I found myself careening into the gurney, grunting with the impact as the metal edges dug into my stomach. Pain licked along my skull with sudden, shattering force. The cameo spun from my hand as I clutched at the surface. Energy flooded through me. Fear and raw survival combined inside my roiling veins to send an urgent message to my limbs. I let go of the supporting edge, dropping my weight solidly to the floor just as the gurney shuddered beneath an impact that rang through the small room like a tinny gong. I rolled, gasping for breath. My skull echoed with pain and the ongoing rapport of metal on metal. Whatever had been used to strike me, I could already tell that the result would hurt horrifically. Just as soon as I stopped trying to survive long enough to pay attention to it. Metal clanged once more, and I caught a glint of copper tubing as it dropped to the floor. It rolled listlessly away. A black shape flitted between the gurney legs, scrambling to collect the cameo I’d dropped.
