DINNER & DIATRIBES. . . JACKSON AVERY!

chapter fifteen: sanctuary & death and all his friends

When she's able to step away about ten minutes later, the man is nowhere to be seen.

✦

Briar is pretty sure something in her dies the second time she knocks into someone, fear lodging itself into her diaphragm and choking her. They're on lockdown, and she shouldn't be moving, but something inside of her broke when she heard the gunshots and realized that she doesn't know where her people are–doesn't know where Alex is.

Crying makes her open her eyes, relief flooding through her at the sight of Dr. Barlowe. She's alive. She's alive and . . . covered in blood.

"Are you hurt?" Briar whispers, frantically patting her down while the girl shakes underneath her hands. None of the blood appears to be hers, but Briar doesn't completely trust her vision right now. "Dr. Barlowe? Are you hurt? Marissa?"

"N–no." She whispers, her eyes remaining shut. Shock, some distant part of Briar recognizes, diagnosing even during a crisis. "No. V–Vivian. He–he shot Vivi."

"Is she alive?" Briar asks, fighting past the lump in her throat. Vivian is so kind. This can't be happening. Not here, not now. "Is all of this blood hers?"

"She–She bled so much," Marissa sobs out, and Briar pulls her in for a hug, not paying attention to the transfer of blood to her scrubs. "He sh–shot her in the head."

This is a nightmare. Briar finds herself feeling completely lost, looking around the abandoned hallway. The most critical patients were taken to the O.R. before lockdown; the people who came in for lacerations and other minor concerns must've been evacuated quickly. Briar really regrets her inconveniently timed bathroom break now, because not knowing the status of anyone except for Marissa is stressing her out.

"I need to go find Alex." She breathes out, making Marissa tense up even further in her arms at the thought of moving. "We need to hide you. Um. Okay, this is what we're going to do. We are going to get you on a bed and cover you up as if you're dead. You're not going to move. If you hear anyone coming, I need you to stop breathing and play dead. Okay?"

"I–I can't." Marissa breathes out. Briar blinks away tears at how scared she sounds. She seems so young.

"You can. You have to." She tells her, being brutally honest, and then pulls her along into a room. "Come on, get up here. We're going to make this quick."

"I'm scared." She whispers back, and Briar can't resist taking a moment to tuck some of her hair behind her ears. She hopes that it gives her a small amount of comfort, since it's really all she can do at the moment.

"I am too." She whispers, although she's more scared for all the people she's come to love and respect. It's such a long list, and she doesn't know where any of them are, or what their conditions are. They could be dead. Alex could be dead, and she doesn't know what she would do in that case. "Th–this is terrifying, but Marissa, I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?"

When she slowly nods her head, Briar gives her a smile, hoping it isn't as weak as she feels.

"Okay, t–that's good. I'm going to cover you up now. And I–I'll come back for you, okay? I'll come back. But I don't want you to move, or speak, or breathe for anyone else that comes in here. Okay? Um, we should have a code word . . ."

"Oblique." Marissa murmurs, startling a laugh out of Briar at the memory of their first meeting. She quickly slaps a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening, and the two of them freeze for a long moment before Briar grabs the sheet and pulls it over the intern she's become so attached to.

"Oblique. Memorize it." She whispers, keeping one eye on the closed door, hating that she doesn't know what's on the other side. "Alright. See you on the other side, Dr. Barlowe."