Chapter 22
Chapter 22:
“How? He’s the doctor p>
“You are a Thorne,” Aurora said, her voice dropping to an icy calm. “Act like it. Tell him if Elias dies after that injection, you will personally ensure his license is revoked and his family is bankrupted. Use my name if you have to. Tell him the Phoenix is watching p>
There was a muffled shout on the other end, then Julian’s voice, shaky but firm. “Stop! Don’t touch him p>
Aurora closed her eyes, listening to the chaos.
“Julian, is he still breathing on his own p>
“Barely. It’s a death rattle p>
“Tell the nurse to check his pupils. Are they fixed and dilated p>
A pause. “No, they’re… unequal. The left is larger p>
“Good. He’s still fighting.” Aurora’s mind was a supercomputer, processing symptoms, discarding possibilities. “Find his hand, Julian. The left one. There’s a pressure point in the webbing between his thumb and index finger. The Hegu point. Press it. Hard. As hard as you can p>
“What will that do p>
“It will regulate the energy flow to his brain. It will buy us time. Do it p>
She heard Julian giving the order, then a grunt of effort. On the other end, the frantic beeping of the heart monitor, which had been erratic, smoothed out for a fraction of a second.
“It’s… it’s stabilizing,” Julian whispered, his voice filled with awe. “The line is still weak, but it’s steady. How did you know that p>
“I pay attention,” Aurora said. She looked out the window. The helipad of Mount Sinai was a bright circle in the darkness. “I’m two minutes out. Keep pressing. And Julian p>
“Yes p>
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“Don’t let anyone touch him until I get there. Anyone p>
She hung up. She closed the case. The weight felt different now. It wasn’t the weight of a past she was running from. It was the weight of a weapon she was finally ready to wield again.
The helicopter touched down, the landing skids kissing the wet pavement. The door slid open.
Julian was there, waiting in the wind and rain. He wasn’t the arrogant playboy from the gym. He was pale, soaked, and looking at her not as Sterling’s ex-wife, but as a miracle.
“Thank you,” he panted as she jumped out. “Thank you for coming p>
“Save the thanks,” Aurora said, pushing past him, her focus absolute. “Where is he p>
They ran, their footsteps echoing in the sterile corridor, heading for the ICU. They were a strange pair—the desperate heir and the ghost he had summoned from the storm.
Dr. Xavier Stone looked at the leather pouch in Aurora’s hand as if it contained a nest of vipers. He let out a scoff that was short, sharp, and dripping with professional disdain.
“This is absurd,” Stone said, turning his back on her to address Julian Reed. “We are in a state-of-the-art medical facility, not a back-alley mystic shop. Needles? You want to poke him with needles while his intracranial pressure is spiking? It’s voodoo. It’s negligent homicide p>
Aurora did not look at Dr. Stone. She walked to the small stainless steel basin and scrubbed her hands with an almost violent precision.