Read Online Scarlet Angel by C. A. Wilke - Free Book Online Page B

screen lit up with the time.
Only two minutes had passed. Neil’s pulse weakened. The slower his
heart beat, the faster hers raced. “Don’t you dare die on me
Neil...”
    She checked the time seven more times over the next
fifteen minutes. Each time, more and more doubt crept into her
mind. Scarlett began to think Cash lied to her. Maybe no one is
coming. When an unfamiliar buzzer echoed through the apartment,
she yelped.
    The central panel of the vidscreen wall came to
life. The screen showed a live feed of the front door. The oblique
angle from above and to the side disoriented her.
    Standing in front of the door was an unassuming man.
A tan trench coat hung on his shoulders. Who the hell is
this?
    She noticed his rolling suitcase and white lab coat
under the trench coat.
    The stranger knocked on the door and the buzzer
startled her again. She watched his lips move accompanied a split
second later by an omnipresent voice. “Hello? I believe there’s a
patient waiting for me? I’m Doctor Smith. I was sent by Cash
Mallack.”
    She stared at the screen. “A doctor?” Scarlett dared
not move. She’d just stopped the flow of blood from Neil’s chest.
If it started again she didn’t think he would survive.
    “ Yes, a doctor,” the voice
replied.
    Scarlett did a double-take. “Wait, you can hear
me?”
    “ Yes Ma’am. Is there a patient
waiting for me or not?”
    “ There is, but I’m holding his
chest. I... I mean my hand is over his wound.”
    The doctor looked around, trying to find the camera
he was being viewed through. “That’s fine. Mr. Mallack said for you
to tell the door to open. ”
    “ Tell the doors to open?” Her brow
wrinkled. “What the hell does that mean?”
    “ I’m sure I don’t know, but that’s
what he said.”
    “ Um... okay. Front door
open.”
    A chime echoed through the room, followed by a
female voice. “Voice recognized. Door open.”
    The door clicked and the doctor reached for the
handle. When he saw the inside he paused half-way in. “Where are
you?”
    She gave the man directions through the offices to
the small closet elevator. A minute later he appeared.
    “ How long has he been
unconscious?” The man strolled quickly across the floor and knelt
beside Neil.
    “ I don’t know, maybe ten
minutes?”
    “ Alright then, tell me what
happened.”
    Scarlett relayed the events of the last few minutes.
By the time she was done, fresh tears streamed down her face.
    Doctor Smith pulled on a pair of blue rubber gloves
with a snap. He made a quick inspection and gave his prognosis. “So
far, I’d say he’s very lucky. I don’t know what kind of bullet hit
him, but it went cleanly through. Whatever it was, it was hot. The
flesh around the wound, inside and out, is scorched.”
    He jumped up and looked around. “We need to move
him... here.” He pointed to the kitchen table.
    Scarlett ran over. She cleared the surface of debris
with a swipe of her arm. Doctor Smith hefted the front half of
Neil’s limp form. Scarlett grabbed his legs.
    Once the patient was on the table, the doctor went
to work. The two of them removed the last shreds of Neil’s shirt
and jacket. A small pair of scissors appeared in the doctor’s hand.
He attempted to cut away Neil’s black undershirt, but the stainless
steel tool only bent. Together, they peeled the tough material from
his torso.
    The doctor grabbed a needle and started an I.V.,
hanging the bag on the chandelier overhead. Several times he
pointed and barked for Scarlett to get more gauze or tools from his
bag. She returned from another foray into the doctor’s suitcase to
see Neil’s motionless chest. “Doctor, he’s not breathing!”
    Doctor Smith’s voice was smooth and flat. “I
know.”
    “ Do something!”
    “ There, in my bag. That mask.” The
doctor checked Neil’s pulse and grabbed the small airbag mask from
Scarlett. “Shit. Here, now put this over his face and squeeze and
release like this.” The doctor squeezed