Crash’s muscles burned from carrying several heavy bags all morning, but his bags weighed almost nothing compared to Noah’s. It was only thanks to his amazing strength that they’d made it this far with everything. That guy could carry five times what anyone else could, but they had to be careful not to let anyone here know that.
Luckily, several men ran out from the compound to help them unload it all.
“Is this all medicine?” a guy named Quintin asked, his eyes wide as he took in the defibrillator and eight packed bags full of medical supplies and IV’s.
“Most of it,” Parrish said. “We grabbed as much as we could carry.”
“The antibiotics are in my bag,” Crash said. “I’ll head straight to Stephen’s room. You guys can take the rest of that to Tank and see where he wants to store it all.”
“I’ll join you as soon as I drop this stuff off,” Noah whispered as they crossed paths. “Maybe I can enhance the healing without anyone noticing now that we have the meds.”
Crash raced through the halls as fast as he could. Everyone he passed moved out of his way with a look of shock and admiration. He got the distinct feeling no one had expected them to come back.
Ever.
And could he really blame them? To everyone else, they just looked like a group of regular teenagers—mostly girls—heading into a place groups of armed men hadn’t been able to clear.
Crash smiled to himself.
They obviously didn’t know the strength of the girls he had with him.
He finally pushed through to the area Tank and his wife, Kaya, had set up as the medical wing of the compound.
Stephen’s wife, Cheryl, was standing in the hallway talking to Kaya. She was crying softly.
A terrible knot formed in Crash’s stomach.
We can’t be too late.
“I’ve got it,” he shouted. “I’ve got the medicine. Is he—?”
Cheryl’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell open in a sob.
“Oh, thank God,” she said. “Maybe there’s still a chance.”
Her hands trembled as she pressed them against her growing belly. Kaya took the bag of penicillin from Crash’s outstretched hands and ran into the makeshift hospital room.
Crash followed her in and stood with Stephen’s wife at the end of the bed as Kaya inserted the IV and got everything flowing. The dude did not look good, but these meds were his best chance now.
Unless Noah was right.
Now that they had medication flowing through this guy’s veins, a little extra healing might just be chalked up to the miracle of pharmaceuticals.
He kept one eye on the hallway, hoping to see Noah turn the corner. Unfortunately, Kaya seemed to want them all out of the room to give Stephen some space and extra rest.
Crash hated to point out that the guy was so out of it, he likely had no idea if anyone was in the room or not. A few extra visitors weren’t going to disturb him, but Kaya wanted the room clear, which meant they had to go.
She was pretty much the boss around here.
They were all being ushered into the hallway when Noah finally appeared around the corner.
His eyes carried the question Crash had asked when he first got here.
“He’s still alive,” Crash said, meeting his friend’s eyes. “Barely. He’s got the IV going, but I don’t know if it’s going to be enough.”
“All we can do now is wait and see,” Kaya said. “Hopefully you all made it back just in time.”
Noah and Crash shared a look. They needed to get Noah back in that room.
“I’d like to see him, if I could,” Noah said, slightly stumbling over his words. “I know he needs his rest, and I promise I won’t be in there long, but I just want to check on him.”
Kaya’s brow came together in a frown. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s been through so much.”
Cheryl shook her head.
“For goodness sake, Kaya, look at them. They’re exhausted. They obviously risked everything to get back here as fast as they could. The least we can do is honor a small request to see him.”
She placed a hand on Noah’s arm.
“I know you guys haven’t been here long enough to get to know Stephen, but the fact that you all agreed to do this just to help him means the world to me. If you want to see him and say a few words, I think he would appreciate it.”
Crash let out a nervous breath and nodded to Noah, opening the door and motioning for him to go inside.
Luckily, the two women stayed out in the hallway while Noah went over to the bed. With a quick look at Crash, Noah placed his hands on Stephen’s arm and closed his eyes.
He half expected to see a glow of blue light surround the place where Noah touched the guy, but the only light in the room was coming from a heart monitor beside the bed. Still, Crash could feel the energy shift in the room.
He just hoped it was enough to save the guy.
It was funny how much it suddenly mattered to him that this stranger pulled through. They didn’t really know him at all, but the fact that this guy had a baby on the way made Crash anxious to see him live.
Enough families had been destroyed or torn apart during the past few months. It would be nice to see a family growing despite the destruction everywhere else. The idea of it filled him with hope.
After a couple minutes, though, Noah pulled away, slightly out of breath. Crash searched his eyes, but Noah just shrugged. He didn’t seem to know if it had even worked.
Crash nodded toward the door. They had done everything they could now, and Kaya was right. Nothing left but to wait.
Tank was waiting in the hallway with Kaya. He clapped a hand on Crash’s shoulder as they left the room.
“I can’t thank you enough,
