Page 16 of Moretti Captive
“He’s breathing, but I don’t think he’s conscious. I put my shirt over the wounds and am applying pressure,” I tell him.
“Good. You’re doing good,” he tells me with a calm voice. “Just keep holding pressure until the paramedics get there.”
“Okay.” The sound of sirens reaches my ears. “I can hear the sirens!”
“That means they’re close. Let me know when they get there, and I’ll hang up.”
“Okay.” I look down at Vin’s pale face. It’s wavy and distorted. I hadn’t even realized I was crying.
“How is he doing?” the operator asks.
“No change. He’s pale, though. Still breathing,” I tell him.
“That’s good. Keep up the good work.”
I nod like he would be able to see that. A squeal sounds out as the ambulance slams on their brakes beside us. “They’re here!” I tell him.
“Okay, good. I’ll leave you to them then.” The call ends, and two men rush out of the ambulance.
One man crouches next to me while the other gets to work unloading a gurney from the back of the ambulance. The man next to me looks Vin over and gives me a nod. “Keep holding pressure.” He reaches into a bag I didn’t even notice beside him and pulls out gauze and pads. “How many entry points?” he barks out.
“T-two,” I stutter.
He nods and does something with the gauze. “Okay, when I say to back up, you’re going to move out of the way so I can pack the wounds.” I nod as he prepares a few things and gets a roll of medical tape. “Now, back up.”
I scramble away from Vin as fast as I can to give him room. I can’t bring myself to look while he ‘packs the wounds,’ not even wanting to know what that entails.
Instead, I look at Vin’s pale face. I don’t know what to do. Nic isn’t here, and I don’t have a way to contact him. I should have made sure I had his fucking phone number. The other paramedic rolls the stretcher to them, and they do some kind of move and put Vin on the thing like he weighs nothing. I scramble after them, “Where are you taking him?” I demand.
“Bellevue. You can’t ride with us, but you can meet him there. The police will be by in a while to ask some questions,” the other paramedic tells me.
I nod. With one last look at Vin as they close him into the back of the ambulance, I hurry over to his car and start it up. They rush off with the lights and sirens going before I can even get the car into gear.
I don’t even know how fast I drive there. One moment I’m in the car, the next I’m rushing through the doors to the emergency room. A nurse sees me, and her eyes widen at the blood all over me as well as the fact that I’m only wearing a bra. “Where are you injured?” she asks, rushing over to look me over.
I shake my head, “I’m not hurt. I was with the guy that got shot. He’s here, right?” I demand.
The nurse’s face softens, “Come with me. I’ll get you something to wear.”
I keep looking around, “I don’t need anything to wear. I need to know how he’s doing.”
“You can’t walk around like that. Let’s get you washed up first.” I take a second to really look at myself and wince.
Reluctantly, I follow the nurse. She leads me to an area in the back of the emergency room with shelves of things and a sink. She pulls out a pair of disposable scrubs and nods to a door. “Here, honey. There’s a bathroom right there. Go ahead and clean up and put these on.”
I go into the bathroom and lock the door. There’s blood on my bra and my jeans, so I just pull both off and toss them into the garbage. Grabbing a mound of paper towels, I scrub the dried blood off as well as I can before I pull on the disposable scrubs carefully to avoid ripping them.
Leaving the bathroom, I make a crinkly sound, but I do feel a little more human. The nurse is still waiting where I left her. She smiles at me, “Okay. So, I asked around, we’ve only gotten one GSW tonight, so I think that’s your guy. He’s been taken in for emergency surgery. Is there anything religious that would alter the course of his treatment?”
I frown, “Not that I know of.”
The nurse frowns at me, “Are you a relative? Nobody but family will be able to go see him.”
I almost freak out and start crying again, “I’m his fiancée,” I say and almost hit myself for it.
Her face softens once more, “Okay. I’ll get you the paperwork. Can you just fill out what you know?”
I nod. She leads me over to a seat in the waiting area and then brings me a clipboard with a packet of papers clipped on. I go through it, only answering the things I know, like his full name, address, and… well, that’s about it.
