Sierra
R eina came awake with a start at the sensation of being lifted and cold air stinging her cheek.
“Easy, we’re at the hotel,” Wilson said when he felt her flinch in his arms.
“I can walk,” she said, really not sure if she could.
“I’ve got you,” Wilson said.
Jackson unlocked the door to the two-bedroom suite, holding it open for Wilson to bring her in. Sloan went ahead of them, into the king bedroom, and he pulled the bedcovers back. Wilson followed him in and laid her on the bed, blankets, coat, and all. Then he covered her with the bedcovers.
Reina instantly felt comfortable with her head on the stack of pillows and the mattress below her.
Sloan opened his medical backpack and pulled supplies out. He’d used a wrist cuff to check her blood pressure in the car. He’d use a standard arm cuff now. “I hate to do this, but I need to pull one of your arms out to check your vitals. It’ll be for just a few minutes.”
He reached under the covers and brought out her arm that was closest to him, her left arm. He reran all vitals. Her blood pressure was still low, but not dangerously low. Her oxygen sats were still low as well. But her heart rate and pulse had come up and were closer to the normal range. And of course, her core body temperature had risen and would continue to increase as they warmed her.
“Rae, I want you to take a few really deep breaths. Try to completely fill your lungs,” Sloan said. He watched her do as he’d said. “Yes, like that. I want you to take at least two really deep breaths like that every minute. Your O-two sats are low, but we can get them up pretty quick with deep breathing.”
“You need anything?” Jackson asked Sloan. He and Sherman stood in the doorway.
“Yeah, there’s that Chinese takeout up the road. We all need to eat, but she’ll need warm fluids. Get her a large wonton soup and make sure there’s white and fried rice and some noodles with mildly flavored chicken in the order. That’ll be good for her stomach as well,” Sloan said. Then his gaze shifted to Wilson. “Get a cup of hot water for her to start with.”
Jackson and Sherman left to get the Chinese. Wilson went to the kitchen to get the cup of hot water for her to sip on. Sloan got out the supplies to start an IV to get her fluids. He had a hard time finding a good vein as expected due to the fact that she was both dehydrated and she’d been in the cold for so long. The last thing he wanted to do was put her through multiple needle sticks to find a vein. After cracking a heat pack to activate it, he laid it on her arm where several good veins should be. They showed themselves to him after several minutes and the heat doing its thing on her arm. He easily inserted the canula to deliver the fluids.
Wilson returned to the room as Sloan was taping the tubing in place. “That was fast,” he said, setting the mug onto the nightstand beside Rae.
“I know you want to go back to sleep, but you need to drink that cup of water before you do and when the food gets here, I’ll wake you to eat,” Sloan told her. “And I’ll be checking your vitals every thirty minutes or so until they’re all in the normal range.”
Wilson laid his hand on Sloan’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
“Let me take a look at your head and which side did you say your shoulder and hip hurt?” Sloan asked.
“Right,” she said. “Though neither hurt that bad now.”
Sloan rolled her so he could examine the wound on her head. It was borderline if stitches were needed or not. Since so much time had passed since the injury occurred, he opted to clean it and apply antibiotic ointment to it. He’d evaluate it again in a few hours to see if stitches were really necessary. He didn’t want to put her through it if he didn’t have to. Then he checked the right shoulder, palpating it and then moving the arm around. She experienced only mild discomfort, as he did. The same for the hip.
“I think you sustained only minor injuries to the shoulder and hip when you landed on them, like deep bruising. Let me know if the pain increases at all at any point.”
“I will,” she promised.
Sloan nodded and then walked towards the door. “I need to call Kaylee. I’ll be back in a few.”
Wilson sat on the edge of the bed, filling the spot vacated by Sloan. He lifted the mug to her lips. “It shouldn’t be too hot to drink.”
Reina had never drunk just plain hot water, but it felt amazing going down her throat. “How did you find me?” she asked after she emptied the cup.
“It took a few days to track that black SUV and for our team to hack into its SatNav system. We located its exact location at that farmhouse earlier this evening. Blake Henning and Stella Adams weren’t there, had taken Lilly. But another man was there, Eddie Van Sloot, and with a little intimidation, he told us where Henning had taken you.”
“Intimidation?” she asked with a small smile.
Wilson smiled. “Okay, maybe the threat of grievous bodily harm.”
Reina laughed softly. “If you hurt him, I’m okay with that. Did he tell you where they took Lilly? She’s still in a lot of danger. In my past life, I’d been around some pretty bad people who you knew were bad. But Blake is different. He’s pure evil, dressed up to look normal.”
