Page 89 of Bone Year

My bracelet pulses again.

Room 503. The door is already open.

I hear her screaming, this horrible raw sound that doesn’t even sound human anymore.

I shove into the room, and my body goes ridged.

Nella ripped her wings off the wall. The frames that were supposed to hold them spread and stable are hanging crooked and empty. She’s hunched over on the bed, curled into herself, her hair stuck to her face with sweat, her hands clenching the sheets so hard her knuckles are white.

And her wing.

The decay has exploded across the membrane. Black lines everywhere, branching and spreading, crawling up toward her shoulder and disappearing under her gown. It wasn’t like this before. I checked on her two hours ago at the start of my shift, and it wasn’t anywhere near this bad.

How is it this bad?

I rush to her side, and my hands are hovering because I don’t know where to touch her. I don’t want to hurt her more. “Nella, I’m here.”

She screams again, and her whole body seizes up. When her eyes find mine, they’re wild with pain.

“Save it,” she wails. “Please. My wing. Try anything. I don’t care if it hurts, just save it. Please.”

I don’t know what to do.

“Help!” I scream toward the door. “Someone help!”

Nothing. No footsteps. No response.

I run to the doorway and scream down the corridor. “I need help! Room 503! Anyone!”

My voice echoes and dies. Where the fuck is everyone?

I run back to Nella.

She’s crying, these broken, sobbing sounds that get stuck in her throat. Her hand finds mine, and she squeezes so hard it hurts.

“It hurts. Maelis, it hurts so bad. Please. Please make it stop.”

I have to do something.

“I need to look at it, okay?” I try to sound calm, like my dad used to when patients were scared. “Hold still for me.”

She nods and bites her lip so hard it bleeds.

I grab her wing as gently as I can, and she screams. I don’t let go. I start peeling back the bandages, and my fingers come away wet with blood and something dark and thick that isn’t blood.

The wound underneath is worse than I thought possible.

The corruption has eaten holes through the membrane. I can see bone in places, gray-white poking through dead flesh. The veins are black and bulging, pulsing with something that isn’t life. And the lines are still moving, still spreading. I watch them creep another inch toward her spine while I stand here uselessly.

I fumble with my medical belt. My hands are shaking so bad I can barely open it. I have healing tincture. It’s not strong enough for this, but maybe it’ll slow it down and buy time.

I rip the stopper out with my teeth and dump the whole thing on the wound.

It does nothing.

“Please.” Nella’s voice is getting weaker. “I don’t want to die. I wanted to fly again. I was gonna go home and show my brother I was okay.”

I hear footsteps and spin around.