" We are not invincible. We might think we are, but it is nothing more than a well-crafted lie that we tell ourselves and others."
I'm not surprised when I walk into the tear-drop-shaped room and indeed it's full of people. There was food on the table and the smell of coffee wafted through the air, pervading my senses I drifted towards the coffee pot, hypnotised.
Graham laughs, " I know that feeling sister, " He sighs, when I lift the cup to my lips and take a decent gulp.
The simple pleasures of life can bring so much joy.
And in that moment, I realised that for me is coffee.
" How are you feeling?" Emmeline asks and I finally lift my nose from the coffee cup. I had been inhaling the scent, just in case I ever happen to end up with crazy cult people, chained to a floor.
" Better, " I keep my reply short, because, well I'm pretty sure that they have better things to do than listen to my crazy ramblings.
Emmeline nods, and I have a look around the table and decide to slip onto a chair.
I realise that there are over a dozen people in the room all staring at me. Uncomfortable, I hide behind the coffee cup, mostly because that is all I have to protect myself from their inquisitive eyes. That and a bathrobe.
" Since you're feeling better. I'll make some quick introductions," Emmeline licks her lips and readjusts her chair. Her awfully squirmish behaviour is unusual for a woman who exudes confidence through every pore. She is either new to the job or out of touch. Something doesn't fit.
" I'll start from your left. Heath, Charlie, Jocelyn, " Jocelyn clears her throat and Emmeline quiets down.
" It's actually Jacqueline," She corrects and Emmeline nods.
" My apologies. It's taking a little bit of getting used to, " Emmeline abashedly says, but carries on unfettered," You already know Graham and Shay, " Shay lifts his head from where he has perched himself, his ears twitch, and in the next second he blinks out of sight.
In unison, we all stand, and I stop breathing. I'm pretty sure everyone else has too.
After a few minutes we look at each other, with furrowed brows and I swallow the knot lodged in my throat. To say the least, I'm hopeful and fervently praying that Shay will bring back Mason.
The room lights up with a blinding light and Shay appears along with someone covered in blood, head to toe.
" Fuck," That someone breathes and I'm pretty sure my heart jumped into my throat and then dropped into my stomach in the time I took to take a breath.
I can't tell if it's him, but I'm hoping with every fibre of my being that it is him.
The man sways on his feet and collapses to the floor with a loud thunk.
My feet gather a mind of their own, and the next thing I know, I'm kneeling on the floor next to the man.
" Lily," Emmeline warns, and I couldn't give a toss about her warning.
I take in his bloodied features and that is all I need, to know that the man on the floor is Mason.
" Get Philip, now, " I hear Aaron bark, but I'm too engrossed in examining Mason to care what happens around me.
I touch everywhere, trying to find the source of the blood. Help. He needs help,
" It's coming," Someone answers and I realise that I must've spoken out loud, not inside my head.
" Mason," I call for him, and he groans in response. He looks like he has been dipped in blood, there isn't an inch of clean skin on him. And I can't tell how much is his and how much belongs to someone else.
" Miss, " Someone calls, " I need to stop the bleeding," The man says and I release Mason from my arms. In my frenzy, I must've hugged him without even realising. He was all I had left. He couldn't die. Not him.
Pulling away, I watch Philip, methodically check Mason trying to find the source of the bleeding. Something, I failed.
" Heath," Philips calls and Heath kneels at Mason's feet while I just watch him cling to his life. And all I want to do is to take his place. I'm drowning in a cocktail of emotions and I find it impossible to breathe. Loss, desperation, grief they all threaten to take what little I have left. He doesn't move, his breathing is barely shallow. He is fading, quickly. And there isn't a damn thing I can do.
Philip locates several deep wounds and begins bandaging them, while Heath has his hands full on his end as well.
I blink a few times, trying to clear my head, grab a gauze and begin applying pressure on the wound on his stomach that oozes blood each time Mason takes a breath.
Philip wordlessly hands me one of the gauze and points to another gash close to his shoulder while he is mending the one on his side, close to his heart.
" Get a blood transfusion going," Philips says and Emmelie appears and begins fumbling through the medical bag and brings out a blood bag and a transfusion line.
I'm desperate, and I can't think straight.
Everyone has fallen silent, watching and for me, time slows. I don't dare to speak, and I take a breath here and there just to keep conscious.
Philip goes on and patches the wound on Mason's neck and I don't dare to look further down. I'm terrified of what I might see.
After what felt like forever, Philip wordlessly stands up and wipes his hands on his white coat. And I realise that he is a doctor or at least he has medical training.
" I've done all I can do to stop the bleeding, " I take my eyes off Mason to look at him, while he looks back at Mason with furrowed brows.
" Graham. Infirmary," Philip says and I hear Graham's footsteps receding.
" How long until we know?" Emmeline addresses the elephant in the room.
" Will know by morning," Philip answers with a deep frown. And I don't think I can wait that long. I don't think I'll be able to breathe knowing Mason is fighting for his life. I've always seen him as this unmovable, untouchable person, who could survive everything and anything. Seeing him lying on the floor, helpless made me realise how wrong I was.
We were battered, bruised, broken in every possible sense of those words and I didn't see a future where we might go back to that place when we weren't.