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“Better now.” He looked up at me. “And you?”
“Better now.”
He got to his feet and embraced me. “Thank you.”
I didn’t need to ask what for. “Come on. Let’s get back to the others.”
We stepped out to see that Sorsha had been loaded onto the stretcher.
“Good luck with—” I stopped at the sound of running footsteps.
“Angel. Brian!” Dr. Nikas raced around the corner, Portia in his arms. “We have to get to the Tribe lab immediately!”
Panic shot through me. “Is something wrong with Portia?”
Dr. Nikas came to a stop. “What? No. She is yet unable to walk, and carrying her seemed most expedient. We must return to the Tribe lab to finish the cure.”
“You found it?! You figured it out?”
“I believe I have,” he said. “Come. There is no time to waste.”
“Hold on a second,” Gallagher said. “We need to take statements—ow!” He glared down at Sorsha who had pinched his arm—hard.
“Let them go,” she said. Firmly. “There are lives at stake. I’ll get the statements later.”
I breathed a thanks to Sorsha. Dr. Nikas took off at a run for the roof stairs with Brian on his heels and me bringing up the rear.
“What about Pierce?” I called as we bounded up the steps.
“He and Reg are staying here for the cleanup,” Dr. Nikas said.
The helicopter waited on the roof, ready to go. At its door, Dr. Nikas thrust Portia into Brian’s arms, then dug a syringe from his lab coat and jabbed it into my arm, straight through my shirt.
“Ow!” I said, even as he retrieved Portia from Brian and helped her into the chopper.
I climbed in after and got myself buckled in. I started to ask Dr. Nikas what he’d injected, but he was already deeply absorbed and furiously scribbling notes onto one of Kristi’s legal pads. He didn’t even look up when Brian buckled him and Portia in. As for Portia, she gave Brian a sleepy smile of thanks then leaned her head against Dr. Nikas’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
Without pausing his writing, Dr. Nikas took her hand in his and cradled
it close, a move so casually tender that I had to look away and hide my grin.
A yawn caught me by surprise, followed by a serious case of the sleepies. Maybe the stay-awake mod was wearing off? Or maybe it was whatever Dr. Nikas had jabbed me with. Either way, as the rotors wound up, my eyes closed.
• • •
“Angel. Angel!” I woke to Dr. Nikas shaking my shoulders. “Come. There is no time to waste.” His voice sounded distant. Muffled. My head pounded as if I’d been drinking all night, back in my pre-zombie days. “Brian, help her, please.”
Dr. Nikas carried Portia out. I fumbled with the seat harness only to have Brian unbuckle it for me. Somehow he managed to get me out of the helicopter without my weirdly numb legs giving way.
“Wha tha fuck iss wrong with me?” I slurred.
“It’s from the injection he gave you,” Brian said. “That’s all I know.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and fast-walked us toward the door. With the movement, an all-body tingle gradually replaced the numbness.
Jacques and Philip were waiting for us by the entrance. Dr. Nikas passed Portia to Philip then gestured for me to hurry after him.
It was a good thing the tingle was turning into an electric rush—like a super shot of combat mod—because Dr. Nikas sprinted into the building with Jacques. I disengaged from Brian and ran after them to the medical wing. Toward Nick’s room, I realized as we turned onto his corridor.
Dr. Nikas burst into his room, with me a second behind him.
