Then back.
Then stop because none of it helps.
The red surgical light still burns above the double doors.
Still closed.
Still keeping me on the wrong side of them.
I drag both hands through my hair and force air into my lungs.
Doesn’t work.
Every time I close my eyes, I see her going limp against me in the truck.
Hear her voice fading.
Feel her fingers slipping from mine.
No.
Don’t go there.
Not yet.
Footsteps echo softly behind me.
I already know who it is before he speaks.
“Russ.”
Miles.
I don’t turn around.
“Tell me something good.”
Silence.
Too long.
That tells me enough already.
“Clay and Lucas got two more kids out,” he says carefully. “Found Hannah and Stephen alive too. The mothers made it.”
Alive.
Good.
Not enough.
“Olivia?”
Another pause.
Goddamn it.
“Still in surgery.”
