WILL LAY TREMBLING on the ground, soaked in sweat. Too bright. Too open. Too many people. People surrounding him, crowding him, touching him, asking questions he couldn’t answer. His heart wanted to burst from his chest. Each breath was a battle. He wondered when his body would let him die and escape this horror.
As his last grip on consciousness began to slip away, a voice beat through his fog of terror. “Get back! Let me through. Get away from him.” A familiar voice. A wonderful voice.
“Case,” he croaked.
And then the crowd and sky and square disappeared. The babble of voices hushed. Darkness settled over him. He smelled her beside him, felt the warmth of her body as she held him, cradling his head in her lap.
“It’s dark,” he said. “Why is it dark?”
“Got a blanket from the cops.”
H
