Page 42 of Resuscitation
“Nurse’s station.”
“I’m on my way.”
Brick didn’t have time to do much other than to pat down Tyson’s body in the off chance that he had the rubies—although he was certain Harper and Leon would’ve already done that. If only he’d seen what had happened to them back at Watts’s house.
Mercer arrived, his expression grim.
“How’s Connor?” Brick asked.
“Stable. That’s what the doc calls it. Ask me, he looks like hell.”
“Think she’s not doing what she can?”
Mercer ran both palms over his face. “No. That’s the problem. I think she is doing everything she can think of.” He glanced at Tyson’s body. “Maybe we just need to give her more incentive. And flush out this fireman of yours.”
He sat down at the desk and picked up the phone, jabbed the button labeledIntercom. He spoke and his voice echoed through the empty hallways like the voice of god.
“This is a message to the intruder who just killed my guy. Well, good work. I congratulate you. You’re one tough cookie. However, I have no time for games. So…” His voice slowed and deepened. “I’m gonna start killing the hostages, from the youngest to the oldest, until you give yourself up. You got five minutes. Starting now.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
Friday,February 13th, 9:21 P.M.
Thomas grippedhis mylar blanket tighter, the metallic fabric crinkling noisily. It was so damn cold in here. “Alyssa, did I ever tell you about the time Rose and I stowed away on a luxury yacht?” He smiled at the memory.
Alyssa didn’t answer. He rotated the flashlight to aim it at her. Her eyes were closed and she was struggling to breathe. Suddenly, the monitor alarm went off. He jumped up, went to her, tugging his IV so hard he pulled it out. Ignoring the thin stream of blood running down his arm, he tried to focus on the monitor, but it was a blur of green and red and yellow waves.
“Thomas,” Alyssa gasped.
He found her hand, grasped it. “I’m here. What do you need?”
“Seal. Clogged.” She slapped a hand against the monitor, silencing it.
But when he followed the movement with the flashlight, he realized she was really reaching for the special bandage Blake had already replaced once.
What had Blake done? Thomas tried to remember, but the entire world was like looking through the wrong end of a frosted whiskey tumbler, had been for years now thanks to his diabetes. He’d learned to navigate the world by sticking to familiar routines and by translating the blurry blobs of color and waves of motion into his own version of reality.
Alyssa fumbled at the chest seal, peeling it off. Thomas peered at it. There was no bleeding, but if he remembered what had happened before, that wasn’t a good thing. It meant there was blood clotting beneath the bandage that was meant to act like a valve.
“Tell me what to do?” He choked down the sob that felt like a rock in his throat. He hadn’t felt this helpless since the cancer ate at Rose while all he could do was sit by and watch her suffer and fade away before his eyes. His damn eyes. They worked too damn well back then and were useless now! “Alyssa, what do you need?”
She sat up, leaning forward, working so hard to breathe that even he could see her neck muscles straining with the effort. But she managed to point to the small tray containing the equipment Blake had used to start her IV. Thomas grabbed it, set it on her lap. Her entire body bobbed up and down with every breath.
“Is this it?”
A nod and her finger inched along the various needles in their packaging. Finally, she stopped on one basin containing three IVs. He took one, held it close to his eyes with the light aimed straight at it. “It says fourteen-gauge angiocatheter. Is this the one?”
Another jerk of her chin, then she grabbed a fistful of gloves from the larger well beside the alcohol swabs. She thrust them at him, made a cutting motion with her fingers.
“Cut it?”
She held up one finger.
“Cut off a finger?”
Another nod.
He took the medical scissors from the tray, peered at the glove finger, and cut it almost at the palm. While he was working, she’d wiped the area below her collarbone with alcohol and opened the IV catheter. He handed her the glove finger, and to his surprise she slid the needle through the inside of the glove, then leaned back. With a grunt of effort, she jammed the needle into her own ribcage.
