Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The whoop-whoop of rotors registered faintly in the back of Shaun’s mind as he fought to keep a grasp on the artery to stop Zenko bleeding out beneath his hands.
Nothing else mattered. Not the bird coming in, not the gunfire still cracking around them.
His entire world had narrowed to the faint pulse under his fingers and Zenko’s face growing paler by the second.
Rotor wash swept dust and loose rock across them, coating Shaun’s hands and Zenko’s blood-slick skin with the gritty gray sand.
He fucking hated sand. He hunched lower over Zenko, shielding him as best he could without shifting the finger jammed into the wound or easing the pressure on the damaged artery.
“Don’t you fucking do it, Zen. Don’t you fucking leave me…” His thumb brushed against Zenko’s jaw, searching for some response from the man lying motionless beneath him. “Wake the fuck up.”
Movement behind him made Shaun jerk and swear as he fought to draw his sidearm without shifting the fingers buried in Zenko’s neck.
He twisted far enough to bring the weapon around in his off hand, saw movement on his six, and fired before recognition caught up with instinct.
Shaun wrenched the muzzle left at the last second, sending the round wide when Castiel appeared through the dust with a field med kit in his hand.
“Fuck, I could have shot you, dumbass.” He shoved the sidearm back into its holster and immediately returned his full attention to Zenko. “Artery shot. I’m holding it closed with my damn fingers because I can’t fit anything else in there.”
“Fuck.” Castiel immediately dropped to his knees beside Zenko’s head and carefully examined the wound around his finger without disturbing it. Blood welled around the edges every time Shaun’s pressure shifted even slightly, and Castiel swore again under his breath.
“I’m not fucking with that out here. You’ve got enough pressure on the artery to slow the bleed, and anything I do risks opening it back up completely.
” He glanced toward the bird before reaching into his field med kit.
“Think you can keep your finger exactly where it is until we get him somewhere a surgeon can take over?”
“Fuck yes.” Shaun was not fucking letting him go.
He could still feel the faint thump of Zenko’s heartbeat against the finger buried in his neck, weaker than he wanted it to be but still there.
He pressed harder, terrified that even the smallest shift would take that pulse away from him.
“C’mon, Castiel, move your ass. Let’s go. ”
“We gotta wait for Drax, man.” Castiel kept working through his med kit without disturbing Shaun’s hand.
“We need another set of hands to keep Zenko steady so your fingers stay exactly where they are.” Fury burned through Shaun at the thought of wasting another fucking second out here, and whatever Castiel saw on his face had him adding, “He’ll be two minutes.
He’s checking if we left anyone alive and grabbing our target’s body.
” Castiel glanced at him as he pulled more supplies from the kit.
“That was some fucking shot you took to put Sheridan down.”
Shaun wasn’t an idiot; he knew exactly what Castiel was doing by keeping him talking, and maybe later he would be able to thank him for it.
Right this second, all he gave a fuck about was getting Zen onto the damn bird and into the hands of a surgical team before the faint pulse against his finger disappeared completely.
“TOC, Horizon Two.” Drax appeared in front of Shaun and took one look at the wound in Zenko’s neck, his expression hardening as he assessed the blood covering Shaun’s hand and the ground beneath them.
Whatever he felt about seeing his teammate lying there disappeared behind the operator who knew they needed to get Zenko out now.
“We are moving. One walking wounded and one critical. Have the trauma team standing by.”
“Horizon Two, TOC, roger that.”
“Walking wounded? What the fuck?” Shaun kept his finger locked in place as he tried to work out what the hell Drax was talking about. Had one of the others been hit while he’d been focused on keeping Zenko alive?
“You, dumbass, are the walking wounded.” Castiel touched a finger to Shaun’s cheek, and the sharp sting made him jerk away before he could stop himself.
“Fuck.” Shaun immediately pressed harder, making sure his finger was still seated where it needed to be before he looked back at Castiel. “Be fucking careful. I nearly lost my grip on this damn artery.”
Drax was already moving into position when he looked at Castiel. “Where do you want me, Cass?”
“You take his feet.” Castiel reached into his kit, pulled out two preloaded syringes, and injected them into Zenko before shifting toward his head. “I’ll take his shoulders. Shaun, you keep your fingers in place and do not move them no matter what the fuck happens.”
