up quickly.
The
second-to-last stitch went in with less fuss than usual and I started
the last stitch with hands that had started to shake a little.
"As soon
as I get this tied off you need to run and grab those bags of
saline."
"No, you
should do it so I don't have to take pressure off of her."
"I suck at
running an IV, Ash. Always have, probably always will. Besides, I
don't know where you guys have that stuff squirreled away."
"Fine,
I'll get it, but we move her first. I'll hold pressure on her, you
pick her up, and then I'll run the IV as soon as we have somewhere to
hang it from."
I grunted an
agreement as I cut the thread and then it was time to lift her into
the car. There was so much blood that I almost couldn't believe she
was still alive. The fading glow painted across her as red blood
cells started dying was beyond eerie. It wasn't until my shaking got
worse that I realized that a lot of the blood was mine.
Ash set what I
was pretty sure was a world record and had the IV run and a bag of
saline hanging from the passenger seat in seconds.
"I'm not
sure I can do this last one, Ash. I'm starting to get lightheaded."
"It's just
one more set of stitches, Isaac, you can do it and then you can stop
and tape yourself up. I'll be back in a minute."
I wanted to
argue with him, wanted to tell him that I was too far gone, but I
couldn't seem to bring myself to say the words. I must have taken
more damage in the fight than I'd realized, even this much blood loss
shouldn't have impacted me this quickly.
My whole world
narrowed down to the needle, thread, and the hole that I needed to
close up. The tremble in my hands made things worse, but Ash had left
the interior light on and the better visibility helped compensate for
the shake.
Either all of
the practice was taking effect already, or someone besides just Ash
and I really wanted Kristin to live. The first stitch went in
perfectly and the next one was almost as good. After what felt like
forever I pulled the last stitch tight and tied it off.
Ash stuck his
head inside the car to check that I was done and then grabbed me by
one arm and helped get me up into the back seat as he passed me a
gigantic roll of medical tape.
"That will
have to be good enough. Get started on yourself before you lose any
more blood. We have to get out of here before the fire draws the cops
and more of Onyx's people."
I stared dumbly
at the tape for a second before looking around. "What fire?"
"The one
that is going to start in fifteen minutes when the time-delay fuses
on the two incendiary grenades I jammed inside of their car go off."
Ash threw the
SUV into gear and took off like we were already being chased by the
cops. I wanted to just lie down and close my eyes, but something told
me that would be a very bad idea.
I forced myself
to start taping up the huge hole in my side. Ash looked back at me
and frowned. "How much blood have you lost?"
"Honestly,
I have no idea, but it must have been a lot. I can't remember the
last time I was this loopy."
For some reason
that struck me as being incredibly funny. I started to laugh, but
that just pulled on the wound in my side and sent me down a dizzying
spiral of pain. I managed to get a hand out and stop myself from
falling over, but the motion pulled at something inside my chest and
got me started coughing.
"Isaac,
you've got to work faster. I can't stop, and not just for Kristin.
We've got to get out of this area or Onyx will find us."
I sucked down a
couple of big gasps of air to oxygenate my blood enough to keep me
from passing out, and then nodded as I ripped off another big strip
of tape and used it to hold the edges of my stomach wound closed.
"I know.
How long will it take us to get to the nearest hospital?"
"I think I
can get us there in twenty minutes, maybe a minute or two faster if
everything goes perfectly."
"You know
that's the first place that Onyx will check, right?"
"Yeah, I
know. We don't have any other choice
The
second-to-last stitch went in with less fuss than usual and I started
the last stitch with hands that had started to shake a little.
"As soon
as I get this tied off you need to run and grab those bags of
saline."
"No, you
should do it so I don't have to take pressure off of her."
"I suck at
running an IV, Ash. Always have, probably always will. Besides, I
don't know where you guys have that stuff squirreled away."
"Fine,
I'll get it, but we move her first. I'll hold pressure on her, you
pick her up, and then I'll run the IV as soon as we have somewhere to
hang it from."
I grunted an
agreement as I cut the thread and then it was time to lift her into
the car. There was so much blood that I almost couldn't believe she
was still alive. The fading glow painted across her as red blood
cells started dying was beyond eerie. It wasn't until my shaking got
worse that I realized that a lot of the blood was mine.
Ash set what I
was pretty sure was a world record and had the IV run and a bag of
saline hanging from the passenger seat in seconds.
"I'm not
sure I can do this last one, Ash. I'm starting to get lightheaded."
"It's just
one more set of stitches, Isaac, you can do it and then you can stop
and tape yourself up. I'll be back in a minute."
I wanted to
argue with him, wanted to tell him that I was too far gone, but I
couldn't seem to bring myself to say the words. I must have taken
more damage in the fight than I'd realized, even this much blood loss
shouldn't have impacted me this quickly.
My whole world
narrowed down to the needle, thread, and the hole that I needed to
close up. The tremble in my hands made things worse, but Ash had left
the interior light on and the better visibility helped compensate for
the shake.
Either all of
the practice was taking effect already, or someone besides just Ash
and I really wanted Kristin to live. The first stitch went in
perfectly and the next one was almost as good. After what felt like
forever I pulled the last stitch tight and tied it off.
Ash stuck his
head inside the car to check that I was done and then grabbed me by
one arm and helped get me up into the back seat as he passed me a
gigantic roll of medical tape.
"That will
have to be good enough. Get started on yourself before you lose any
more blood. We have to get out of here before the fire draws the cops
and more of Onyx's people."
I stared dumbly
at the tape for a second before looking around. "What fire?"
"The one
that is going to start in fifteen minutes when the time-delay fuses
on the two incendiary grenades I jammed inside of their car go off."
Ash threw the
SUV into gear and took off like we were already being chased by the
cops. I wanted to just lie down and close my eyes, but something told
me that would be a very bad idea.
I forced myself
to start taping up the huge hole in my side. Ash looked back at me
and frowned. "How much blood have you lost?"
"Honestly,
I have no idea, but it must have been a lot. I can't remember the
last time I was this loopy."
For some reason
that struck me as being incredibly funny. I started to laugh, but
that just pulled on the wound in my side and sent me down a dizzying
spiral of pain. I managed to get a hand out and stop myself from
falling over, but the motion pulled at something inside my chest and
got me started coughing.
"Isaac,
you've got to work faster. I can't stop, and not just for Kristin.
We've got to get out of this area or Onyx will find us."
I sucked down a
couple of big gasps of air to oxygenate my blood enough to keep me
from passing out, and then nodded as I ripped off another big strip
of tape and used it to hold the edges of my stomach wound closed.
"I know.
How long will it take us to get to the nearest hospital?"
"I think I
can get us there in twenty minutes, maybe a minute or two faster if
everything goes perfectly."
"You know
that's the first place that Onyx will check, right?"
"Yeah, I
know. We don't have any other choice
Similar Books
