CHAPTER 508: THE LIGHT WE WAITED FOR (7)

The air in the room shifted as if it had been snuffed out temporarily, causing Rocky to close his eyes, take a deep breath, and then open them again to see Currey behind Ian.

Had he appeared out of nowhere? Rocky asked himself, looking genuinely perplexed as he gazed at Currey, who stood calmly near the corner, until something clicked in his mind.

Rocky flinched, his entire body snapping into alertness. "What the ... ?" He turned sharply toward the door. He’d been right next to it. He’d have seen someone come in. He would’ve heard something. But there’d been no sound. No footsteps. Just .... silence.

Rocky’s gaze darted between Currey and the spot where the man had materialized. That man had always been a little weird. Currey shook slightly, trying to understand what his eyes were telling him and also if he should trust his tired eyes.

Just as he was questioning this, he saw the second.

Shelby’s eyes ... just for a split second ... flashed. A strange, pulsing glow, like light moving behind glass. It was not a trick of the light, nor imagination. It was real. He saw it.

Rocky closed his eyes, rubbing them tiredly.

His breath caught. "Okay. Yeah. I think you need sleep," he muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes so hard that they watered, while trying to dismiss what his mind was screaming at him.

Maybe it was the stress. Perhaps it was the exhaustion. He was clearly cracking. How can his sister’s eyes glow? Hahaa! That was ridiculous! As ridiculous as a man manifesting out of nowhere.

Still unsettled, Rocky decided to shift the conversation ... anything to ground himself, for Shelby would never let the baby issue go... and he knew that he brought it up on himself... but Rocky found nothing wrong with the precious ’love bud’ between him and Ava.

"So..." he started carefully, turning back to Shelby. "Where were you all that time after the accident? After you disappeared?" His voice was quieter now, more wary than accusing. "There were no leads. Nothing. It was as if you just disappeared.... If you were alive and well, why didn’t you send a message? S-"

Though Shelby understood his concerns, she saw through his attempt to divert the topic, and she wasn’t done with the earlier topic. Not by a long shot. She took in Currey from the corner of her eyes and sent a silent reprimand, but turned to Rocky, arms crossed gently over her midsection, eyes now dimmed but still sharp.

"Nice try," she said coolly, but still smiling. "But we’re not skipping past the part where you decided to skip condoms and responsibility."

He winced. "Sissy... I am not about to talk about condoms with you! Eeewwww!"

"You should have thought of that before...."

"Sissy, have you forgotten your friend?"

"Oh..."

Shelby echoed, then turned to look at Ava,

’If only I can help her....’

"If only I had the power to help her," she mumbled to herself, and the thought struck her like lightning .... unbidden, desperate, burning. It was as if Shelby had stumbled on a useful memory that she could not quite grasp. Though she did not, her body did. In a bizarre series of events, her eyes began to glaze over as the sensation overtook her.

A shimmer, like light filtering through mist, flickered in her gaze. Then it grew brighter and more intense until the colour drained completely from her irises, leaving them glowing with pure, blinding light. Though Rocky had never seen this, Ian had.

"Si-" Rocky started to say but then,

"What the heck?!" Rocky gasped, stumbling backwards.

His back hit nothing, and he fell over, gaped, wide-eyed, unable to look away. This wasn’t exhaustion. This wasn’t stress. He was seeing this. It was a beautiful and scary sight at the same time.

"S-issy-"

But she didn’t hear him. Shelby didn’t see anything but the bed. Her body moved on its own, calm and sure, as if guided by something far older, far deeper than herself.

She reached Ava and took her hand, clasping it tightly, reverently.

And then, what Rocky didn’t see was the light. A soft pulse of radiance bloomed between their intertwined fingers, like a heartbeat made of starlight, pulsing, dimming and shining brighter as if echoing their breathing. It spread upward in a slow wave that shimmered beneath the skin. But Rocky only saw the abnormal Shelby hold onto Ava, and he was truly baffled and even more shocked.

Suddenly, the silence was shattered.

Machines jerked to life all at once ..... beep, beep, hiss, thrum ... as if the room itself had awakened from a long, forced slumber. The sudden loudness startled Rocky out of his daze, dragging his eyes to the monitors.

