Chapter 2 #2
“Here, we’ve got some alcohol wipes in the back of the ambulance for moments like this,” Chelsea said.
I’d been on the job for nine weeks, and I hadn’t yet come across anything so…
gruesome. I mean, he just kept bleeding.
He kept bleeding, and groaning, and looking up at me with those big, fearful eyes.
My gaze trailed along the ground, at the steady stream of red that led from the back of our ambulance all the way into the hospital.
I knew in the pit of my gut that man wasn’t going to make it.
And the thought alone turned my gut so badly that I almost puked.
“There we go,” Chelsea said as she started cleaning my hands.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
“Hey.”
My gaze found hers. “Yeah?”
She patted my hands. “Everyone has that one case that makes them realize exactly what they’ve gotten themselves into. All I need to know is what you need.”
I shook my head softly. “I don’t—I don’t know.”
“Well,” she said as she finished cleaning my hands, “I’m going to go check and make sure Cap doesn’t skimp on the sweets for us.
In the meantime, you take some time out here and breathe, okay?
We have to get back on the job, so now is a good time for you to find some coping mechanisms that work for you. ”
“Yeah, yeah. No. I completely get it. Thanks.”
She cupped my cheek. “I’ll be back with Cap soon. Don’t go anywhere.”
I snickered. “Trust me, I won’t.”
As I watched Chelsea leap out of the back of the ambulance, I wondered what that case was for her.
What case had she witnessed and been part of that shocked her into reality?
I had been riding the high of being an EMT for weeks now without so much as batting an eye.
And then, some random gunshot victim on the side of the road made me stop and catch my breath?
I had no idea what the hell it was about the man, but I did my best to shake it off.
That is, until my cell phone started vibrating in my pocket.
“Shit, I thought I put that thing in my purse,” I hissed.
And when I found yet another restricted number staring me in the face, all of my blood drained to my toes.
Restricted: This is Notch’s contact. I’ll be there in five minutes. You ready for me?
As I gazed around the ambulance, I realized that I was in a prime moment to do what had to be done.
While it made me sick to think about stealing from the people that had been so kind as to welcome me with open arms to their unit, I had a promise to fulfill.
Notch told me that when he got me this job, he’d be asking for a favor.
I just had to make sure that this was the only favor he asked for.
So, that time, I sent a text back.
Me: I’ll be ready in four minutes. You let Notch know that this is the only time I’m doing this, though. I won’t risk my job just because he helped me get it.
After sending the text message off, I reached for the first thing my eyes found. There was a cooler jammed beneath the seat in front of me, and I reached for it without a second thought.
“I can get a new cooler,” I said breathlessly. “Yeah. I can do that.”
I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath.
With trembling hands and a churning gut, I reached for the first thing I’d want if I were stealing supplies off the back of an ambulance.
I opened my eyes slowly, watching as my shaking hand gravitated to the gauze and antiseptic.
And after grabbing fistfuls of everything, I made my rounds.
Needles, and medicines. I.V.’s, and pain killers.
I grabbed stitching materials and the excess runoff of gloves we had stored in all sorts of crevices.
Hell, I even grabbed a stethoscope that I knew no one would miss.
If I thought that I could conceal its taking, I jammed it into that cooler before grabbing a plastic bag off the floor and filling that as well.
Then, I hopped out of the ambulance in search of a place to tuck myself into until Notch’s contact arrived.
“You the paramedic who took our boy?”
I spun around at the thick accent. “What?”
The man sucked air through his teeth as his face tattoos glistened in the sun above our heads. “Our boy, three bullets to his gut. You take him here?”
I blinked. “Grill on his teeth?”
The man nodded. “Yes.”
“Neck tattoos of a dove and a raven?”
“Yep.”
I narrowed my eyes. “One white shoe, one black shoe?”
The man took a step toward me. “Where did you take him?”
I pointed toward the E.R. doors. “He’s been taken back into surgery. He was badly wounded. If you go inside, they’ll be able to get you more information.”
The man looked me up and down. “No.”
Fear gripped my gut. “No?”
His gaze slowly made its way back up to mine. “No.”
