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Julie seems to snap out of her thoughts and runs toward us, dropping to the ground beside Theo.
“I'm here. What can I do?” She asks, then looks at me as if waiting for an order.
Think. Think. Think.
“He has lost too much blood. I can hardly feel a pulse. We have to start the transfusion now,” I say. “Julie, in the bag is a bottle labeled Citrate Phosphate Dextrose. Grab it.”
After frantically searching for it, she hands it over and I grab a needle.
“Quick, hold this bag while I place an IV in Tyler’s arm,” I tell Julie, handing her an empty IV bag. “We need to fill this bag with Tyler’s blood and transfer it to Theo. But without this, it won't work.” I say, holding up the medication and needle.
“What is that?” Julie and Tyler both ask.
“Anticoagulant, I have to mix this in the bag while it's filling with Tyler's blood so that it doesn't clot and is able to go into Theo. This is risky as hell, but by the grace of God and a miracle, it might work.” Julie's eyes lock onto mine with a blank expression. I turn away and face Tyler. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Julie, I need you to hold the bag while I inject the anticoagulant,” I say, then insert the IV into Tyler’s arm.
Tyler turns his head and clenches his fist as the needle pierces his skin. Blood begins to flow through the clear tubing, filling the bag. My shoulders drop in relief after being so tense. Tyler gives as much blood as he can without passing out like Theo.
“Is there anything I can do?” asks Karissa.
“No, I think we have it under control right now. Stay with Xander.”
While the bag fills, I mix the anticoagulant. Then, I suture Theo's shoulder and insert an IV into his arm. Moments later, we all sit back and exhale, exhausted and drained.
“What do we do now?” Tyler asks.
“We wait. That's all we can do. I've done what I can. I'll keep an eye on Theo,” I say, then look around at everyone else. “Thank you for your help.”
Karissa smiles and responds, “Anytime. Thank you for helping my brother.”
“This is going to take a while. Tyler, you may have just saved your brother’s life.” He smiles back at me, then looks over to Sara and Kelly, and his smile drops. I feel bad for the kid. Kelly may have lost her mind. At first, I thought she was having a panic attack but this seems much worse than that. I reach over and grab Tyler's hand. “She is going to be okay,” I say, hoping it's true.
“Thank you,” he whispers. His eyes are wet as he hangs his head low. I look around the room at all the people sitting around Theo. My eyes land on Julie, who seems lost in thought. She doesn't realize I'm staring at her, but I know exactly what she is thinking. I look back down at Theo. This could have ended entirely differently. I pray this works, but only time will tell.
28
TYLER
My mind is racing, and I can’t think straight. I look down at my arm and see the IV, then at Theo on the floor. Please wake up. I can't do this alone. I can hear my father’s voice echoing in my head, reminding me what a fuck-up I am. I really hope he’s wrong today. I wonder what he would say if he knew he would be a grandpa? I'm sure he would find some way to put me down and tell me I’m not good enough. I'll be a better dad than you, you old bastard.
I turn to check on Kelly and a wave of confusion surges through me. She was so scared when I walked up to her, and then she shouted at me for attacking her. Why would she think I was attacking her? I push the thought aside, closing my eyes, and I take a deep breath. All the passengers are beginning to clear the room, with some still arguing about Logan being out of control and how they only did everything he said so that he wouldn't kill them. A moment later, my eyes shoot open when a fight breaks out in the back of the room. Two guys are going on about how Logan didn't deserve to be killed. I look over and see Brent, the same guy that I saw in the hallway earlier.
“Logan was right. You're all going to die out here!” he spews. A few others stand and shove him out of the room. Karissa is yelling at him as he is being pushed out, but I'm not sure what she says. For now, all I want to do is close my eyes and not think about the utter chaos that surrounds me, and most of all, I don't want to think about Brent. We will have to deal with that asshole later.
I'm not sure how much time has passed when I open my eyes. The room is cleared of all the passengers from earlier and Mary is gently undoing the IV on my arm.
“Hold still, this will be quick,” she says, sliding the IV out of my arm and covering it with a small gauze. When she is finished, I look over to Kelly and Sara again. Kelly is still a little out of it.
I watch as Sara leans in and whispers to Kelly and gently rubs her arm. Kelly looks lost. Her eyes keep darting around the room, like she is trying to figure out where she is. I realize I’ve seen this look on her before. It was the day she picked up the fork and stabbed John in the neck.
I stand and begin walking toward Kelly and Sara. As I get closer, Sara begins shaking her head and pointing in the opposite direction. I pause and look around to see what she is pointing at, but I don't see anything. My thoughts drift to my soon-to-be baby, and I decide I have a right to know what is happening. I start walking up to them again, and Sara puts her hand up again. Kelly must notice Sara's movement because she turns around and is now facing me. I watch her eyes go wide, as if I am an animal about to attack her. Only this time she doesn’t run away from me. She rises from the floor. Sara tries to pull her back as she stands but fails. Kelly grabs the bloody weapon lying on the ground and rushes at me. Startled, I stop as she quickly closes the distance between us.
“Kelly... babe? What are you doing?” She doesn't answer or stop.
“Kelly, stop!” Sara shouts, jumping to her feet. Kelly doesn't listen to Sara and continues charging toward me. When she is only a few feet from me, Sara shouts loudly, “Sophie, stop now!” Wait, who the hell is Sophie?
