“It’s done,” I say, after many grueling hours. “When do we…?”
“We need to wait at least a few hours,” Meiner says. “The brain needs a bit of time to start healing over the device, fusing with her neurons. It may start fusing as quickly as within the hour, but I’d feel better waiting for at least two or three just to be safe.”
Jesus. I really hope Meiner is right. Rose is as good as dead if he’s wrong, and both of us will be fucked.
“We can’t wait too long,” I say. “I forged a bunch of transfer orders, but they’ll realize soon enough that Rose isn’t where she’s supposed to be and that I’m the one who has signed off on all the orders.”
“Don’t they trust you?” Meiner asks.
“No,” I say, grinning. “Probably because I pull shit like this too often.”
“Meiner,” I say, after several long moments of silence. “You probably want to get out of here.”
“Are you kidding?” he says. “I want to see this thing work. I want to see her wake up—”
“If you leave now,” I say, “and I get caught, I’ll be able to deny you had any involvement.”
“And if it works?” he says.
I lean into him. “I care about my patient, not getting the credit. You’ll get all the credit you deserve. I’ll kiss you on the fucking lips, man, if she wakes—”
“That won’t be necessary!” he says.
“I’m kidding,” I say. “But seriously, get out of here before we both get burned.”
He packs up his things hastily, then hands me a small remote control.
“This activates the device,” he says. “Flip this switch, then hold the button down for thirty seconds.”
“How do I know if it works?” I ask.
“There will be a blue flash when the jumpstart has been activated,” he says.
“And if it doesn’t work—?”
“It will work,” he says.
“If it doesn’t,” I say. “How many times should I try?”
“It’s on or it’s off,” he says. “It’s not actually like jumpstarting a car. Once it flashes blue, it’s on. If it doesn’t work...it doesn’t work. That’s it.”
“Great,” I say, pocketing the control.
“Thank you,” Meiner says. “And good luck. Call me as soon as she’s awake, and as soon as...the dust has settled.”
“Yeah,” I say. “You can count on it.”
The dust. That means Bell ripping two new holes in my ass. Even if Rose wakes up, it will take a lot of charm and sweet talk to keep my ass from getting shit-canned.
I sit down next to Rose, the two of us alone in the empty wing of the hospital. It starts to feel like we’re the only two people in the world. Even though I’ve never talked to her, it feels like she’d make good company if it was the end of the world.
And if things don’t go well with this, it will be the end of the world anyway – for both of us.
I check my watch. Another thirty minutes left until we hit the two-hour mark.
Then I hear a fist slamming on the operating room door.
I rush from Rose’s side toward the doorway. It’s a big, heavy double door with thick glass panes. I see a burly security guard and Dr. Bell standing on the other side of the glass. I can see her lips moving as the security guard fumbles through a jumble of keys on a keyring. No sound gets through the door, but I can tell she’s shouting my name.
I dash back toward Rose, and grab the wheeled metal stand that held all the surgery equipment.
I dump all the equipment onto the floor, the clashing echoing loudly in the silence, and rush with the stand in hand toward the door. The guard is still digging through the keys; no one is familiar with this new wing yet or knows which key goes to what door.
I jam the metal stand between the door handles, effectively barricading the door. Dr. Bell slams her fist up forcefully against the window, but I ignore her.
I hear the lock finally click, but the stand holds the doors shut tight. They won’t budge.
More security guards arrive and immediately start kicking the fucking doors in unison. The stand won’t hold much longer.
I check my watch. It’s been an hour and thirty-five minutes. If I risk waiting any longer, they might arrest me before I can hold the damn button down for thirty seconds. She’ll never get a chance. We’ll never know if the procedure was successful or not.
I need to wake her up now. If they disarm the device, she’ll never have a shot at life. I flip the switch and press the button, holding it down.
I turn my back to the door, hoping the stand will hold for at least that long. They would have to cut my hands and fingers off to get me to let go of the button at this point anyway.
I stand over Rose, smiling down at her. “You’re going to wake up soon, Rose. It’s not going to be the warmest welcome, I’m afraid. I’ll try to be there for you, though…”
Shit, it’s not like she can hear me yet. The device hasn’t even blinked yet.
Then it flashes blue. I watch Rose’s eyelids. My heart is thumping so hard it feels like it may burst right out of my chest.
I hear the incessant pounding on the double doors. I look over my shoulder to see if they are making progress. The metal stand is bending. I could barricade the thing with my back if I really wanted to, but that wouldn’t buy more than a few more seconds.
I sit down next to Rose again, ignoring the chaos on the other side of the door. “Wake up, Rose. Please, wake up.”
I take her hand and squeeze it gently. “You’ve gotta wake up, Rose. I know you’ve been sleeping a long time, but time is up. It’s time to get up.”
I suddenly hear shouting voices. I look frantically toward the door and see the stand is bent so badly that the doors are slowly starting to part. They’re already open almost a foot or two. Guards are going to squeeze in here any moment now, or the stand is going to slip out and they will all run in, shoulder to shoulder.
“Rose,” I say, shaking her gently by the shoulders. “Wake. Up.”
I look down at the device. It’s still flashing blue. It’s either on or it’s off. Once it flashes blue, it’s on. If it doesn’t work...it doesn’t work. That’s it.
Fuck.
“Dr. Prince!” a voice shouts out. “Step away from the patient!”
I look over again, and I see the skinniest one of the guards. The top half of his body has slid through the door, and he’s pulling at the bent metal stand as he’s squeezing the rest of his body through the gap in the doors. I see him reaching for his pepper spray.
Suddenly an urge spreads through my body, and my chest is filled with a strange and nearly frantic warmth.
“They call you Sleeping Beauty,” I say. “And I’m not exactly a prince—even though my last name is Prince…”
Fuck, this is so damn stupid. If I’m going to get arrested, and Rose is going to die, I might as well do it, though. What could it hurt?
I lean down and softly press my lips on top of hers. I’m surprised by how warm they are. I know she is just asleep, but I didn’t expect to feel such warmth, such life.