Emerald Flight: Devereux (earlier)

Devereux awoke to the sound of something shrilly beeping. The disorienting sense of grogginess dissipated almost immediately.

Was she late for something? What was she late for? And then, more clearly, assumed that it was time to check her father’s medications.

She glanced down at the tablet in her hand, resting against her stomach, realizing that the signal was coming from the device. She silenced it quickly.

Checking its clock, she realized that none of her assumptions had been true. She silently reprimanded herself for dozing off while sitting by her father’s side. She glanced quickly toward her father, who remained peacefully asleep.

Yes, she reassured herself, still asleep, seeing the slow, but regular rise and fall of his chest.

What had awakened her then?

She checked the tablet’s display, seeing the notification for an urgent incoming message, but was interrupted before she could check its origin.

“Christine,” Danela called to her in a loud whisper. “Come quickly.”

There was an urgency in her tone that Devereux could not recall hearing since the night her father had fallen in the hallway.

Devereux glanced toward her father, checking once more that he was sleeping easily, and then headed out of the bedroom.

She found Danela watching something on the one large display that her father owned. Her tanned face had paled; she stared with the transfixed intensity of someone observing an unbelievable horror.

Devereux moved further into the room and turned so that she could see what Danela was seeing. She stopped instantly, her mind trying to make sense of what she saw being displayed on the screen.