Page 198 of Split You Open

Ledger shoots me a look that unnerves me as he stumbles back.

There’s no humanity in those eyes.

It’s like staring into Anchor’s, except, right now, Ledger’s green ones are far darker and promise to unleash death and destruction unlike the world has ever known. My friend is holding on by a thread.

The worst part about it?

So, am I.

We can’t lose Blair because if she’s goes, our sanity and soul go too. Without either, the apocalypse will begin—I’m certain of that. My heart is thundering in my chest as it slowly begins to break apart piece by piece the longer Blair remains unconscious.

“I’m ready to fix her up. If you want to help, scrub up,” I snap at him when Ledger hesitates. “Otherwise, go make yourself useful.”

So distracted, I didn’t realize Rhett was in the main section of the basement until he comes hurrying in with an armful of metal poles and pieces.

“I don’t know how to set this up!” he says, anxiously.

“What is it?” I ask.

Ledger whirls around and takes the pieces from Rhett. With a growl he replies, “It’s an IV stand. Rhett, go grab the oxygen tank.”

Rhett’s already moving, hurrying back out of the room. Just as he disappears, Santi steps back.

“Clothes are off.” He swallows then proceeds to tick off the wounds he’d seen. “She’s got two major bullet wounds. One on her upper chest and one in her calf. I also felt a bump on her head when I lifted it. Looks like a minor scratch on her ear, too. Bruising is everywhere.”

My eyes flicker over her bruised and bloody body. Fuck… We need to clean her up, disinfect all the open wounds, patch the worst of them up, and somehow keep her heart still beating. The fact that she’s alive with how much blood loss there must’ve been so far is a small miracle.

“Someone needs to scrub up; I’m going to need help stopping the blood flow. Santi⁠—”

Santi darts out of the room.

“On it!” he calls out behind him.

Ledger pieces together the large IV stand as I pull out the tourniquet from the first aid kit and get to work cutting off the blood flow to Blair’s leg.

None of us are medics.

While Ledger and I have some idea on how to help in an emergency situation, I try not to think about how out of our league we are. Blair could use some real medical assistance right now but there’s a reason no one brought up taking her to a hospital.

Our woman doesn’t exist in databases. Bringing her to a hospital will inevitably lead to questions we can’t answer.

With a house that’s gone up in flames and bodies littering the woods within the city of Caddawalk, there’s no doubt the doctors and nurses at Caddawalk General Hospital would deduce that Blair was somehow involved in that mess. Especially given her injuries. What if the authorities take her away from us if the hospital did manage to save Blair?

The thought is too agonizing to consider, and I know that’s why none of us have the heart to bring it up.

A few minutes later, Blair is on oxygen, has an IV drip going with saline fluids seeping into her veins. I’ve begun to patch her up while Santi and Ledger wipe the blood from Blair’s body. When they’re done, Ledger grabs a sheet to throw over most of her to keep her warm. Upstairs, I can hear the faint sound of the water running as Rhett runs lukewarm water over the frozen plasma Ledger keeps on hand that we’ll need.

“I need to set up a transfusion,” Ledger tells me. “I’m O negative, it’ll be compatible with her AB blood.”

Santi makes a face. “AB blood—that’s, like, the hardest to give a transfusion to, right?” At Ledger’s tight nod, Santi groans. “Damn it! I don’t remember what blood type I am. I don’t know if I can donate.”

“We’ll make what we have work,” Ledger growls out but I can see the trepidation and worry in his eyes.

“Need help setting it up?” Santi asks.

Ledger opens his mouth, most likely to object, but I shoot him a dark look. “Let Santi help.”

If he doesn’t, Santi is going to anxiously pace around this room and it’ll drive me crazy. I need to focus and Santi needs to be given a task. He doesn’t do “standing still and patiently waiting”. Ledger must have come to the same conclusion because he heaves a sigh before giving Santi a tight nod.