Wilson would take her word for it. “He said he didn’t know exactly where, but he gave us the info on the vehicle they're driving.”
“The beige Volvo?” she asked. That was the car that she had been put into its trunk.
“Yes,” he said. “He said they were heading to the Chicago area for a few days before they’ll return to that farmhouse. We have an APB out on the car, and our Digital Team will be looking for it on cameras on every possible route to Chicago and back again. There will also be a couple of Marshals waiting at the farmhouse for them in case they do return. We’re doing everything we can to find them. But all you need to focus on now is rest and recovery. You’ve been through a lot.”
“I’ll be fine,” she insisted.
“Yeah, I know you will be,” he said. “You’re a survivor, Rae.” At his prompting, she drank the rest of the hot water before Sloan re-entered the room to check on her. He rechecked her vital signs and was happy to see the numbers trending better.
Reina fought to keep her eyes open as she listened to the two men talk. She was exhausted. At some point, she fell back asleep and was woken by Jimmy gently shaking her and talking to her sometime later. She woke disoriented but warm. It didn’t take long for her to remember where she was and why. And she smelled the incredible and unmistakable aroma of Chinese food.
“That smells good,” she said to Jimmy. He sat beside her. Had he stayed with her the entire time she was asleep? The thought he had brought a smile to her face.
“It just got here. Sloan wants you to start with some soup. He’s getting it for you now,” Wilson said. “Let me help you sit up more.” He positioned the pillows behind her to prop her up.
“I’m actually hot now.” She looked down at her chest to see her coat was still on, as well as the silver emergency blanket. “Can you help me get my coat off?”
“That’s good. Yes, let’s get it off you.” Wilson pulled the bedcovers back. He gently pulled the mylar emergency blanket off of her and from under her. He unbuttoned her coat. He helped her slide it off the arm without the IV and he helped to pull it from under and behind her. He slid the coat up the tubing and hung it on the hook Sloan had inserted behind the headboard to hold the bag of fluids. “Can I help take your shoes off so you’re more comfortable?”
Potential embarrassment hit Reina. “No, they’re fine. And I’m sure my feet stink. My shoes haven’t been off the whole time since. What day is it?”
“It’s Wednesday night, Rae,” Wilson said. He watched tears fill her eyes. He sat beside her again and covered her hand with his. “It’s okay. Losing track of time in situations like the one you were in is common.”
She turned her hand over, grasping his hand, and stared at their joined hands as she tried to collect her dismayed thoughts and breathed deeply to calm herself.
Sloan entered the room, carrying a steaming mug. He saw the tears in her eyes and their joined hands. “Okay, I’ve got some good and hot wonton soup for you.” He came up beside them. “You already look better,” he said to her. “After you have the soup, I’ll recheck your vitals. It’s good to see you doing your deep breathing. That’s going to bring your O-two sats up.” He handed the mug with the soup in it to Wilson. “What do you want? I’ll bring you a plate so you can eat in here with her.”
“I’ll wait till she moves on to the rice or noodle course and get it then,” he said. “I smell something spicy. Just make sure some is saved for me.”
Sloan glanced back at Rae, who was blinking rapidly to clear the tears. “If you want to talk to someone about what you just went through, let Wilson know. We have a team shrink and he can request a video call with him for you. He’s really good to talk with after traumatic situations. He has a lot of great coping techniques.”
Reina stared at him shocked he was suggesting it. Then she recovered her game face and said, “Thanks, I’ll let him know.”
Sloan pointed at her soup. “Eat up.” Then he left the room.
Wilson couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought about Lassiter and suggesting a call for her with him. Sloan was right. Lassiter could help her. He handed her the mug. “His name is Joe Lassiter and Sloan’s right. He’s very helpful. Let me know if you want to talk to him.”
She nodded and took a sip of the hot soup. It tasted amazing. She drained the cup and ate the wonton.
Wilson took the mug. He stood. “I’ll get your next course. Be right back.”
The food cartons were lined up on the little countertop in the kitchen area of the room. The five other team members sat at the table and on the couches and chairs in the main room. “What’s her next course, Sloan?”
“Get her some white rice and some of the chicken in lo mein noodles. That’ll be easy on her stomach.”
Sherman made her a plate and then grabbed an empty plate for himself. The Mongolian Beef was empty. “Motherfuckers!” He lifted the empty container into the air. “You didn’t save me any?”
