I take a step back as my demons rush around me, stealing away the euphoria of action and replacing it with the same creeping dread that’s marked every waking second since my family was snatched away from me.
“Phoenix,” Elyssa says, her face screwed up with concern, “are you okay? Is it your leg?”
“No, I… it’s fine. I’m fine.”
Her forehead is scrunched with worry. A worry that feels weirdly intimate.
“I need to go,” I blurt.
“Where are you going?” she asks. “You need to rest. You just got shot!”
“This is nothing,” I say gruffly. “I’ve had worse.”
“Let me check it again.”
“No.”
She flinches at my curt tone but she doesn’t let up. “It’ll only take a few seconds—”
“I said no.”
She sighs heavily and ignores me in the same breath.
“Here.” Before I can protest, she’s shoved the baby i
