8. Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Calista
I 'm on my way to Kaylee's house. She texted me saying she was going home leaving work because she was not feeling well. She asked me to pick up some stuff at the store for her, and I also grabbed everything I need to make her favorite chicken noodle soup. We can hang out on the couch and watch movies while she rests.
Only when I turn down her street, it's pure chaos. Cop cars line the street, and people are yelling. I pull onto the road just past her driveway and get out of the car to see what is going on. What I see causes me to panic and run toward the house.
“Calista, you can't go in there,” Chief Barton says.
The man should be retired by now. He and my dad went to school together, and he's known me my whole life.
“What is going on?” I ask.
“It's a drug raid,” he says.
“Kaylee and drugs?” I say in shock.
“Kaylee!” I shout.
“Calista, I'm fine!” Kaylee yells from the other side of the street, wrapped in a blanket.
“Then what the hell is going on?” I ask, running over to her.
“I got home, and Calvin was in my house. We got into a fight, and the next thing I knew, the cops were busting in. They say he's been selling drugs from my house while I've been at work.”
“Seriously?” I ask.
“Yeah, they brought me out here, but Calvin tried to run out the back. They were chasing him, but I don't know if they got him or not.”
“What the fuck,” I say shocked.
“Yeah, I guess it's been going on for a while. I didn't see anything when I got home, so I didn't even think anything of it. I was getting dizzy from all the yelling, and I wanted him gone, but he wasn't leaving. At this point I’m thankful they haven’t kept me in handcuffs,” she says, resting her head on my shoulder.
We watch the cops all moving in and out of her house and in her front yard until a gunshot goes off. It’s as if time stops and everyone freezes. There’s silence and then we can hear everyone's radio go off.
“Officer Down! I repeat, Officer down!” A voice yells through the radio, and people run into the house.
“I have to help,” I say, moving toward the house.
“Go!” Kaylee yells.
I look at Chief Barton. “I’m an ER nurse. Get me in there and let me help until the ambulance arrives.”
“I can't… the suspect hasn't been…” he doesn't finish the words before his radio goes off again.
“Suspect in custody,” the voice says.
Then Chief looks at me and nods.
“Backyard,” he says, and I take off running, going over bullet protocol in my head as I get into the backyard.
“Move. She's an ER nurse,” Chief says behind me.
When the guys move, I see Evan lying on the ground with blood on his shirt and pants. I freeze for just a moment before all my training kicks in and I drop to my knees beside him and try to find the bullet hole to stop the bleeding.
Ripping open his vest, I see most of the blood coming from his shoulder, so I work on opening his shirt.
“I need a towel, shirt, or gauze,” I call out as I confirm he’s been shot in his right shoulder.
Another officer runs up, opens a metal box, and starts handing me gauze packs. The other men keep opening them as I pack his wound.
“Evan, can you hear me?” I talk to him, but I can tell he has no idea what's going on. He moans when I speak.
“Ambulance is two minutes out,” Chief says.
“He's going to need to be airlifted to Helena. The hospital here isn't set up for this kind of surgery unless something has changed,” I say.
“The field where we met would allow a safe helicopter landing,” another man says.
“I'm on it,” yet another shouts.
I don't bother looking up to see who is talking. I keep my eyes on Evan.
Increasing my pressure on the wound, I’m attempting to stop as much bleeding as possible.
Evan groans again.
“Stay with me, Evan. Help is on the way. Please stay with me.” My emotions are threatening to take over. I can’t have that happening. I've worked with people I knew before and have been able to keep my emotions at bay. My emotions have never run amok before while on the job.
“Medics are here,” Chief says, and everyone else moves out of the way.
Shaking my emotions off, I focus by giving the medics the information on what I know and on what I did. They have more equipment and can get his wound more stabilized. Once he’s on the stretcher, I start to follow them out to the ambulance when the Chief stops me.
“This is something your brother should hear in person. Help them set up care for Skye and then meet us at the hospital. You would be doing me a huge favor by letting your family know. Give me your number and I will call if I hear anything before you get to the hospital,” Chief says as Kaylee comes running up to me.
“Okay. Umm, is she free to go?” I ask, hugging Kaylee.
“Yes, but other than the hospital, no leaving town. We will have a lot of follow-up questions,” he says.
“I'm not leaving her side, so I’ll be with her for a few days,” Kaylee says.
The Chief nods and walks off.
“Come on. I'll drive you to the distillery. You can talk to Cody in person. Call your parents on the way,” Kaylee orders, taking my car keys from me.
Grateful that she’s taking charge, I follow her to my car. “Are you sure you feel up to driving?” I ask.
“Maybe it’s the adrenaline, but I’m feeling much better,” she says.
I pull out my phone and as we turn off her road, I watch the medevac copter land a few streets over.
Knowing it's better to let Dad tell my mom, I give him a call hoping he’s around.
“Good morning, sweetheart. I was just thinking about checking with you to see if you wanted to grab coffee.”
“Daddy,” I choke out, and there is no hiding that something is wrong.
“Are you okay?” he asks urgently.
“I am. Evan's been shot. They are airlifting him to Helena now. I was there when it happened. They were arresting Kaylee's ex for selling drugs. It was a big drug bust.”
“Do your brothers know?” he asks.
“No, I'm going to go tell Cody now and take him with us to the hospital. Can you and Mom get Skye from school?”
“Of course. We will not tell her anything is wrong until we know more. How bad is it?”
“He was shot in the shoulder. I was able to stop the bleeding, so I don't think it hit anything major, but I have no way of knowing as he was really out of it.”
“Shit, okay. I will tell your mom. Go and let me know as soon as you hear anything,” Dad says as we pull into the distillery.
“Okay, I'm at the distillery now. I love you.”
“Love you too, sweet pea,” Dad says softly.
After I hang up and compose myself, Kylee and I enter the distillery. This isn't exactly how I thought my first time seeing the distillery would go, and honestly, I’m not seeing a single detail. I’m completely focused on Cody.
“Hey Kaylee,” Cody says, smiling happily until he sees me, and his face drops.
“What's wrong?” He rushes over to me.
“Cody, Evan's been shot. I was there, and they were airlifting him to Helena. We need to go now!”
“Fuck!” he yells, and my brothers Drew and Kaiden come running.
“What's wrong?” my oldest brother, Drew, asks.
Kaylee fills them in, and Cody turns to me.
“Skye?” he asks. Then pulls out his phone while going out the front door.
“Mom and Dad are picking her up from school,” I say.
“They will want to go to the hospital, too. We’ll close this afternoon, and I’ll call Colt. And we will relieve Mom and Dad so they can join you,” Kaiden says.
Colt is our youngest brother and a bit of a wild one, but he takes family seriously.
“Mom will have to pick Skye up, as only she and I are on the approved list,” Cody says.
“We got this. Go! Call with anything you need,” Drew says.
“Let's take my truck. I'll drive. Leave your keys with Kaiden and we will get it back to Mom and Dad's,” Cody says.
I hand Kaiden my keys, and both he and Drew give me a hug before I follow Cody out to his truck.
Kaylee and I both get in the backseat, and Kaylee wraps her arms around me. My heart is in my throat and I’m glad of the comfort Kaylee’s providing me.
“You ever have to work on someone you knew before?” Cody asks as we leave Whiskey River city limits and make the climb up the mountain.
“Yes, but this is hitting differently. He feels like family.”
“Now, what exactly happened?” Cody asks.
We spend the rest of the drive telling him the story, hoping it makes time pass faster.