[ELARA'S POV]
Dr. Chen arrived in seventeen minutes.
I counted every second.
Damian's breathing had gone shallow. His face pale as old paper. Pulse racing under my fingertips when I pressed them to his throat — too fast, too weak, wrong.
"He's losing too much blood," I said when Dr. Chen walked through the door. "His ribs are cracked and he won't wake up and—"
"Step back, Mrs. Voss." Her voice was calm. Professional. She set her medical bag on the bed. Started examining him immediately. "How long has he been unconscious?"
"Four minutes. Maybe five."
"What happened to him?"
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Looked at Marcus.
He stepped forward. "Blunt force trauma to the ribs. Multiple contusions. Some blood loss from lacerations. He was ambulatory until five minutes ago."
Dr. Chen didn't ask how it happened. Just nodded. Kept working.
She peeled back the gauze I'd wrapped around his ribs. The bruising underneath had spread. Dark purple bleeding into black. Swollen. Angry.