And then—

A long, shrill beep. That single, soul-piercing tone. That flatline that everyone dreaded and hated! His heart sank like a stone. There was no way Shelby had done anything to harm Ava. She. Had just held her hand, so what was going on?

"No," he whispered, getting up and stumbling toward the bed. "No, no, no..."

But Shelby didn’t flinch. Her hand stayed locked with her friend’s. Her glowing eyes remained unfocused... as if she were still somewhere else.

Somewhere beyond what could be seen. The problem was why she was not shaken by the commotion.

Ian looked over just as Shelby had started towards the bed, and he frowned. It took only a brief moment before a small smile tugged at his lips.

Currey stepped forward and handed him a small package,

"Your majesty... here it is,"

"I didn’t know that my Elfin was this amazing! Looks like we might not need this, so hang onto it for now...."

Just then, the door burst open with a bang, and a flood of white coats and blue scrubs poured in .... doctors, nurses, two others. The sound of urgent footsteps and clipped medical jargon filled the room.

"What happened?!!!"

They were so much in a hurry that they did not pay much attention to the people in the room.

"We got a pulse spike and sudden activity on the monitors ...prep for cardiac support ...."

"The patient seizing!"

"Where’s the defib?!"

But before any of them could reach the bed, a single hand lifted, calm, firm, and entirely in control.

It was the Currey, and he had ensured that they had barely made it to the middle of the room.

He stood in front of the chaos like a wall, eyes steady, body relaxed.

"Stand down," he said, voice low but commanding.

Several staff members skidded to a halt, looking at each other in confusion.

One of the doctors frowned, recognition dawning. "Wait, you’re the one who assigned us this case. You said she was critical, that we were to respond instantly to any changes in her vitals .... "

"And you did," Currey said, unbothered. "You’ve done well. But your role in this moment is over."

Murmurs of protest rippled through the group.

"Is that Ian Thornston?" one murmured, drawing their attention to the giant in the middle of the room, whose eyes were trained on the dainty woman by the bed.

"With all due respect," a nurse said, "the flatlined. We have to stabilize her .... this isn’t protocol ...."

On the side, Rocky started to suspect that Shelby had a hand in it, for his sister was unusual at that time. She was ethereal, eyes glowing and fixed on Ava.

As a child, Rocky had seen that phenomenon where Shelby could not be touched by any male, and in that moment, he could not help but think if Shelby was really a witch as his dad had once said.

But he wanted his Ava! Despite this, Rocky made no move to approach Shelby. His mind screamed at him, but he trusted his sister to a very large extent and knew without a doubt that she would never harm him nor Ava. The reality was proving wrong, but he still did not budge!

"No..." he whispered again, his voice cracking as he stumbled forward, the shrill, unwavering beeeeeep slicing through the air like a blade.

His knees buckled as he made it to the bedside.

"No .... please, please don’t do this," he choked, grabbing Ava’s other hand, the one not clasped by Shelby. It was cold. Too still. The colour in Ava’s face was fading fast.

Tears streamed down his cheeks unchecked as he hunched over her, forehead pressing to Ava’s arm. "You can’t do this to me. You can’t. We didn’t even get a chance ...we didn’t even start, and you’re already..."

Rocky’s chest heaved, a sound caught somewhere between a sob and a scream swelling in his throat. "I was supposed to protect you. I was supposed to be there when you needed me. I loved you. I love you." His voice shook with every word. "You don’t get to leave now .... not like this, not when there’s a baby ... our baby .... growing, needing you, needing us both."

The machines still screamed. Still blared that cold, cruel sound. His mind screamed at him that it was Shelby, but his rational medical side dismissed it at the same time

He reached for Ava’s face, cradling her cheek with trembling fingers. "Come back," he whispered hoarsely. "Please, come back. Please.... don’t go."

On the opposite side, Shelby let go and stood still, her glowing eyes unblinking, unmoving ... like she was caught in another realm.

And the silence in the room, under the noise, under the chaos, was the sound of a man breaking. It was the sound of lost hope, helplessness, and anger from some of the staff! Rocky saw his future falling apart before his eyes. Without Ava, the baby was not strong enough to survive on its own... losing both of them was too cruel!

And just as his sobs began to overtake him....

The sound changed, and Shelby slumped back down like a ragdoll.

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