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Darby
We got to the hospital, and Douglass and I wheeled Mark to the morgue. We were met at the door by Holly. She wanted to examine his body to keep everything above board.
“I won’t cut him open. I promise,” she murmured. “Just pictures, counting the wounds, that sort of thing.”
I nodded, feeling hollow. “Take good care of him, Holly.”
She nodded. “I will. You guys holler when you need him, okay?”
“It’ll be a while.”
Holly cupped her hands on either side of Mark’s cloth-covered head. “You have to let go of him now, Darb.”
I forced my fingers to loosen on the stretcher then she rolled Mark to another work-room. They disappeared.
I straightened. Holly would do what she needed to do, and protect his body as much as she was able.
But for now I had work to do. I was already tired, and that wasn’t a good sign, but I’d do what I could.
I followed Daphne into the main morgue. An observation room to my right was filled. Word must have trickled in to my team members because half of Homicide was present. Anderson. Celia. Peter. Yu. And eight or ten more men I worked with daily.
With them were Ian and Amanda. Simon. Genova. And others I didn’t recognize. The captain and Mark’s mother and sisters hadn’t arrived yet. Considering I’d handle him last, it was probably best for them to wait elsewhere for the next several hours.
“Who do you want to help you?” Douglass asked, turning to me.
I stared at her. It hadn’t occurred to me I needed someone. Mark always did it.
“Celia,” I said after a long moment. “And Simon.”
She nodded. “Get ready. We’ll start when you are.”
My boss left me alone in the small vestibule where I’d pulled myself together so many times.
I knew what to do.
Doing it without my rock of support was hard.
I paced the little square of the room, swinging my arms around, taking deep breaths and expelling them as far as I could. I didn’t know what would happen in the next few hours. But I would try. It was all I could do.
Celia and Simon came into the room as I did windmills with my arms. They both stood quietly while I finished, hands clasped in front of them.
“What do you want us to do?” Simon asked finally.
“I need you to be there for me. Be ready to take care of me. Oh, and someone needs to time the resuscitations.”
“I can do it,” my dad said. “You ready?”
I took a deep breath. “Yes.”
I opened the door to the morgue, and we paraded in. Three tables were laid out. Winifred, sedated, was in the middle. It was the only way to be certain she wouldn’t attack me in the process, or go invisible, or morph out of her bonds. To her right was Prairie; the left, Richard. The dead had their arms and faces out. A chair was between Prairie and Winifred, and a team of doctors and nurses stood behind all three of the tables.
Four burly officers were scattered amongst them: Winifred’s detail.
I flexed my hands, interlocking my fingers, and pushed until my knuckles popped. I did a quick check to see if I had everything I needed. I lacked water, which I sent Celia for. When she’d returned, and I had sipped and set it under my chair, I sat down and looked at the clock. It was nearly ten. It had been six full days since Prairie had died. Anything after now would sap my strength if I could bring her back since at this point, it was a crap shoot. I didn’t know if I’d bring her back, but I set my doubts aside and put my hand on Winifred’s arm, then in Prairie’s hand.
Nothing happened for about forty-five seconds, which, being this late in the game, wasn’t wholly unexpected.
Slowly, I started to feel a trickle of energy eke its way from my left hand, across my shoulders, and down my right arm. It took its jolly sweet time getting there, but with everything, I was just relieved it had started.
Electricity built until it was a roar in my ears over a minute or so. I could hear my companions talking, but couldn’t understand them.
As slowly as it had begun, the electricity died down. My arms got weaker and weaker as it died until they fell to my sides. Simon told me the time, Celia pushed water into my hand and forced me to drink. The doctors and nurses checked over Prairie, who had started breathing midway through.
The wounds were still present, as was some of the damage to her lungs, so they rushed her off to an operating room.
I stayed out of their way and urged Celia and Simon to do the same.
“How long do you need?” Simon said, putting his arm around my shoulder.
I pressed my lips together and looked across at Winifred and Richard’s bodies. “At least thirty minutes, maybe an hour.”
He nodded, hugged me close, then left the room.
I closed my eyes. I had to rest. The last time I’d done two resuscitations back to back, it had drained me completely. Granted, I hadn’t been a part of the investigation and had only come in at the end because it was a serial killer case in Texas.
Celia cleared her throat. “Holly sent word you can use her office for recovery time.”
“That’d be great,” I said, relieved. She had a small sofa just my size.
Celia helped me up, and out to the offices, which were down the hall. I settled down on the couch, and dozed under her watchful gaze.
* * *
THEY GAVE ME AN HOUR.
When I returned to the morgue, those in the observation room looked a lot more tired, although I doubted they were quite as tired as I was.
