, and the air felt heavy with the smell of antiseptic. Shelves lined the walls, neatly stocked, making it easy to find everything she needed. She repeated Doc’s list in her head like a mantra.
Immunosuppressants, antihypertensives, antibiotics, electrolyte supplements.
She worked efficiently, throwing pill bottles and blister packs into the plastic bag she’d shoved into her back pocket. She had toforce herself not to think and keep moving.
At the far end of the counter, she spotted the small locked cabinet where the controlled substances were stored. Myra’s stomach clenched as she broke the lock with the butt of her gun and yanked it open. Her fingers curled around one of the mild sedatives Doc had marked as her last resort.
The thought of using it on Jace felt wrong.
He was just a boy.
Despite that thought, she shoved the pre-loaded syringe into her back pocket anyway.
Myra checked the time.
Seven minutes left.
Holding the bag tightly she slipped back out into the hallway, her body buzzing with adrenaline. Every step carried her closer to the pediatric wing and closer to Jace. All she had to do now was get him to the basement before their time was up.
A sigh of relief escaped Myra when she found Carly asleep at the Nurse’s desk, and she slipped into Jace’s room like a shadow. The faint glow of the monitors painted his small frame in a soft green and blue light. He was curled on his side, half buried in his blanket.
“Hey, kiddo,” she whispered, crouching beside his bed as she brushed her hand through his hair. Jace’s lashes fluttered, and after a long moment his eyes cracked open hazily.
“Myra?” His voice was hoarse and thick with sleep. “What…what’re you doing here? It’s so late.”
“I know,” she soothed him as her fingers worked to detach the wires on his arm. “I’ll explain everything later but we have to go now, alright?”
“Go?” he responded, sluggishly rubbing at his eyes. “Go where?”
“Someplace safe,” Myra whispered, yanking one lead free and silencing the machine before it could squeal. “We’re going somewhere where you won’t have to stay hooked up to these things forever.”
Jace frowned, and his twelve year old stubbornness poked through his expression. “Why? What’s wrong with here? Why can’t we just stay?”
Myra’s throat tightened, but her hands never slowed as she pulled the IV line out and taped it down. “Because they won’t help you anymore here.” She forced herself to meet his sleepy eyes. “And I won’t let them hurt you.”
He blinked at her, confused and slightly alarmed. “But…are you sure?”
“Positive,” she whispered fiercely as she turned to shove clothes and the medications she’d gathered into the backpack she knew he kept in the small closet in his room. “Doc made me a list of everything I need to take care of you. You’ll be okay, I promise.”
Jace yawned and swayed slightly as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He was too tired to argue. “You always make me promises,” he mumbled as she settled the backpack over his shoulders.