“Yup.” Shaun kept his attention fixed on Zenko’s neck, refusing to let the blood or the movement around him pull his focus away from the faint pulse beneath his skin. “Got it.”
“I mean it, Shaun.” Cass pushed Drax out of his way and waved him toward Zenko’s feet. “If we lose our grip on him, you go down with him. Don’t try to catch him or change position. You keep that damn artery pinched shut.”
“I said I’ve fucking got it.” Shaun kept his hand locked in place, his patience shredding with every second they remained on the ground. “Let’s fucking move. Every second we waste here is another second before he gets on the operating table.”
“Hope to fuck the hospital has the best trauma surgeon in the country on duty today.” Castiel slid his hands carefully beneath Zenko’s shoulders, taking his time positioning them so he wouldn’t disturb Shaun’s hold on the artery. “Because we are going to need him.”
“I’m gonna help you into a crouch, Shaun, so you can get your feet under you before we lift him, okay?” Drax waited until Shaun nodded before gripping his elbow and the back of his belt, careful to lift him without pulling his upper body away from Zenko.
With Drax steadying him, Shaun carefully brought one foot forward and then the other until he was crouched beside Zenko instead of kneeling, never allowing the position of his hand to change.
“On my count.” Castiel waited until Drax was positioned at Zenko’s feet with a secure grip around his ankles, then checked Shaun one last time. “Three, two, one, and lift.”
All three moved together on Castiel’s count, Drax and Castiel taking Zenko’s weight while Shaun rose with them, his entire focus locked on keeping his fingers buried in exactly the same place.
Zenko’s unconscious body sagged between them, forcing Shaun to adjust his own balance without allowing his hand to move.
“Fucking heavy bastard, he better fucking live so I can tell him to get his ass on a diet.” Castiel tightened his hold beneath Zenko’s shoulders as they started toward the bird, refusing to let his grip shift despite the strain.
Shaun pressed his fingers harder into Zenko’s neck as they carried him toward the bird, matching every step Castiel and Drax took while trying to keep his own balance without changing the angle of his hand.
Blood coated his fingers and made his grip slick, and every jolt of Zenko’s weight threatened to shift the fingers buried in the wound.
They slipped against the torn tissue, and Shaun immediately forced them back into position.
“Shit.”
“Don’t you fucking let that go, Shaun.” Castiel adjusted his hold beneath Zenko’s shoulders without breaking stride, keeping his movements as controlled as possible while they closed the remaining distance to the bird.
“There is so much fucking blood I can’t see where I have my fingers anymore.
” Shaun kept pressure on the spot where he could still feel the faint pulse against his fingertips, trusting that more than what he could see through the blood coating Zenko’s neck and his hand. “Get him loaded STAT so we can check.”
“Roger.” Castiel turned as they reached the bird, backing into the open doorway until his ass hit the frame.
Reese was already there to help guide him inside while Drax kept Zenko’s legs supported.
Together, they eased Zenko’s shoulders onto the edge of the cabin floor without changing the angle of his body or forcing Shaun to move his hand.
Please don’t die.
Shaun shoved his free hand beneath Zenko’s back when his body started to fold over the edge of the cabin floor, taking as much of his weight as he could without disturbing the fingers still buried in his neck.
“One of you needs to get down here and keep him level while the other helps me climb up without letting my fingers fucking slip.” They were so close now.
Castiel would hopefully have everything they needed stashed on the bird, and Shaun refused to let them lose Zenko when they had finally gotten him this far.
Finally, after what felt like hours but Shaun knew was probably less than five minutes, Zenko lay flat on the floor of the chopper.
His fingers were holding onto the artery, preventing it from retracting, and he concentrated on every beat against his fingertips, silently counting them because that faint rhythm was the only proof he had that Zen was still hanging on.
The next beat took too long to come. The one after that felt weaker.
Fuck.
“His pulse is dropping.” He didn’t give a shit that Castiel and the others could hear the panic in his voice.
He was fucking panicked, and watching Zenko’s face lose what little color remained while the pulse beneath his finger faded scared the living shit out of him. “There has to be something we can do.”
Please don’t die, Zen. Please don’t die.