Chapter 6
Rue
Iswore as Gary hit a pothole hard enough to jar everything in the back of the ambulance, including myself and the patient I was working on.
It’s not like his kidneys needed to stay in his body anyway.
It was only the kind of situation where I could use a second set of hands, but it was just him and me until we got to the hospital. I’d just have to make do.
Placing the oxygen mask over the kid’s face with one hand, I kept the other pressed firmly to his chest. If I let the gauze pads go, he was going to bleed all over the ambulance and he’d die before we even got there.
I swore as blood soaked through the stack of gauze. The pressure wasn’t going to be enough. “How long Gary?” I barked out the question so he could hear me up front.
“Ten minutes out,” he called back.
“He’s not going to make it that long.” I shuffled around through my supplies and pulled a bag with packets of hemostatic agents out.
Using my teeth and clean glove I opened the bag, then the packet.
I couldn’t tourniquet his damn chest and I couldn’t control the blood flow from pressure alone.
I usually left this for a last resort, but this was one of those times.
Removing my bloody glove from the kid’s chest, I poured the clotting agent directly into the stab wound.
It was gnarly to look at. Someone hadn’t just stabbed this kid.
They’d stabbed and rotated the blade. It was more like a hole than a slash.
They’d used a big damn knife, too. Whoever had gone after him had been trying to kill him. They still might succeed.
I’d do my best to see they failed, but sometimes that wasn’t good enough. Shoving new gauze back onto the wound, I pressed down again. Between the two if I could keep the rest of his blood inside his body then he might stand a chance.
The kid’s breathing was shallow and strained. Not surprising considering how much pressure I was putting directly over his chest, but also the severity of the wound. I was doing my best to keep an eye on his vitals, but that was difficult to do with one damn hand.
“Time?”
“Almost there!”
Gary must have stepped on it ‘cause it hadn’t been more than six or seven minutes. But that was what happened when you worked together as long as we had. When I said the patient may not make it, he believed me and did as much as he could to get us there in time.
I swore and reached out to steady myself on the wall of the van as Gary squealed the vehicle to a stop. He opened the back doors and we got the gurney onto the pavement.
From there it was a mad dash to get this kid into the doctors’ hands and pass over all need to know information. It lasted a few minutes, but felt more like seconds.
“Good job,” Gary said, patting my shoulder as we watched them wheel the guy into an operating room. “Probably saved his life.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. He’d lost so much blood before we’d even gotten there.
Yet again, an unknown kid, lying on the ground bleeding out.
No one was willing to talk to us or the cops who’d been there.
He didn’t have any identification on him.
And he’d been found only a block away from where I’d confronted Ryan a couple months ago.
“You okay?” Gary asked, brown eyes worried as he watched me. “I know it’s tough getting calls from that neighborhood-”
“I’m okay,” I said, raising my hand to touch him, to reassure him. I stopped when I saw the blood smeared all over my glove. “I’m going to go wash up,” I told him.
“Shift’s almost over,” he said. “Take your time. Next crew will be here in five, then we can go home.”
Nodding, I headed toward the locker room, mind flashing between the kid in the OR and my brother.
I was so damn tired of this. There were a lot of homeless people, and plenty of them were kids, in Phoenix.
I didn’t know what the connection between them and Rhino was, but my gut told me there was one. I just couldn’t see it yet.
Dropping the dirty gloves into a biohazard trash can, I washed my hands in the sink as I stared at myself in the mirror. The black eye was only now starting to fade, six days later.
I’d been sloppy, getting caught by Rhino. I was very aware of how lucky I’d been to get away. Normally, if I thought there’d be trouble I went with syringes full of drugs that would knock out a big fucker like Rhino. And a gun, not just my knife. Not that night.
That’s not happening again.
I couldn’t allow it to or I’d end up dead.
I wasn’t an idiot. Fighting my way out of a situation like the other night wasn’t something I could do.
Sure, I could throw a punch, but against a guy Rhino’s size?
Good way to break my hand. I had no hope.
Hell, I would’ve struggled with just the second guy.
I was five-nine and fit, but I wasn’t strong enough to take on even most average men. That was why I always evened the odds.
But the tracker I’d put on Teddy had started moving far sooner than I expected and I hadn’t grabbed my bag from my locker. I’d run off without it in my haste to catch up with my target. Stupid. It was a stupid mistake.
I bumped into Gary one last time before heading to my car and made a lame attempt to lighten the mood.
“I swear you always exaggerate to me how long we have to get to the hospital just to make yourself look good.”
“Well, yeah, obviously. I learned that trick from Scotty.” He beamed.
“Scotty?”
“From Star Trek. He’s a miracle worker.” He rolled his eyes. “He always exaggerates his repair times so that when he gets them done early everyone thinks he’s amazing.”
I stared blankly at him. “There’s a reason it took you three months to convince your wife to date you when you first met.”
He clutched his heart dramatically. “Ouch.” But he smiled as he walked off.
My eyes were gritty from a long shift and I was ready to go home, soak in my tub, and finish binge watching my favorite TV show before bed.
Not Star Trek. Or any other old bad Sci-Fi show.
No, for me it was a trashy reality show where women would screech at each other over equally trashy men.
It soothed something in me to watch drama I didn’t have to be a part of.
As soon as the shadow engulfed me in the parking garage I knew that was all going to have to wait.
Trying to keep my cool, I dug into my bag and grabbed one of the syringes I kept full and ready to go. Only with it securely in my palm did I spin around and confront the man who was following me.
