Aiyana Red Elk — Point of View
The hospital room was too bright. Aiyana kept her eyes half‑closed, letting the light blur into soft shapes. A monitor beeped somewhere near her head. Voices murmured in the hallway. Shoes whispered across the linoleum. Everything felt far away, like she was drifting between worlds. She didn’t know how long she’d been here. Minutes. Hours. A lifetime.
Her body felt heavy, sinking into the mattress, but her mind floated somewhere above her, untethered. A door opened. She didn’t turn her head — she couldn’t — but she felt someone enter. Calm. Steady. Familiar only because he had been there since the ambulance.
“Elijah Greyhawk,” the voice whispered. “Black Rock Tribal Police.”
Aiyana blinked, trying to focus. Elijah stood on the far side of the bed, shoulders squared, jaw tight, eyes soft in a way she didn’t expect from someone in uniform. He didn’t belong to this reservation, but he hadn’t left her side.
Another figure stepped into view — a man in scrubs with a laminated badge clipped to his pocket.“I’m Daniel Yazzie,” he whispered. “Physician assistant here at Red Rock Flats Clinic. I’m just checking on you, Aiyana.”
Aiyana swallowed. Her throat still hurt, but not as sharply as before. Elijah spoke softly. “She’s been drifting in and out. Knows her name.”
Daniel nodded. “That’s good. Aiyana, can you hear me?”
She blinked once, slow and deliberate.
“You don’t have to talk,” Daniel said. “But if you can give us even one word, it’ll help us understand how to keep you safe.”
Safe. That word again. Aiyana’s breath hitched. Images flickered behind her eyes — not clear ones, not whole ones. A door, a hallway. Metal scraping. A smell she couldn’t name. And a voice. Not kind. Not familiar. But important.
She tried to speak. Nothing came out. Elijah leaned closer. “Take your time.”
Aiyana closed her eyes, searching for the word buried under fear and exhaustion. Her lips moved. A sound scraped out. “North…”
Daniel leaned in. “North what?”
Aiyana swallowed. Her voice cracked. “North… star.”
Elijah and Daniel exchanged a look — sharp, startled, immediate. Aiyana didn’t see it. She was already drifting again; the effort pulling her back into the fog.
Daniel touched her wrist lightly. “You did well, Aiyana. Rest.”
Aiyana let her eyes close. The room faded, and the voices softened. The world slipped away again. But she had said it. NorthStar. The word hung in the air long after she had fallen asleep.