Chapter 25 #2
The rotors picked up speed, and Shaun braced himself for the jolt of lift-off without taking his hand from Zenko’s neck. As the bird rose, he widened his stance and shifted with the movement, refusing to let the vibration or changing angle disturb the pressure beneath his finger.
“Zenko is B negative.” Castiel was already reaching for his kit as he looked at Shaun. “What’s your blood type?”
“O negative. Universal donor.” Shaun never took his eyes off Zenko as he answered, his finger still searching for every weakening beat beneath it.
Stay with me, babe.
“Are you up to giving him some blood?” Castiel started pulling tubing and needles from his kit, laying out what he needed within easy reach.
“There aren’t any other options I can think of.
If we’re going to give him a chance of surviving this, he needs blood now.
He’s already lost too much, and he’s still bleeding despite the pressure you’re keeping on the artery. ”
Shaun stuck out his free hand immediately. What the fuck was Castiel thinking? As if he’d fucking refuse to give the blood needed to keep his guy alive.
“Take it.” His arm stayed extended toward Castiel while every bit of his attention remained fixed on the weakening pulse beneath his other hand.
Fucking take it already, asshole. Help me keep him alive.
Shaun caught Drax’s eyes widening at the size of the needle Castiel pulled from his kit.
Normally, the sight of that sucker coming anywhere near him would have made him flinch, but this was Zenko.
Castiel could shove the damn thing straight through his arm if that was what it took to keep him alive.
“Jeez, Cass.” Drax shifted closer to Zenko, keeping one hand braced against the floor as the bird moved beneath them. “Are you treating horses? Look at the size of those fucking needles.”
“Shut it. I need to concentrate.” Castiel wrapped a tourniquet above Shaun’s elbow and tightened it before positioning the needle over the vein.
“Hold your arm still.” Shaun barely felt the needle slide in, his attention fixed on Zenko while Castiel secured the line and connected the tubing.
As soon as blood began flowing, Castiel turned his attention to Zenko and worked just as quickly to establish the receiving line.
“There. You tell me the second you start feeling dizzy or faint. Got it?”
“Yup. Sure.” Not fucking likely. Shaun would give every drop of blood in his veins if that was what it took to give Zenko a chance.
The doubtful look Castiel gave him made it clear the medic knew exactly how much his promise was worth, and Shaun lifted one shoulder without taking his eyes off Zenko. “I will.”
I don’t give a shit about me. Just don’t let him die.
“Hmmh… I’ll believe it when I see it.” Castiel kept one eye on the transfusion line while checking Zenko’s condition. “Do we have an ETA?”
Drax checked his watch, then looked toward the cockpit as he worked out their position. “Ten minutes, give or take.”
“Roger.” Castiel started packing away the supplies he had spread across the floor while searching for the field medic’s transfusion kit, clearing anything that would be in their way when they landed.
Shaun barely noticed what he was doing until his gaze caught on the faint blue tinge creeping into Zenko’s lips.
His stomach clenched. There wasn’t enough oxygen reaching his tissues, and the pulse beneath Shaun’s finger was still frighteningly weak.
With one hand still pressed into Zenko’s neck and his other arm tethered to him by the transfusion line, Shaun had no way to catch himself when the chopper lurched beneath them.
Drax’s hands clamped around his hips and hauled him back into balance before he could topple onto Zenko’s chest, and Shaun planted his feet wider as the bird continued to buck beneath them.
Don’t die… don’t die… don’t die.
The words had become a constant rhythm in his head, keeping time with every faint beat he could still feel beneath his finger.
“ETA two minutes.” Drax kept one hand braced at Shaun’s hip as the bird began its approach, ready to catch him again if the movement knocked him off balance.
The words barely registered in his mind.
He was forcing all his concentration into staying on his feet, keeping his grasp on Zenko’s artery without pulling at the transfusion line running between them, and nope, he was not fucking dizzy.
He nodded at Drax’s update before bracing his feet wider against the floor, preparing for the shift in momentum when the bird touched down on the hospital roof.
Shaun could hear Castiel feeding Drax Zenko’s vitals while Drax relayed the information to the hospital. Castiel checked Zenko again before looking up. “Drax, tell them they need B-negative blood standing by. Patient is critical and receiving a direct transfusion.”
“Roger.” Drax immediately relayed Castiel’s request, making sure the hospital knew they were bringing in a critical B-negative patient who would need blood ready the second they arrived.
Drax’s grip on the back of his belt was the only thing that kept Shaun on his feet when the chopper settled onto the roof.
The rotors were still turning when the door was whipped open behind him, and every instinct Shaun possessed screamed at him to turn toward the sudden movement.
He locked his knees and forced himself to stay exactly where he was, one hand maintaining pressure on Zenko’s artery while the transfusion line tethered his other arm to him.
Keep your finger in the fucking hole. Keep that artery shut.
“Move. Let me see the patient.” The unfamiliar voice came from directly behind him, close enough that his shoulders tightened instinctively even though he couldn’t turn to see who had spoken.
Shaun didn’t have a chance to answer the stern voice behind him before Castiel cut in. “No. He’s controlling the arterial bleed with his finger, and he’s the donor for the direct transfusion. You do not move him.”
“I’ll clamp it,” the voice behind Shaun told Castiel. “Then we can get him to the OR.”
“Not in fucking here, you won’t. Where is the damn surgeon?
” Castiel’s voice had gone hard enough to send another surge of unease through Shaun.
Castiel knew exactly what Zenko needed, and if he was refusing to let this guy touch him, he wasn’t about to argue.
Something about this reception was seriously fucking wrong.
“He’s getting ready for surgery, sir.” The answer came from behind him, but nobody moved to take Zenko from them or bring the trauma team Castiel had specifically requested.