Chapter 24 #2
Instead, Sebastian burst through, and Vivienne launched out of her seat as she cried his name. “Sebastian, what happened?”
“She was caught by a stray bullet. She’s bleeding pretty badly.”
Ava’s stomach plummeted as she recognized the victim and the person attending to her. “Sierra!”
She hurried to Sebastian’s side as he set her on the floor. Kyle knelt next to her continuing to put pressure on her wound.
“What happened?” Ava asked Kyle.
“She got hit when they stormed the room with a spray of gunfire. I can’t control her bleeding.”
“What’s happening? Did you find your father?” Vivienne asked of Sebastian.
“No. But it doesn’t look like they’re after Dad,” Sebastian said with a shake of his head. “Senator Knight seems to be the target over a bill he sponsored.”
“What?” Vivienne cried.
“I’m going back out there,” Sebastian said. “I’m going to be with Dad and see if we can work something out.”
“No,” Vivienne said, panic filling her voice as she grabbed his arm.
“Mom, stay here.” He kissed her forehead before he left her behind, sealing off the room again.
“What should we do?” Ava asked Kyle before she twisted to Vivienne. “Is there a first aid kit in here?”
Vivienne stared at the closed door her son had departed from seconds ago.
“Vivienne!” Ava called, her tone sharper.
The woman startled, licking her lips. “Yes,” Vivienne said with a nod. “I’ll get it.”
She moved across the room as though she wasn’t inside of her own body. Ava returned her attention to Kyle. “Kyle, what should we do?”
“Huh?” he asked.
She snapped her fingers in front of his face until he blinked. “Kyle, focus. What do we do for her?”
“Oh, uh…we…we need to get the bullet out. That’s what’s causing her to bleed so much.”
“Right. So, should we just try to stabilize her until paramedics can take her to the hospital?”
Kyle stared down at his sister, his features pinched.
“Kyle, focus.”
He snapped his gaze to Ava again. “Uhh, no. We can’t wait. She’ll bleed to death if we wait much longer.”
Vivienne thrust a first aid kit toward Ava before she wandered, dazed, to the monitors and sank into the chair in front of them.
“What do you need me to do?” Ava asked Kyle.
He huffed out a shaky breath. “Well, how good are you with blood?”
“Uh, pretty good, I guess. I’m not going to pass out on you, I promise.”
“Good, because you’re going to see a lot of it.
” He tugged a switchblade from his pocket and flipped it open.
“This isn’t sterile, but we don’t have much choice.
Now, I’m going to make an incision at her wound site.
I need you to peel back the skin and muscle and try to mop up as much of the blood as you can while I search for and remove the bullet. ”
He flicked his icy blue eyes to hers. “Got it?”
She bobbed her head. “Got it. Should I use the gauze?”
“No, we’ll close her with that. Just…you’re going to have to keep using my jacket.” He shook his head. “This is really not the best way to do things, but that’s all we have.”
A piece of gray fabric dangling in front of Ava’s face, and she raised her eyes to find Vivienne offering her wrap.
“Thank you,” Ava said as she took it and balled it, preparing to staunch the flow of blood she anticipated when Kyle cut into his sister’s abdomen.
The doctor licked his lips as the knife hovered over her pale skin. “Okay, here we go.”
He swallowed hard, plunging the knife into her. Sierra’s eyes fluttered open, and she shrieked in pain.
“Hold her steady,” Kyle advised.
Vivienne eased herself to the floor, grabbing hold of Sierra’s shoulders.
“Blood, Ava,” Kyle said, directing her to mop up as much as she could as she pulled the wound open.
“Can you see the bullet?” Ava asked, her fingers stained with Sierra’s blood.
“Not yet.” Kyle swiped at the sweat beading on his brow.
Ava tried to mop away more blood as it poured into the incision. “This is a losing battle. The fabric is sopping already.”
“I’m going to have to go by feel,” Kyle said with a shake of his head. “Damn it, Sierra, why did you have to get shot?”
“I’m sure she feels the same way,” Ava said.
“Actually,” Kyle said as he slid his fingers into the oozing wound, “she’d more be like, ‘Damn it, Kyle, why did you have to be the only doctor near me when I got shot?’”
“Sibling rivalry?” Ava asked.
“Something like that,” he answered. “I found the bullet.”
Ava’s heart skipped a beat. “Can you remove it?”
His nose wrinkled as he continued to carefully shift his fingers in the wound. “My problem is…I can’t see where this is lodged. If I pull this…she could bleed out.”
“She’s doing that now,” Ava answered.
“This could make it worse.” Kyle set his intense gaze on her. “I don’t know…”
“Kyle,” she said, keeping her voice steady, “you’re a doctor. You have to make the best call you can. Make an informed decision.”
He pressed his lips together, his nostrils flaring.
“Talk me through this. Pros and cons of removing it,” she said.
“Pros, the bullet is out, we may stop the bleeding, we potentially save her life. Cons, it’s nicked an artery and removing it makes her bleed out, we kill her.”
Ava bobbed her head. “Okay. And what’s your gut say?”
“Get this bullet out.”
Ava leveled her gaze, locking eyes with him. “Do it.”
He nodded before he blew out a long breath. “If this kills her, my dad is going to kill me.”
“I’ll tell him you did everything you could.”
“Thank you, Ava,” Kyle said before he pulled out a shell. “Now, steady pressure.”
Ava pressed the bloody fabric against Sierra’s abdomen as Kyle took her pulse. “Pulse is steadier.”
“That’s good, right.”
“Yeah, that’s good. Sierra may make it.”
“And you saved her life.” Ava shot him a broad grin. “And Grant can thank you for it.”
“Fat chance,” Kyle said as he monitored a few other vitals on his sister. “Dad and I don’t get along very well.”
“Don’t give up on your relationship with him. It takes time to build things.”
He nodded at her. “You’re right. Julia says the same thing.”
“Speaking of…how is Grant holding up, given the situation?”
“He doesn’t know,” Kyle answered. “I didn’t see him or Julia during this entire thing.”
Ava’s brows knitted. “What about Alex?”
“Nope.”
Her hands faltered, and Kyle guided her to continue with the pressure. She stabilized her hands as her heart hammered in her chest. Where was Alex? Was he safe?