A part of me was hoping to see Overdrive. Or Gary. Or one of the orderlies who always insisted on walking women out to their cars at night.
My luck wasn’t that good.
Rhino grinned down at me with a smug smile that said I was in deep shit. He wasn’t wrong, but at least this time I had more than my knife.
“How-” I broke off the pointless question and jumped back as he took a swipe at me, trying to grab me. The only problem with a syringe? You had to get close enough to inject the contents into your victim.
It was a risk. A huge risk. Because this guy could pop my head like a cherry tomato within seconds. Not to mention everything else he could do. If I wasn’t quick, then I was dead. But I also couldn’t run from him either.
“Couldn’t believe my luck when I saw you get out of that ambulance,” Rhino taunted. “I’ve been looking for you for damn near a week, bitch.”
I’d sort of hoped he’d forgotten about me.
But then again Rhino didn’t seem like the kind to forgive and forget.
Weighing my options, I decided to go with the risky one.
He knew where I worked now. What I did. I’d never be safe from him.
It would only be a matter of time before he found where I lived, or got the drop on me here when I wasn’t prepared.
He hadn’t spotted the needle I was holding yet. I needed to make my move before he did. Pretending like I was stepping in to punch him, I put my other hand forward, allowing him to grab a hold of me and reel me in closer. His fingers were bruising my flesh where he grabbed me.
Just another inch. Wait for it.
I really didn’t want to be this close to him.
The hairs on the back of my neck were raised.
My body knew instinctively that I was in danger.
And I struggled, but only half-heartedly.
Only so he didn’t realize what I was doing.
Using the nail of my thumb, I flicked the protective cap off the syringe and as soon as I was close enough, I swung my arm up.
The needle embedded in his neck and I wasted no time in depressing the plunger. He roared in shock, letting go of me long enough to grab at his neck.
I scampered out of arm’s reach and dug my gun from the bag slung over my body.
Arizona was an open carry state, but I couldn’t do that while in the hospital or on the job.
Too many chances of something going wrong, not to mention it was against policy.
Pointing my weapon at him, I watched as he staggered around.
I always put enough Ketamine in the syringe to knock out a moose, because I didn’t know who’d I’d come up against. I’d had to purchase vials of the medication illegally. But it was worth it.
Sedation medications helped even the odds. Drastically.
Rhino was staggering enough for me to know the meds were starting to take effect. I glanced down at my watch. Ninety seconds. He should be out soon-
His body hit the cement with a heavy thump.
Letting out a relieved sigh, I looked around.
No one was here. That didn’t mean this section of the parking garage was going to remain empty for long.
Looking up, I was relieved to see that we were in a section of the garage where the security cameras couldn’t see well.
If I was lucky I wouldn’t get a call from the cops.
But I would need to figure out a way to make sure this wasn’t on the security feed.
If I called the cops and turned him in right now, then I could claim self-defense.
The sedation meds I shouldn’t have outside the hospital would be harder to explain, but I could manage it.
But I didn’t want to call the cops. This was my chance to find out what was going on.
To track down my brother and drag him home.
I couldn’t trust that the cops would do their jobs and find Ryan.
They hadn’t done anything so far, why would they start now?
No, Rhino would be out of custody in a few hours, a few days at the most, then we’d be right back here and he’d be even angrier.
Studying Rhino’s unconscious form, I considered my options.
No way I could move him very far on my own.
Testing that theory, I grabbed his arm and tugged.
Nothing. Not an inch. Dropping his limb, I crossed my arms over my chest. Even if I could move him enough there was no way to transport him.
And where would I take him? Not home. That was just stupid and would get me killed.
What am I going to do with him once I find out the truth?
That was a question for later. An idea came to me, but I made a face as I thought it over. I knew nothing about Overdrive. Except that he’d offered to help me if I needed it. Sighing, I pulled out my cell phone and hit his number.
“Yeah?”
“Overdrive?”
There was a brief pause. “Who’s this?”
“Um…this is Rue. We met the other-”
“Thought that might be you,” he said, interrupting. “What’s up, gorgeous?”
Ugh. Was I really going to do this? I looked down at the body at my feet. Yeah. Yeah, I was. “I need your help.”
I answered the questions he shot at me rapid fire. Then I asked one of my own. “Do you have a van, or something?”
“Sure, an SUV work?”
“Yes. Can you meet me at the hospital? In parking garage C, fourth floor?”
“I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
“Thanks, Overdrive.”
I hung up, fully aware that I hadn’t told him what he was about to walk into.
I’d only answered some basic questions, like was I okay.
But he was the one who’d offered to help.
Who said he was military. And I had no one else I could trust. Gary couldn’t handle a situation like this and he also couldn’t keep his trap shut.
The whole hospital would know what was going on if I told him.
I wanted to keep my job, thank you very much.
I really didn’t know how Overdrive was going to react either. He could very well call the cops on me. Which I would deal with if I needed to. I had a handy skill of being able to cry on command and I could claim I’d been so scared I didn’t know what to do.
Taking a hold of Rhino’s arm once more, I used my whole body, and all my strength, to move him a couple feet into a darker section of the garage.
I was panting and sweating by the time I was done, but at least he wasn’t lying out in the open in case someone walked by.
All I could do now was wait for Overdrive to show up.
And hope he didn’t turn me in. I didn’t exactly have any other choice though.
Keeping a close eye on Rhino in case I needed to stick him again, I waited for the biker I’d just met to show up and rescue me.