Page 9 of Nova

The rest of the night passes by without much incident. To my surprise, the group of women my blonde bombshell arrived with stuck around. It's about two hours until we give the last call and close the doors, and we have about half the occupancy of people still going strong and having a good time. That's until a woman shouting for help breaks out over the noise. It draws almost everyone's attention, as heads shift toward the bathroom area. Flying from behind the bar, I reach the hysterical woman, before anyone else does. She's had way too much to drink, and her words aren't forming coherent sentences. "Calm down." She's half-ass hyperventilating but manages to suck in a deep breath of air before speaking."

"My friend. She passed out in the bathroom, and I can't get her to wake up."

Kiwi is suddenly at my side, as a crowd begins to form around the frantic woman and me. "Shit. Kiwi, keep her here." He nods, and I burst into the bathroom, not giving two shits if there's anyone else in there. I go stall to stall until I reach the third, finding it locked. "Are you okay?" I knock on the stall door, getting no response." Listen, sweetheart, if you don't speak up, I'm coming in after you." I give it a second before squatting, seeing nothing but heels and legs, before deciding to peer into the stall. I'm not prepared to see the same young blonde I flirted with earlier in the night, currently slumped over, with a needle in her arm. "Motherfuck!"

Laying on the dirty floor, I manage to slide my big ass under the stall. Unlocking the door, I hoist the woman off the toilet, thankful she's fully clothed. I hate having to lay her down in here, but I have no other options. Once I have her on the floor, the bluish tint to her once pink lips kicks my ass into high gear and I press two fingers to her neck, feeling for a pulse. "Fuck." I don't feel one. Goddammit. I call for Kiwi, at the same time I tilt her chin back, pinch her nose, giving two slow breaths into her mouth.

"Holy shit!" Kiwi skids to a halt.

"Call 911 and bring me the Narcan," I bark my orders before repeating the same process, trying to bring the woman back from death. Kiwi disappears. "Come on," I keep trying for a response.

"Move back," Riggs shows up. In his right hand, the life-saving medicine this young woman needs. I just hope it's not too late. My brother notices the needle that had fallen from her arm nearby, then checks her pupils, before spraying the medicine into each nostril.

We wait. Watching for signs of life. Her chest begins to rise and fall, so we roll her onto her side. That's when the paramedics arrive and take over. One of them thanks us as they load her into the back of the ambulance, her friend climbing in, sitting beside her. She mouths a thank you to us just before the ambulance doors close. It goes to show that you never know a person. She didn't look like an addict, but, apparently, from what her girlfriends said, their friend had been sober for the past three months. It's sad. I hope she gets the help she needs because her relapse tonight could have killed her. What's worse is that we usually keep the medicine on hand, often stowed away in Riggs' office for scenarios like this one, due to the fact we found a young man in the same situation months ago. The only difference is it was too late to save him.

"Let's shut it down for the night." Riggs claps my back as the ambulance tail lights disappear. "I need to hold my woman and kiss my daughter."

Thank fuck. It's nights like tonight that make me want to go home to my daughter and count my fucking blessings.

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