38. Lauren
LAUREN
S he wasn’t entirely sure why Finn wanted to stand there talking instead of getting into the helicopter and getting to a hospital to fix the bullet wound, but she wasn’t going to object too strongly. He definitely leaned on her to stay upright, and she wondered if he wasn’t injured a heck of a lot worse than he pretended. The two enormous guys who appeared out of the helicopter were equally as terrifying as Shotgun, even if they didn’t give her the same icky vibes. They just looked enormous enough to snap her in two without really trying.
Lauren didn’t know what to do when Finn started to fall, but a woman had appeared from the helicopter and spoke in a semi-familiar voice from the phone call earlier. “Settle down. Finn, why are you—oh, God damn it.”
Lauren gulped for air and tried to catch Finn as he went to his knees, not strong enough to keep him upright, and Kira took charge. It was such a relief that Lauren almost passed out next to Finn. Kira started giving orders and the man named Ethan, who’d asked if she was okay, moved forward to help hold Finn up out of the snow. Then Kira linked her arm with Lauren’s and said, “They’ll carry him out, let’s get you warm in the helo. I’m Kira, by the way.”
“L-Lauren,” she said, teeth already chattering with too many emotions and cold and just…everything. She was really getting in a helicopter? Lauren shook her head, vision blurring. What the hell was happening? She looked back at Finn, heart in her throat. Somehow her voice wouldn’t come out loud enough. “He’s shot. They sh-shot him, he…”
“It’s okay,” Kira said. She didn’t stop walking or even slow down, despite the knee-deep snow, as they approached the helicopter. At least the blades weren’t rotating anymore, although Lauren ducked out of instinct as they got close. Kira hauled the door open and started to boost Lauren up. “We have plenty of first aid, and Ethan is a doctor. He’ll be fine. Let’s just get you in here and settled in the back, and then we can load Finn up. Okay?”
Lauren didn’t know how to argue with that, since it made sense, even though her heart wanted to stay close to Finn to make sure he was okay. Whoever flew the helicopter stayed up front with the controls and didn’t look back when she clambered into the contraption that was nicer than any bus she’d ever been on. It seated at least ten people, although several areas had seats folded down and stowed to make room for a stretcher.
Kira shooed her toward the bench seat in the back, where blankets were stacked alongside a large duffel bag. Lauren didn’t have to duck too much when she climbed into the helicopter, Kira clearly already focused on other tasks. She pulled another duffel bag from under a seat. “Take off your coat, babe, it’s covered in blood and it looks pretty soggy. You can put this sweatshirt on, there are a bunch of blankets back there to wrap up in. Mittens and hats and things too. Put the shoulder harness and belt on, and there’s a headset right there if you want to listen once we get started up. Just sit tight so we can get Finn in. Okay?”
And then she waited, looking at Lauren. Lauren didn’t know what to do. What was she waiting for? Did she want something? Lauren’s mouth went dry as she stared at the other woman, far too many thoughts swarming through her brain, too busy to let any actual words out. She finally managed to nod, stumbling around the duffel to collapse onto the seat in the back where Kira apparently expected her to sit.
Kira took that as permission to keep moving, maybe, because she returned to being a whirlwind of activity. The two men carried Finn and passed him into the helicopter, though he was conscious again and complaining about how they bumped him around. There was a lot more good-natured joking than she would have expected for such a serious matter, and she had to hold on to the seams of her jeans to keep from telling them to be serious and focus on saving him. How were they all so relaxed?
She shed her jacket and left it where Kira gestured so the blood wouldn’t get onto the seat or other clothes, but its absence left her shaking even more. It didn’t matter that she pulled on an oversized sweatshirt a second later, or the mittens and hat and other gear stuffed into the duffel. The shaking came only partly from cold but mostly from seeing Finn lying prone on the stretcher as they hauled off his jacket and shirt and exposed his bare chest to the cold air.
Seeing the angry red wound and blood streaking his skin left her dizzy, disoriented. Oh God. What if he died? How could she go back to living like she had, without him? He loved and trusted her, he believed in her. How could she possibly survive without that kind of support? She’d never had it before, but after knowing how much Finn wanted her to succeed, how much he listened to her and didn’t immediately dismiss her thoughts, how…what was there to go back to?
Her vision blurred more and hot tears spilled down her cheeks. She held in a sob. It was too much. It was just too much happening and too many new people and just—everything was too much . She couldn’t breathe. The shoulder straps were too restrictive, the closed windows and doors blocking off the air, the disorienting feeling of the helicopter lifting off the ground and leaving her stomach behind, the half-shouting voices as everyone else talked… She clapped her hands over her ears and tried to hunker down in that seat in the back, forgotten again.
Something warm slid around her wrist and she froze, staring at the hand shackling her wrist and forcing her to hear the chaos in the helicopter. She looked up and saw Finn, and her heart cracked. How did she ever think everything would work out?