1. Atlas #2
Jasper is on his heels, and he moves around Tucker to carefully pick up her finger and place it in a bag of ice. His face is pale, and he looks horrified. I can see him fighting to keep from throwing up as his eyes return to Mina.
“Do you want me to hold it?” I ask, reaching out for the bag. He shakes his head and holds it to his chest.
“I have to do it,” he tells me quietly, and I nod. I can tell he’s not going to misplace that finger, and it will give him something important to focus on.
“No, no. This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Tucker cries from where he kneels beside Dom. I glance up and see tears rolling down his face. I’ve never seen him cry before. Then again, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of my brothers cry. Looking around, nobody is unaffected by her mangled body.
“I’m so sorry, Sugar. I’m so, so sorry we couldn’t protect you,” Tucker whispers, leaning close to her face as tears stream from his eyes. He looks like he wants to touch her but can’t find any part of her that isn’t damaged.
His words hit me hard. I told her we’d take care of her.
I’d take care of her. Can she really survive so much blood loss and all these injuries?
My eyes roam up and down her body, unsure where to look.
There are just so many. Deciding I need to do everything I can to save her and bring her back to us, I pull off my shirt and start tearing it into strips.
“Tuck, we need to stop the bleeding. Start with the bigger wounds.” I take one strip and toss him the rest. I use mine to wrap her right shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding there.
My own vision blurs. He’s right, we failed her…
badly. We were so close to getting her out of here.
She finally listened to me and asked for help, but I’m terrified it’s too late.
I look for other places to bandage and notice a lot of blood coming from her legs. Looking closer, I see they’re covered with cuts, and a few look quite deep based on the amount of blood coming from them.
“I need another bandage,” I tell him. I look up and see both him and Dom shirtless, covering her with strips of their shirts. There are so many wounds that our three shirts aren’t enough to cover them, which terrifies me. We are so much bigger than her, it shouldn’t have come to this.
“Guys, the medics are here!” Gideon calls.
“Wait, who was watching Jeff?” I ask, glancing around.
“I was, but the cops are here now. He’s still out cold,” Gideon says, and I sigh in relief. At least he didn’t get away.
The medics hurry in, pushing Tucker out of the way. He moves to stand with the twins and Gideon. The medics quickly assess the situation and check her pulse. My heart beats frantically, hoping that she’s still breathing.
“We have a pulse, it’s weak. We have to stop any major bleeding and get her to the hospital ASAP. John, go get the stretcher, the other med kit, and the B team if they’re here,” the first paramedic orders his partner, who runs upstairs.
He opens his kit, pulling out cloths and self-adhesive bandages. He tries to clean the skin so the bandages will adhere, but there is so much blood it looks like a horror scene. I can tell those bandages aren’t going to work here.
“I think this is the worst one,” Dom says calmly, motioning to where he still holds his shirt over her stomach.
“Let me see.” The medic pulls back the fabric, and Dom releases the pressure.
We watch in horror as blood starts pouring out, and the medic pushes Dom’s hand back down. “Okay, keep the pressure on it. You’re doing good,” the medic says, trying to use a few more self-adhesive bandages on some of the larger wounds.
“There’s a stab wound here,” I point out, indicating her shoulder. He hands me a bandage and cloth, and I do my best to clean the area and apply it.
He examines the knife. “We’re best to take this out, so it doesn’t cause more damage during transport.
I don’t think it hit any major arteries.
” He gets another pad ready and passes it to me.
There is surprisingly not a lot of blood around the injury yet, the knife obviously keeping it from flowing.
“I’ll pull it out, and you cover the wound. On the count of three, okay?” he asks me, and I nod, getting the bandage ready.
“One, two, three.” He smoothly pulls the knife out, and I cover the wound immediately.
A couple of cops come down the stairs, and I recognize the woman as the officer who went into the school earlier today while we were watching from the parking lot.
They approach to see what’s happening. The woman seems to recognize Mina, and her hand flies to her mouth in shock.
“Is this—is that Mina Davies?” she asks in shock.
I nod.
She runs to the wall and vomits, both surprising me that a cop has such a weak stomach, and terrifying me that this is bad enough to make her throw up.
I look around to see what my brothers are doing.
Jasper and Max are clutching each other, tears in their eyes, as Jasper holds the bag to his chest. Gideon is pacing back and forth, trying not to watch.
Tucker is looking around the basement, examining the cot and other belongings.
I can’t help but notice things I missed last time.
The door was locked… Does that mean she was being kept down here all this time?
Or is she sent here for some sort of punishment?
I have a nagging feeling we’re still missing something important.
The other paramedic returns with a stretcher and two additional medics.
They have us all move out of the way and they work quickly, getting her onto the stretcher and temporarily bandaging her wounds enough for transport.
They move her up the stairs, and we all follow in a daze, unsure of what to do or how to help.
As they load her into the ambulance, one of the medics tells us only one person can go with her.
Of course, we argue, but Jasper insists on going since he has her finger and refuses to hand it over to anyone else.
As the ambulance doors close, we stand there, watching the woman who holds our hearts drive away.
“Hey, guys, where’s Ben?” Dom asks, looking to where his car was parked.
“He went ahead to the hospital so he could park and be there when they bring her in,” Gideon says, giving me a small amount of relief that one of us would be there to make sure she is taken care of properly.
I stare at my hands, covered in blood as a ringing starts in my ears. I can’t lose her, I just can’t. We were supposed to protect her, take care of her. She was supposed to become part of our family.
“I can’t believe this happened,” Max mutters, making me blink my eyes and try to rid myself of the vision of her broken, bloodied body. I try to remind myself I couldn’t lose it yet, I need to be here for my brothers, and for her.
“That guy just tortured her and then sat down to have a beer,” Tucker says, sounding stunned.
“What about her mother? What was her involvement in all this? Did she just let it happen? Did she watch or even participate? Did she go out for medical supplies, or did she not know at all?” Gideon adds, his voice tight with frustration as he paces the lawn.
“I don’t know, but right now, we need to get to the hospital,” Dom says firmly, and I couldn’t agree more.