Page 18 of Nineteen Eighty

“That’s very charitable, sweetheart.”

She clapped her hands together, his incredible athletic prowess already apparently forgotten. “I’m ready!”

Augustus gave the ball a light kick, and it rolled, a little too neatly, right into her foot. She blinked indulgently, and then lifted the ball, backing up to return the serve to him.

Ana set the ball on the grass and ran back ten or so paces. With a sprint that made Augustus more than a little nervous for the impact coming, she reeled herself in and launched a kick so spectacular that the ball curved up and outward, sailing right over his head. Her eyes widened. His did the same. And then it disappeared behind a wall of foliage, beyond the yard.

Ana ran off after it, Augustus yelling at her to slow down, that he’d go get it. But his little determined princess either didn’t hear, or didn’t care, because she, too, disappeared beyond the safety of their subtropical kingdom.

Augustus heard the screech of tires. The impact. The screech again as that same car peeled off and away, leaving the broken body of Anasofiya Deschanel lying on the pavement.

The neighbor directly across from him on Eighth ran out just as Augustus dropped to his knees beside his daughter. There was already so much blood. Stars swam in his eyes, and the reality of the moment both hit him and slipped away, leaving him wavering between two threads of time. The woman ran back in her house, and when she returned, she had a phone pressed to her ear, tugging on the cord. She was screaming to get an ambulance, now, now now!

Augustus was afraid to check. Terrified that if he put his ear to her chest and heard nothing he would be swallowed whole by the understanding that the last thing he ever said to her was no.

But then she was pressed to his chest and he was carrying her, her little limbs falling in ways they should not, but she was breathing. She was alive, and he couldn’t wait for the goddamn ambulance, he needed to save his daughter now.

Not like Ekatherina. Not like her. Nothing like her. He chanted these words with every step, which turned quickly to a sprint as he made it to his car, settling her gently into the passenger seat. It was all wrong, the way she slumped to the side, the way her arms folded. No, you can’t think of it now. Right now, you have something bigger to think about.

The ambulance pulled in behind him as he raced to Touro, creating a break in the traffic to allow for him to speed through without hindrance. As he skidded to a stop in the emergency pullout, the first responders were there before he could open her door, already working to save her life.

He ran behind her, catching glimpses of her bloody face on the gurney as they wheeled her into emergency.

It was an image he’d see burned in his nightmares for the rest of his life, no matter how this day turned out.

We can’t yet know the extent of the damage.

Tell me anyway.

Mr. Deschanel—

Tell me.

She has broken bones in every major part of her body. We can’t know the exact number without causing her further harm. The internal bleeding has slowed since we went in and repaired her spleen, but she wasn’t strong enough for us to stay in long. Even if she… even if she survives the night, she has a very long road ahead. The rest of her life will be impacted.

Not if. When.

Mr. Deschanel… Augustus… I don’t want to give you false hopes. It won’t help you, when the time comes, if the time comes, to make a difficult decision.

There will be no difficult decisions. Only a change in doctors if you can’t handle her care.

Four hours. Four hours had passed, and the adrenaline had finally slowed. Augustus did everything he could not to replay the incident, because that would only send his anger into a pique that wouldn’t help Ana. He needed as clear a head as he could find, if he was to save her.

Healers. There had to be others. But who could he ask?

He made a list of those he knew to be on the Collective Council. He was surprised to remember, given his disinterest in the whole thing. But his memory was his crown jewel.

Pansy.

Kitty.

Luther. On vacation.

Jasper.

Evangeline. Overseas.

Colleen. Camping.