The others laughed at him. “Check the microwave,” Lambchop called across the room to him.
Wilson opened the microwave to find a plate piled high with some of every dish that was on the counter, including a generous serving of the Mongolian Beef.
“Sloan was the perfect little wifey, making you a plate,” Lambchop said with a laugh.
Wilson laughed. “Thank God he did, you ass holes wouldn’t have left me any.”
Sloan got out of his seat and went into the kitchen. “How’s she doing, mentally? Has she talked to you?”
Wilson shook his head.
“Don’t let her stay in her own head for too long,” Sloan said. “And encourage that call with Lassiter. You know as well as I do that she’s going to have PTSD after what she went through.”
Wilson hadn’t considered it yet. First, he wanted to be sure that medically she was okay. “Yeah,” he agreed. He carried the two plates back to the bedroom.
They both devoured all the food on their plates.
She glanced up at the bag that still had a lot of fluid left in it. “How much longer do you think this has?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe a half hour. Why?”
“I have to use the bathroom,” she said. “I’m feeling better, and I drank a lot. Can’t we take it out?”
“Let me get Sloan.”
Wilson went to the door and summoned Sloan. Sloan checked her vitals, happy they all looked better. “Can you hold it for like fifteen minutes?” he asked. After she nodded that she could, he opened the valve, allowing a faster drip. “There. It’ll be done in about fifteen minutes. Then I can take it out. I want you to get the full bag.”
Sloan returned in fifteen minutes. The bag had emptied into her vein. She watched him gently remove the canula from her arm. He wrapped compression tape over a piece of gauze around her arm. Then he pulled the bedcovers back. “Let me make sure you don’t get dizzy or anything as you get up.”
Wilson stood back, watching and appreciating Sloan’s care of her. Since Kaylee had come into his life, Sloan had become a different person that showed even when he was caring for a patient, in this case, a female patient. “You’re going to make a good dad,” Wilson said to Sloan as they stood waiting for her outside the bathroom door that was within the king room. There was a second bathroom off the double queen room as well.
Sloan laughed. “Words I never thought I’d hear,” he said. “Sherman’s a hell of a dad. Now that’s something I still don’t believe. He does this horse whisperer thing with Bastian, get’s the little guy to settle down and stop crying, just by hearing Sherman’s voice. Or who knows, maybe it’s how he holds him.”
Wilson hadn’t really talked with Sloan about his wife’s pregnancy or the fact they were having twins. “Twins, now that would scare the shit out of me.”
Sloan laughed again. “Just knowing I was going to be a dad scared the shit out of me. I’d rather do a lot of the dangerous shit we do than know a tiny, little, completely dependent human is reliant on me. But the fact is, moms do the majority of the work. And my job will be to do whatever I have to do to help Kaylee and make her job easier. As Sherman put it, I have to do everything I can do to help, including getting up every time that baby wakes up in the middle of the night, changing his diaper, and bringing him to momma to be fed. It would be easy to lie in bed, knowing she has to feed him if she’s nursing and she’s off work for a few months, anyway. Why should I get up? Because it helps her and that’s my job. It’s going to be harder on her with twins, so I’ll have to work harder to help her.”
Wilson was impressed with Sloan. And given that Sloan was giving Sherman the credit for the approach, he was also impressed with Sherman.
Inside the bathroom, Reina heard the majority of the men’s conversation. But she was distracted by the feeling of cold that was creeping back into her. She turned the water faucet to hot to wash her hands, also wanting to splash water on her face. It took a long time to heat up, but once it did, it felt wonderful on her hands and on her face. A hot shower would feel amazing. Later.
She opened the door to find both men still on the other side of it. “I’m fine,” she assured them. She refused help and shuffled back over to the bed. She was practically shivering again as she pulled the bedcovers over herself.
“Rae, are you okay?” Wilson asked.
“Just cold again,” she said, rubbing her hands together.
“Yeah, that can happen,” Sloan said. “Your core temp hasn’t reached normal yet, I’m sure, and you left the warmth of the blankets. I’ll get you some more hot liquid to drink. That’ll help.” He left the room as Wilson tucked the covers in around her.
“I really do feel much better,” she insisted. “The soup and food, and I’m sure the IV really helped.”
Wilson leaned in and kissed her forehead. “I’m glad. I’m going to leave you to go back to sleep now. That’ll help you too. I’ll just be out in the main room with the others and I’m sure Sloan will come in to check on you.”