Page 215 of Knox Academy Omnibus
“I’m his twin!” Slate yells.
“And I’m the oldest,” Sawyer overrules, climbing into the back of the ambulance without hesitation. “Someone find Dad, tell him…”
“Is he dead?” I whisper. The paramedics exchange glances.
“No. But he’s in a critical condition and we really need to get moving. It’s going to be touch and go, and every second will count now.”
“Will he be okay?”
“If he survives the trip to the hospital, he’ll have a fighting chance. Now, you need to excuse us…”
They whirl into action, suddenly moving with a lot more speed and purpose than they did when they first arrived. I don’t know how long it’s taken; I feel like I’m wading through treacle and time is dragging torturously slowly. Oh god, please let him be okay.
Don’t fucking die on me, On. Not when I didn’t tell you that I forgive you. Not when I didn’t get to say I lo?—
From a great distance I hear the sound of doors slamming, an engine roaring to life, the blast of sirens. Everything in the vicinity is lit up in an eerie shade of blue from the warning beacon. And then they’re gone.
I crawl over to where Onyx was laid. The grass is stained, dark and wet with his blood. So much blood. I look down at my hands, surprised when they come away bright red; the blood on the grass is so thick it looks black.
“Amelie, we need to go.”
I don’t answer.
I can’t.
I know we need to race to the hospital, chase after the ambulance, but I can’t get my brain to communicate that urgent message with my limbs. I feel like I’m frozen, stuck in limbo, paralysed with the fear of waiting to hear the worst.
“She’s not moving.”
“Well, just pick her up!”
“She’s covered in blood.”
“So?”
“I don’t want to hurt her.”
“For fuck’s sake! I’ll do it. You grab the car.”
Rough hands grab me from behind and I’m jerked to my feet. Once I’m standing, someone calls my name and shakes me roughly.
I can’t respond. It’s like I’m stuck underwater or trapped behind soundproof glass. I’m screaming for help still, but no one can hear me.
A loud crack fills the air and my head snaps to one side with the force of the blow delivered to my cheek. I don’t even react to that. I’m forcefully shoved in the direction of the car and I stumble. My legs won’t work. I blink sluggishly and in the two years it feels like my eyes are closed for, Onyx’s death replays in my mind over and over.
“Fuck you, Amelie!” Kalen snarls, shaking me again. “He’s not dead!”
“Guys! Get in the mother fucking car or so help me God, I’ll leave the pair of you here!” Slate pounds the steering wheel impatiently.
I blink blankly at the pair of them. I can’t get in that car. I can’t be around Slate right now, staring at the whole face of the broken twin I should have loved harder. I’m not going all the way to the hospital to hear that we were too late, that I failed.
I take a shaky step backwards.
“Amelie?” Slate calls. “What are you doing? Get in the car!”
I take another step and Kalen’s head whips between Slate and I, unsure what to do.
“Grab her!” Slate demands.
“Fuck off!” I scream, turning and bolting as if it were my life on the line and not Onyx’s. With every pounding footfall through the dark, I repeat my new mantra: “Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off!”