I took a small step back. “You’re going to have to be more specific than that.”
“Get her.”
My eyes widened as the three men standing behind him made their way toward me. “Wait, wait, wait, wait!”
I dropped the bags at my sides and held my hands up, which caused his men to stop pursing me.
“Wh-wh-when—when we found him, he was alone in the middle of the sidewalk.”
The man with the face tattoos tilted his head. “Alone?”
I nodded quickly. “Yes. And I thought it was odd because who leaves someone like that alone in the sidewalk? But, we loaded him onto the back of the ambulance, set I.V.’s because he’s going to need surgery, and we kept him stable until he got here.”
“She’s lying,” one of his goonies said.
I shook my head. “I’m not lying. There was a moment where he started seizing--.”
Face Tattoo charged me, getting up into my face. “Seizing? And why was he seizing?”
I swallowed hard as I slid my hands back down to my sides.
“He lost too much blood too quickly. Believe it or not, it’s a normal reaction for the body.
But, he isn’t dead, and he’s being rushed into surgery right now.
That’s why I told you guys to go inside.
He’s out of my hands now and in the care of doctors inside.
I’m not privy to any other information once the trade-off happens at the E.R. doors.”
Face Tattoo leaned in and sniffed my hair. “You smell like truth.”
I had no clue what that fucking meant, but I went with it anyway. “What do I get by lying?”
His stare met mine. “Smart woman.”
I let out the breath I had been holding the minute he stepped away.
“Come on, guys,” he said as he charged past me, “we need to go find answers.”
I didn’t move until I knew all three of them were inside. I didn’t so much as twitch until I heard the E.R. doors slide closed for the very last time. And when I slowly turned around to confirm that they were no longer there, I collapsed to the ground.
Before I started blinking back tears.
“No crying on the job,” I whispered to myself. “No crying on the job. Pick yourself up. Everything is okay. Just get back in the ambulance and wait for your contact.”
“Lexi?”
I sniffled quickly and wiped at my face before I quickly pushed myself up onto my feet. “You must be Notch’s--.”I hadn’t recognized his voice, but the instant my gaze found his, the bones in my entire body evaporated.
“Dean?” I asked softly.
He moved quickly, gripping both of my arms the second I started teetering. “Steady, steady. You look a little weak.”
Tears rushed my eyes. “Dean, is it—is it really you?”
The E.R. doors quickly slid back open. “I know who the fuck that is! Get him!”
I peered around Dean’s shoulder and saw those assholes with guns drawn, aimed directly at me at Dean.
They charged out of the E.R. full force while panic gripped my throat.
I watched as Dean stepped in front of me.
He moved in slow motion, like some action shit from a movie or something.
And as I tried to comprehend the insane scene unfolding before me, only one thought crossed my mind.
Holy shit, Dean’s not dead.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” someone exclaimed.
I whipped my head in the general direction of the sound and saw a security guard quickly withdraw his weapon.
He aimed it at the four men who had their weapons trained on me and Dean, and for the life of me my brain couldn’t process shit.
It was like the damned thing had stalled out, buffering like some underfunded internet page on a shitty public network.
It wasn’t until Dean’s hand reached behind him and settled on my hip that it ripped me back into reality.
“This doesn’t have to go down this way,” I said.
Face Tattoo looked between us and the security guard. “You’re right, it doesn’t.”
Dean nodded. “So, let’s lower those weapons and go our separate ways, yeah?”
Face Tattoo leveled the gun with Dean’s head. “We’re not finished with you yet. Better keep one eye open while you sleep.”
“All right, that’s enough,” the security guy said as he stepped between the two groups of people, one of which was a literal ghost from my past.” “You guys get out of here before I round up the whole of security.”
Dean nodded. “Of course, sir. Not a problem. I was just coming to see a friend of mine really quickly."
The security guard eyed him down before nodding his head toward the E.R. doors. “Get inside and don’t come back out this way. It’ll only cause more trouble.”
And as Dean’s gaze held mine once more, I regretted ever moving back home to San Diego.
Just like I regretted seeing Dean alive with my own eyes.