I wasn’t sure I could hang on, but he hustled me through a few hallways and into another room.

He wasn’t lying. It was close.

I was trying to keep from crying, but I was hurting and scared and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I was Aunare. I couldn’t do nanos. But I was in so much pain that I knew I needed a miracle.

A desk stood in the center of the room. Waiting chairs pressed against the walls. But it was empty of any people.

“Medic!” Tyler yelled.

A woman hustled out of a back room. “What’s going on?” She wore navy scrubs—loose fitting pants and a wrapped top. Her red hair was tied in a tight knot at the base of her neck.

“Thank God, Audrey. Something happened with her suit while she was out there.”

“Come on. This way.” She spun on her heel, rushing down a short hallway to a door with the large gray number four painted on it. The room had cabinets built into one of the walls. On the opposite wall was an exam table. A third wall was a glass screen.

Audrey took a scan of my tracker and linked it to her computer, giving her a readout of my stats.

“Temperature is dangerously high. Set her down.” As soon as Tyler did, she gasped. “Oh shit.” She pointed to my feet. “Ty. Look.”

“I know. I saw.”

I tried to sit up, but my vision spun. “What? What did you see?” I still had my suit on, so she couldn’t see my feet. But something had freaked her out.

“It’s worse than I thought,” Tyler said as he inspected the soles of my boots. “Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you just come in?”

“It wouldn’t have done any good. I was right there when it happened, and I just had to keep moving or I knew I’d burn alive.” I shook my head. “What’s wrong with my feet?” The pain was getting worse, and terror made my stomach roll. If I’d had anything in it, I would’ve already thrown up. It was all I could do to breathe, but I needed answers. I had to know what was wrong.

He pressed his lips together. “The bottom of your boots have melted. Didn’t your suit warn you?”

“No.” I swallowed. “My suit didn’t say anything about it melting.”

“Didn’t you feel the heat?”

Was he kidding? “It’s hot as fuck out there. Of course I felt it.” A tear rolled out as I snapped at him.

“Stop it, Ty. She’s in pain.” Audrey put a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll fix this, honey. Hang tight. You just keep on breathing for me. Okay?”