Kook princess II Kiara Carrera

Chapter 18

*TW MENTIONS OF RAPE*

Pope rolls off the cushions and we all move back as the cross crashes to the ground. JJ is immediately down on his knees beside him. "Pope, you good?" Pope nods. "Yeah, I'm good. Just give me, like, one second to, like, catch my breath." JJ rubs Pope's shoulder before standing up with John B to look at the cross. John B smiles. "You did it, Pope." JJ runs his hand on the cross. "Pope, she's.. she's beautiful." Sarah nods. "I've never seen anything like it." "Detail's insane. 

John B bends down looking at something.  "Well, here's why Limbrey wanted  that key so bad." "Whoa. Good find. How much do you think she's worth?  Like, if we melted her old bones down, dude, I'm talking high billions." John B looks at JJ. "This belongs in a--" JJ shakes his head. "No!" "This belongs in a museum." "What? So no one sees her?" "In a museum where everyone sees it." "Are you kidding?" 

"Hey!" We all turn to Pope. "It's my ancestors' cross!" JJ nods. "Right, okay. All right, all right. Well..." Pope sighs. "This is bigger than money, and the world's gotta know the truth." "Yes. And if we don't get this shit outta here before Limbrey gets here, nobody's gonna know. So saddle up."  We all nod at John B's words before going to carry the cross out. It's heavy as shit, I'll tell you that. We go a little way before Pope decides he can't. He drops his side causing the whole thing to fall. JJ looks at Sarah. "Damn it, yo! You almost dropped it on my foot!" "'Cause I'm the only one lifting it!" 

I turn to Pope and he doesn't look that good. I kneel beside me. "Pope, are you okay?" He shakes his head. "No, no, no." He's got tears in his eyes. "Guys." They keep trying to figure out ways to get the cross away. "Guys!" They turn to me. "Something's wrong with Pope." He seems like he's suffocating. "He's having an allergic reaction." Suddenly his eyes close and he's out. We swear as we help him up. JJ goes to try to hide the cross and we carry him to the truck. Kie, John B and Sarah sit at the back with him. JJ knows where to go so I hand him the keys and I sit in the front. 

He keeps looking back at Pope in panic. I look at him. "If you focus on the road, J. He'll be fine." He nods turning his eyes to the road. We go to his cousin Ricky's house and he won't let us in cause he's mad at JJ. We all yell at Ricky to open the door. Finally, he obliges and his eyes widen when he sees the state of Pope. He sighs before opening the door and letting us in. I look at him. "Hi, nice to meet you. Sorry." I clear all the stuff on the table and we lay Pope on it. Ricky looks at us. 

"What's wrong with him?" "Wasps!" "Wasps?" Sarah nods. "Yes!" "Is he allergic to wasps?" Kiara sighs. "Clearly." He nods. "Okay." John B chimes in. "It was a beehive worth of wasps." "What's his name?" I look at him. "Pope." "Hey, Pope? Hang tight. I gotta get my kit." JJ looks panicked, so I grab his hand. "Hey, calm down. Go help him." He nods. "I'll go help." I nod. "Go help." He runs off and Sarah looks at me with a questioning look in her eye. I turn away from her. Kiara holds Pope's face gently. 

Now is not the time for jealous feelings, so I push them aside and go help Ricky and JJ look for the duffel bag kit. I go into the garage and I find it. I run out. "Is this it?" Ricky sighs in relief. "Thank god. Thank you!" He runs to Pope with the kit. JJ looks at him. "What do we do now?" "You don't do anything 'cause you're not a paramedic.  Okay. Hey, Pope. How you doing, man? You look like shit." He fills his needle with some medicine. "Here's the thing. This is a pediatric dose of epinephrine." I look at him. "Is that gonna be enough?"  Kiara sighs. "He's not a kid."

Ricky looks at us. "It is ten times a normal dose. So if... if it doesn't stop his heart, it'll help him. But I gotta use the whole thing, or it won't work. And I'm not going down if he dies." He turns to JJ. "Okay! Fine! Do it! Hit it! Come on, hurry up!" He injects the needle into Pope. JJ turns away. "I hate needles, man." Ricky nods. "Okay, um, that's it." I look at him. "Now what?" "Now we wait." We stand in silence for a few minutes.