Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94393 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“Mav, your knife,” Ronan called as he kept his finger on Brennan’s pulse.
I grabbed the knife from my ankle holster and searched out Jace. “Check the bathroom for any kind of antiseptic. Caleb, can you check the kitchen for alcohol?”
Caleb nodded, though his eyes were wide with shock. He began rifling through the cabinets and the refrigerator as Eli finally found the box he was looking for. He rushed to the table and began tearing the cardboard open. He let out a cry of relief when he found the clear plastic tubing.
“Will this work?” Caleb asked as he handed me a bottle of tequila.
I nodded and doused my knife with it. I grabbed the tubing and the alcohol and hurried to Ronan’s side. Brennan was gasping desperately for air and tears were streaking down his face.
“Hold on Brennan,” Memphis whispered. “You’re going to feel better in a minute.”
Brennan’s eyes fixed on Memphis and I saw Memphis use his free hand to cup Brennan’s cheek.
“Cut the tubing in half and clean it with the alcohol,” Ronan said. I did as he said and the second I was done with the alcohol, he grabbed it from me and dumped a generous amount over his hands. He took my knife.
“His shirt,” he said to me and I leaned over and ripped the shirt open, exposing Brennan’s chest and the gaping gunshot wound in his side. “Help Memphis keep him still,” Ronan ordered. I moved around Ronan’s other side and put my hands on Brennan’s shoulders. “Hold his arm up,” he said. To Brennan he gently said, “Brennan, this is going to hurt, but I need you to stay as still as possible. It’s going to feel better real soon, okay?”
Brennan managed a nod, but the second Ronan found the spot he was looking for and cut into him, he cried out in pain. I held him down as Memphis got up into his face and softly said, “Keep your eyes on me.”
At some point Eli had dropped down next to Ronan. I could see his hands were wet from alcohol and he was holding the tubing in his hands. Ronan handed him the knife and took the tubing and began working it into the incision he’d made. “Okay, Brennan, it’s in…just a few more seconds, okay?”
Brennan managed a nod, but he kept his eyes on Memphis. I felt the second the chest tube began working because Brennan relaxed beneath my hands as his breathing began to improve. Ronan leaned down to listen to Brennan’s chest and then quickly began assessing Brennan’s gunshot wound which was leaking blood at a rapid rate.
“Eli, we need to put pressure on this. Do you have any clean towels or rags?”
Eli jumped up and rushed from the room. He was back a second later with a stack of laundered hand towels. Ronan placed two towels over the wound and ordered Eli to put as much pressure on the wound as he could. I was glad when I heard sirens out front and to the paramedics’ credit, they didn’t react at the sight of the dead body just inside of the doorway other than one of the men checking for a pulse. They didn’t bother checking the man with the gunshot wound. Eli and I both stepped back as the paramedics got to work and neither man argued as Ronan began giving them orders. I heard one of the paramedics speak into a radio that they were doing a scoop and run and I knew it was bad.
Really bad.
They worked quickly to get Brennan on the gurney, but when Brennan’s eyes slid shut, Ronan snapped, “We need to go now.”
“We’ll meet you at the hospital!” I called as Ronan rushed out the door with the paramedics. Memphis started to follow.
“Memphis, the cops will need to question you,” I said.
“Then they can fucking come find me at the hospital,” he retorted and then he was following Ronan and the paramedics.
“Go,” Jace said as our eyes met. “We’ll stay here and wait for the cops,” he said as nodded at Caleb.
I was already tugging Eli to the door when I said, “Can you take care of getting the dog help? His name is Baby. Keys are in the SUV.”
Jace nodded and then I was dragging Eli down the stairs. The paramedics had just finished loading Brennan when we reached the curb. I saw that Ronan had climbed into the back of the ambulance and was frantically working on Brennan. It took me several long seconds to realize he was doing chest compressions on the young man.
Memphis was standing shell shocked behind the ambulance as the doors swung closed and I could only hope that Eli hadn’t seen what was happening to his friend. “Memphis, keys!” I called. Memphis looked at me as if he’d forgotten where we were and then he was moving. He tossed me his car keys and strode to the dark blue luxury sedan that was parked in front of Ronan’s SUV. Eli got in the back while I ran to the driver’s side. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the ambulance, but since I suspected which hospital it was going to, I wasn’t worried about it.