“You’re bleeding,” Trevor said, pitching his voice calm and careful.
“I know,” the paramedic ground out, still holding onto his patient. “It’s fine. I’ll deal with it later.”
His sturdiness in the face from what he’d just experienced piqued Trevor’s interest. “We can deal with it now.”
“Is it safe?”
“Our immediate area is.”
“Okay. Erin?”
A blonde-haired woman slowly stood up from behind the triage nurse’s desk, blinking wide brown eyes at them. She wore the same uniform as the paramedic did, indicating she was his partner. The woman scanned the area before shaking her head hard and coming out from behind the desk.
“Brendan?” she said. “He said you’re bleeding?”
“Later,” Brendan replied as he gestured at their patient. “Help me get her out of here. She needs a doctor.”
The ID bar pinned to the front of the man’s uniform had the last name Kane scrolling across the tiny screen. The bodycam usually pinned below such identification was missing, a hole ripped into his uniform shirt where it used to be. He looked like he’d gone through quite a bit of manhandling to protect his patient. Trevor was even more annoyed at the gunman.
“Let me help,” Trevor offered.
“She has internal injuries,” Brendan warned.
If internal injuries were involved, Trevor wasn’t going to carry the woman in his arms. Instead, he wrapped his telekinesis around her limp form and carefully straightened her out in the air as if she were lying on a hovergurney.
Erin startled badly and jerked backward, stumbling into the triage desk. Brendan blinked up at Trevor in shock for a couple of seconds before his training as a first responder took over. Despite the wound on his arm, Brendan got to his feet and focused on his patient. He didn’t seem scared or hesitant around Trevor’s use of power that marked him as a metahuman, unlike his partner. The difference in their reactions didn’t go unnoticed by Trevor.
“Is it safe for everyone out here?” Brendan asked, most of his attention on his patient.
“Safe enough. The police are on their way according to the AI,” Trevor replied.
Brendan spared him a glance, blinking rapidly. “You weren’t called in?”
Trevor gave Brendan an encouraging smile as he telekinetically carried the unconscious woman toward the security doors that led to the ER beds and operating theaters. Continuing to hold the gunmen in place from a short distance required little effort. He’d deal with them soon enough.
“I’m a medical student here now, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore an emergency like this.”
Brendan let out a heavy breath, gaze straying down to the weapon in Trevor’s hand. The flinch that ran through his entire body had Trevor casually hiding the gun behind his back, out of sight. Erin didn’t seem to notice the interplay between them, too busy calling into dispatch over her comms to update everyone about their situation.
The building’s AI still had the place on lockdown, but that didn’t stop Trevor from moving deeper into the ward. Brendan reached for his patient with his right arm as they walked. The med-glove strapped to his forearm appeared undamaged, and it scanned her vitals upon first touch. Trevor caught a glimpse of the screen and knew she wasn’t doing well.
Brendan swore. “We need to get her into the OR.”
“How is she related to those assholes back there?” Trevor asked.
“Domestic violence situation. The police were called and then so were we.”
Trevor nodded, scanning the area they were hurrying through for the trauma nurse in charge. He raised his voice to try to put everyone at ease. “Situation is under control. Police are on their way. We have injured who need to be seen to.”
It was a testament to those who had chosen a profession where emergencies were a daily life occurrence that nurses and doctors spilled out of the proverbial woodwork at the all-clear. The madcap bustle of the ER promptly lurched back into motion, starting with a pair of nurses who hauled a hovergurney their way.
“Incoming Medic 2?” one asked sharply as they lined up the hovergurney beside the unconscious woman floating in the air.
“Yes. Trauma report should be in the system,” Brendan said. “Initial field scans indicated internal injuries.”
“Trauma alert team is still standing by. Let’s get her in the OR.”
Trevor telekinetically placed the woman onto the hovergurney, stepping back as another nurse in scrubs leaned out of a medical room down the hall. “OR 4 is open!”