I settled into the chair, which had been shifted so it was between Richard and Winifred. I glanced into the observation room and made the mistake of meeting Amanda’s eyes. She was nervous, crying, her hand covering her mouth. Genova had her arm around the woman, comforting her, but there was a sparkle of tears in her eyes too. Deep within me, I knew Genova loved Rick too, but in her own way.
Holly came in while I was getting situated. She crossed to me and crouched down, her hand on my arm. “I’ve looked over Mark,” she said. “Forty-two stab wounds.”
I nodded. “I counted thirty-five, but it’s good to know.”
“He has more than Prairie and Richard.”
I frowned. “Are you telling me this for a reason?”
“Theirs were clean. Some of his seemed like they’d started to heal. It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”
I swallowed. “I wonder why?”
She shook her head. “I collected some samples. I’m going to send them to the lab in the morning. Maybe something happened with him and Winifred.”
“Could be,” I said, swallowing down my apprehension. “Is he ready for resuscitation?”
She nodded. “I’ll bring him in when you’re ready.”
“Thank you for taking care of him.”
“Hey, he’s your partner and my friend. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She squeezed my arm, then got up. “Work your magic, Darb.”
I smiled, then focused inward. I felt the energy within me, bubbling quietly at the proximity to Winifred and Rick. It happened sometimes, not frequently, but occasionally. At least it meant he was ready. “Holly?”
“Hmmm?” She stood between Celia and Simon.
“What’s Winifred’s status? Is she doing okay?”
She glanced at the monitors. “She’s fine, as near as I can tell. Why? You think she may not be?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, nervous.”
“It’ll be fine. Do your thing.”
I sucked in a couple deep breaths again, then took Rick’s cold hand in mine. I glanced to where Winifred was positioned, then looked to Amanda in the observation room. She and Genova were still hugging, each consoling the other. I sent a message to Genova. Ready?
She nodded behind the glass and smoothed down Amanda’s hair.
Both calmed down, and Amanda met my eyes.
I touched Winifred’s arm, and it took a second, but the electricity fired.
Amanda stopped moving, as did I. She stared to my left at Rick.
The sizzle cruised across me much more rapidly than it had with Prairie.
Rick had been dead a shorter time than her.
I knew when Rick started breathing. Amanda looked to Genova and said something. They hugged and broke out in smiles.
The energy sapped me on its wild route through my body. I was maybe three-quarters of the way done, I thought, and could feel how raw I was, how empty. It had to end soon. I was too tired to hold my arms up any longer, even though the power could counteract my own desires and hold me in place.
The energy level came down, dropped to almost nothing, then held. Doctors rushed in, thinking I was done, but were thrown off. I couldn’t look at them directly, but I could hear the yelp of surprise as they tried to get in close.
My connection to Winifred dropped first, but the energy still flowed across me and into Rick. Another ten seconds, and I finally disconnected.
Okay, weird.
My head fell to my chest. If I thought I was tired after Prairie, I was utterly exhausted now.
There was a commotion as the doctors and nurses fluttered around Rick, yelling stats and orders before they finally started wheeling him out. I lifted my eyes enough to see Amanda and Genova following the throng of medical personnel.
Good. They both deserved to be there.
Celia lifted my hand and pressed my water into it. “You’re so pale, Darb.”
“Kinda goes along with the territory.” I managed a weak smile and had to use both hands to lift the cup to my lips. I over-tilted, and some poured down my shirt from both sides of my mouth. I winced as the cold water hit my warm body. As was normal, I was sweating and shivering at the same time. Traces of a headache crept into my awareness.
“How long do you need?” Simon said. “I think Mrs. Herman wants to know when you’re going to bring her son back.”
I forced my eyes up long enough to scan the crowd. Somewhere along the line, Mark’s mother and two of his sisters had shown up. Captain and Mrs. Moustakas stood with them, Vera steadying Mark’s mother, Marie. The captain had his arms around Melinda and Moira’s shoulders. Of course. He’d been Mark senior’s best friend. He knew the family well.
“I don’t know,” I said to my father. “I’ve never done three.”
“At least an hour?”
I nodded. “Definitely.”
“Do you need to lay down?” Celia asked.
“Yeah.” I took a deep breath and forced my face toward hers. “Can you tell everyone?”
“Sure.”
They helped me up, and I took a good look at Winifred. They had her on a slow-drip of IV sedatives. She should have been awake for all of these. To know what I was doing, that I was reversing what she’d done.
She was getting off too easy.
“Pumpkin, let’s go,” Simon said, his arm around my shoulders for support. “You need to rest.”
I let him lead me away, but my mind stayed there, even as I lay down and slept.