Page 162 of Salvation

I picked up Vienna’s chart from the end of the bed and flicked through it.

Oh, yeah, Rachel, as if you’re going to be able to do anything with this information.

It didn’t hurt to look though, did it?

If the bombs came flying, I could easily staple an arm back on with this nice little file as a guide.

At least I was making myself laugh.

But I was right. It was just a blur of letters and numbers, none of which made sense to me. Even the words I recognised seemed weird and out of place. I put the chart back with much more force than necessary and sat back in my seat, my eyes flicking to the monitors.

Was that a normal heart rate? How was I even supposed to know? The last time I’d had mine checked had been when I was pregnant. The doctors told me everything was fine, so I hadn’t bothered paying attention to the numbers. But were these numbers fine? Even if I had paid attention to my own numbers, surely men were different from women? Surely pregnancy made blood pressure different? Surely a gun wound did?

I was in way over my head.

I could see Shark’s blood pressure climbing slightly. That was normal, right? It was normal to have spikes now and then, surely?

I was making myself paranoid. The room was too quiet, filled with nothing but the sounds of their laboured breathing and the odd wheeze of pain.

It was setting me on edge. That was all. I just needed to relax a little and focus on something else.

I picked up the magazine from the table and flicked through it, but my attention kept wandering back to the two men in front of me.

Did Vienna look paler than he had before? And I’m almost certain Shark hadn’t struggled to keep his eyes open as much.

“You’re annoying me,” Vienna murmured, opening one eye and pinning me to my chair with just a half look.

“I’m not doing anything,” I protested.

“Your presence is doing enough. I can smell the anxiety pouring out of you. When is your shift over?”

“Fuck off, Vienna. You can be easily silenced with one small pillow over your head. And you’re not exactly in the position to stop me.”

“I’d be a witness,” Shark croaked.

“You can fuck off, too.”

Both men gave small, pathetic laughs, and then closed their eyes again.

I hate this.

Shark’s machine beeped once, and then twice, and I swear my own heart rate elevated to twice the speed.

And then Vienna’s beeped, causing me to give myself whiplash as I twisted my head in his direction.

“It’s fine, Rachel,” I whispered to myself as the machines stopped beeping as rapidly.

“Rachel?”

“I’m not fucking anxious, Vienna!” I snapped.

“No… Can you get the nurse? I don’t…” He didn’t finish.

His back arched in the air as his body started fitting on the bed. I flew out of my seat, seeing him stiffen to unbelievable limits, his entire body shaking as the convulsions wracked his body.

I grabbed his arms and pinned them to the bed, throwing my upper body over him to try to keep him from falling to the floor.

Spit flew from his mouth in foamy bubbles, and the veins on his neck protruded. I grabbed the control from the side of his bed and pressed the emergency button repeatedly, my eyes flicking to the door and back to Vienna.

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