Free The Becoming by Jessica Meigs Page B

dusty sand-choked streets and avenues of Israel during her service: as if something were going to race from the darkness and attack her. She tried to shake it off and finally looked to Lisa again. “What happened?”
    Lisa pressed her hand to her wound again, fingers digging into the fabric of her scrubs hard enough that her fingertips turned white. She opened her mouth to answer Cade’s question, but Ethan spoke up before she could say anything.
    “Have you seen Anna?” The urgency in Ethan’s voice drew Cade’s attention to her friend once more.
    Lisa shook her head, and tears filled her brown eyes. “We were in the ER with a patient,” she explained. Her voice trembled with emotion. “I think he was from one of the riots. He was going absolutely ballistic. Anna was trying to sedate him, and the man attacked her. Shit hit the fan, and one of the doctors got me out of there when the fire broke out. Anna and I got separated. The last time I saw her, she was running for the main oxygen shut-off panel. When I got outside, someone grabbed me, but I fought him off and ran.”
    The anguish in Ethan’s green eyes seemed intensified in the light of the fire. Cade could see it easily from her spot nearby, and the look nearly broke her heart. Ethan drew in a slow breath and let it out before he asked, “She’s…?”
    “Anna never came out, as far as I could see. I’m sorry,” Lisa said softly.
    Cade saw the exact moment Ethan fell apart, and it was one of the worst things she’d ever witnessed. Ethan’s face crumpled and his shoulders sagged; he lifted a hand to press it to his eyes. Cade put a supportive arm around him. She motioned to Lisa as she squeezed Ethan, taking charge of their planned escape as she turned her friend and nudged him toward the SUV. “Come on, come with us,” she said to Lisa as she tried to force Ethan to move with her. “We’ll get you out of here.”
    “Where are we going?” Lisa asked. She limped along beside Cade and Ethan, struggling valiantly to keep up with the brisk pace Cade set.
    “We’re getting out of town. This city is starting to fall apart,” Cade explained. “I don’t know what you know or what you’ve seen in that hospital this evening, and I’m not going to pretend I do. But I think Memphis is turning into another Atlanta.”
    “You mean the rioting?” Lisa asked. Cade opened the back passenger door and ushered Lisa in with a gentle push. Then she shoved Ethan roughly toward the front passenger door. She grimaced as he attempted to resist.
    “Yeah,” Cade replied once she’d managed to get the passenger door open. She glanced at Lisa. The other woman had leaned back against her seat; her face was pale and strained with the pain from the wound on her shoulder. “We’ll look at your shoulder as soon as we get out of here,” Cade added as her face slid into a sympathetic expression. “I learned basic medical care when I was in the IDF. Between the two of us, I think we can handle it.” Cade turned back to Ethan, who still stood beside the opened passenger door, refusing to get in. Cade gritted her teeth and held out a hand to him with a demanding wiggle of her fingers. “Keys. Now.”
    “We’re not leaving yet!” Ethan protested. He didn’t give Cade the keys; he didn’t even look at her. Instead, his green eyes focused over her shoulder in the direction of the emergency room. Cade sighed in exasperation and gave Ethan’s shoulder a shove to steal back his attention.
    “Ethan, keys ,” Cade persisted. Ethan took the set of keys out of his pocket and clenched his fist around them as if daring Cade to try to take them. Cade gave him an annoyed look and reached for his hand. “And yes, we are leaving. We need to get out of here.”
    “Not without Anna,” Ethan said stubbornly. He moved the keys out of Cade’s reach. Cade growled under her breath and rolled her eyes. She snagged his wrist and pulled his arm back to her. Then she started to pry his