Page 64 of The Turning of the Tables

This was panic attack number three.

Someone had called Noah,because he’d been ushered into my little curtained-off cubicle a few hours later, and I’d burst into tears all over again—not a panic attack this time, just a lot of stress mingled with relief. He was wearing a mask—because you had to in the hospital, whether you were a Nid or not—but I could see the worry in his eyes and the tightness across his forehead.

He immediately rushed to my side and bent over, pressing his forehead to mine, our masked noses touching despite the plastic oxygen tube coming out of mine.

I could move my arms now, my IV firmly taped in—for more saline, which they’d decided was sufficient rather than risk a blood transfusion—and I gripped his arms with still-shaky hands.

“Nono,” I managed, finally.

“Sethy,” came the answer. “What happened?”

I shook my head. “Not sure,” I replied, swallowing back the rest of the emotion that threatened to choke me. “I was standing by the… victim, and then…” I trailed off, not sure how to explain it.

“Then what?” Noah asked, pulling back, then going to grab a chair, pulling it close to the bed so he could hold one of my hands in his.

I swallowed. “A bomb? I’m… I’m not sure.”

“Abomb?!”

“Noah, sssssh.” I didn’t know what to say. Noah clearly didn’t know anything about what happened, and I wasn’t sure how much I was allowed to share. I didn’t want to get in trouble, but I also didn’t want him causing a panic if somebody else overheard and actually took it seriously.

“What do you mean, abomb?” he hissed, still agitated, but at least lower in volume.

“I don’tknowthat that’s what it was,” I hissed back. “Itfelt like something hot and big threw me backward.” I didn’t mention the part about being covered in blood. I wasn’t still covered in it—the staff had helped clean me up, put me in a hospital gown. I had vague memories of that. The bunny suit and my clothes were now presumably in an evidence baggie somewhere, although I had no idea who would be collecting it.

Or who else was here in the hospital. Tierney? Aimes? Maza? I didn’t think Schitikova was, since he’d been talking to me before I’d passed out. But maybe he’d just been less injured?

“Nono,” I said out loud.

“Yeah?”

“Do you know who else they brought in?”

He shook his head, one lock of loose blond hair falling in his face, blue eyes still wide and worried. “No.” He pushed the hair back behind one ear with the hand that wasn’t holding mine.

“Did—did they say what’s wrong with me?” I asked, then.

He nodded to that question. “Cracked and broken ribs,” he replied, his voice a little shaky. “Moderate concussion. La—lacerations, bruising.” He swallowed. “Sethy, what’s goingon?”

I sighed, wincing as the breath sent stabbing pain through my entire ribcage. “Honestly? I’m not sure.” I had a guess. One that I really, really hoped wasn’t right.

Because if I was, then a lot of us were in deep, deep trouble, because the blood that I’d aspirated had been carrying Arcana.

If I wasn’t, then I didn’t want to scare Noah.

I, at least, knew that if I went home with my brother, he wasn’t at risk of infection, even if I did—which I probablydid—have Arcana. Other people might not be able to say the same thing.

Did I tell the nurse? Did I tell Noah? Did I ask to talk to someone in the RPD? I felt like I should tellsomeone. I just didn’t know how or who—if I told the nurse, I’d have to explain why that was a possibility, which would involve me revealing sensitive information that wasn’t supposed to be made publicly available. I’d have called Maza, except…

“Nono, do you have my phone?”

He frowned at me. “You want yourphone?”

“I need to see if Maza’s okay,” I replied. “And Tierney. They were… closer than I was.” Tierney certainly had been. Maza had been about the same distance, and I was certainly fucked up enough that I was worried about him. More about Tierney, both because he’d been right next to it and because he was older—maybe that was ageist of me, but older bones broke more easily than younger ones.

Noah passed me the phone that had been tucked into my pants pocket inside my bunny suit. I wondered who’d taken it out and given it to him rather than let it be packed away with the rest of the evidence. It wasn’t protocol, but I was kinda grateful to whoever that was, protocol or not.

I started with Maza, asking if he was okay and if Tierney was. I didn’t have Tierney’s number. Then, because I didn’t immediately hear from Maza, I texted Aimes.