Two EMTs push their way into the room. A woman in her mid-thirties and a man, perhaps five years younger, hurry after her.
“Okay, what do we have here?”
Delphi steps forward. “His name is Theo. He’s fifteen. He called me about an hour ago to tell me his stepdad hurt him. I hurried over and found him like this.”
“His breathing is shit. I didn’t want to move him because of his ribs,” Mac adds.
“Good call. Alright, Theo. My name is Mandy, and I’m just going to check you over, okay? Let me know if anything hurts.”
Mandy looks up at me. “Is that the stepdad bleeding on the living room floor?”
“Yeah.”
“Nice work,” she mutters.
“As much as I’d love to take credit, I’ve only been here five minutes myself.”
“He was like that when I got here. Someone was running from the trailer when I arrived, so I hung back for a minute, not wanting them to come back. I should have come in sooner,” Delphi says, worrying her lip.
“Never apologize for being smart. He could have circled back, or there could have been someone lying in wait. There would have been nobody here to raise the alarm if you’d been attacked too. Women have to be extra cautious, and we both know that sometimes a beating is the least damaging thing a man can do to a woman.”
Delphi nods and reaches for my hand as they start working on Theo. After five minutes, the male paramedic disappears and comes back with a gurney.
“We’re going to take him in and get him checked out. I don’t think his lungs are compromised, more so that he’s breathing shallow because it hurts. But we’ll need X-rays to rule it out. You’re not his mom, are you?”
“No, I’m?—”
Theo reaches out his arm toward Delphi, yanking on the oxygen mask on his face. “She is. She’s the one I chose.”
Delphi swallows hard before moving toward him. She bends down and presses her lips to his head. “I’ll meet you at the hospital, okay?”
“Okay,” he murmurs as the paramedic places the mask back over his face.
Mandy turns to Delphi and lowers her voice before telling her which hospital she’s taking him to. “Do you know how to reach his mom?”
Delphi shakes her head. “I’ve never met her, and she wasn’t here when I arrived, either. I have no idea where she might be.”
I step closer, moving behind Delphi and sliding my hands up and down her arms. “I’ll ask the guys to see if they can track her down.”
“Thanks.” Mandy turns and pushes Theo out into the hallway.
Delphi face plants against my chest. “I wanted to kill him, Kruger. I still do.”
“You’re not alone in that chestnut. I do too.”
“The whole club feels the same way, babe,” Mac adds as she lifts her head.
“Thanks for coming. I tried calling, but nobody answered their phones, and I panicked.”
“We need to get G to set up an SOS so we know if it goes off in church, it’s an emergency,” Mac says, giving her arm a squeeze.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
“What is?” G asks as he walks in and looks around, his eyes falling on Delphi.
Mac explains the whole SOS idea, and G nods. “I should have thought of that myself. Anything else you need?”
“Yeah, can you see if you can track down Theo’s mom? The paramedic asked about her, and I have a feeling we’ll run into some issues at the hospital without her to consent to things.”
