Page 153 of Wrench
Take him to the hospital, I¡¯m not qualified for this!¡±
¡°Samantha, I understand that you¡¯re scared,¡± Tank spoke in a disturbingly peaceful
voice despite the urgency in the air. ¡°But this is non-negotiable. If you don¡¯t agree to
saving Archer, we will consider it murder on your behalf.¡±
All of the blood in my veins turned to ice. My bottom lip quivered as I looked at Isaac,
hoping for him to smile and assure me Tank was only joking, but his face remained as
stone. My nostrils flared as I scowled at Isaac with disgust, resenting him more than I
thought was possible. Looking back to Tank with my teeth clenched, I shoved Isaac¡¯s
elbow with mine as I made my way to Archer with my first aid kit.
Although I had similar experience with animals, I had never done anything remotely
medical on a human. Bending down to Archer¡¯s side to inspect the wound, I felt nauseous.
Even cheesy horror movies made me squeamish, but I didn¡¯t dare show any sign of it in
front of Tank or the others.
As I opened the first aid kit to try to concoct some method of saving his life, I was
startled when Archer muttered something so quietly, there was no way any others heard.
I glanced at him through the corner of my eyes and saw his were open like slits, visibly
rolling around his head, but he still managed to muster two words.
¡°Hey, vet.¡±
I didn¡¯t respond but felt the anger swirl inside at the sound of his voice. Trying to save
his life was bad enough, I didn¡¯t want to converse with him. Until he kept mumbling,
¡°Sorry about the other night¡¡±
I paused with a pair of tweezers in my hand.
¡°Was just¡ª¡± he coughed. ¡°Was just tryna loogout fer Wrench¡¡± he trailed off and
reclosed his eyes, falling out of consciousness and I swallowed. A bit of my anger and fear
toward him evaporated, relieving a small weight off my chest. Just enough to get through
it.
¡°Hurry up, girl!¡±
¡°Shut up, Rooster,¡± Isaac said, but he was right. So much blood was already lost, I had
to close up the wound. Remembering what I knew about bullet wounds and how to mend
them from veterinary school, praying the skills would transfer over, I held my breath and
