“Ah, Mr. Brennan. Are you enjoying your new office?” Pierre Rousselle laughed, standing at the top of the hole, his head blocking the sun like an eclipse.
“You are a pathetic individual, Pierre. Where is Rosalind? Beaten and stored in a closet?” Kip asked.
“Please, I don’t beat my wife,” he snarled.
“That’s because it’s her money, isn’t it? At least, before your drug scheme. Which came after your oil scheme. How many times have you failed?” Kip taunted.
“Shut your mouth.” A clod of mud fell from above. “I wanted to say goodbye. Everyone will assume you’re dead. I will enjoy knowing you’re dying a slow death. If you don’t die from the effects of the sedative, you’ll dehydrate quickly from the vomiting and diarrhea. You’ll suffocate. With every change of the tide, the crypt will fill with more mud. Enjoy.”
Pierre dropped a bottle of water down the hole.
* * *
Harper ran into the hospital.Zayne; Kelly Ramirez, another first deputy; and Chad Thorn were on her heels. She rushed into the OR locker room, stripped off her outfit and got into scrubs while Kelly changed beside her.
“I go where you go.” Kelly threw a scrub jacket over her shoulder holster.
“We’re going into the OR. You need to wear a hat, mask, and booties. I’ll show you how to wash your hands. Put gloves on, interlace your fingers and DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING,” Harper ordered. Emotionally, she had switched to her professional persona.
Inside the OR, the rotating nurse helped Harper into a gown and sterile gloves. Her breath caught. The hospital’s cardio-thoracic surgeon was on the side of the table, and to his left stood the other trauma surgeon, Selma Bryant. Harper didn’t have to ask how Josh was doing. The quiet in the OR was a sad giveaway.
A long incision cut through Josh’s chest. His rib cage was spread open, exposing his heart. Hunt’s fingers were holding a hole closed as Josh’s heart beat. “Let’s stop the heart.”
The anesthesiologist administered medication. The heart-lung machine took over to circulate blood to his body.
“The patient is on-pump, time 1143,” Hunt announced.
Harper moved closer. “Hunt?” she whispered.
“He made it here. CPR was in progress. I cracked his chest in the ER. It’s touch and go.”
“What do you need from me?” Harper asked.
“Ambulances are bringing in eight operators, unconscious. I need you to assist Andrew Coates. Seth Brady and Tim Holland are coming to help. I’ll send out updates.” Hunt never stopped helping the other surgeons as he spoke.
Harper moved toward the door, going the long way around the OR table. She leaned down and kissed Josh’s brow. “You’ve got this,” she whispered.
She tore off the gown and gloves and returned to the locker room to strip off the mask, hat, and booties. “We need to get to the ER.”
“Harper, it’s really bad?” Kelly asked, her own sadness tinging her voice.
“Bad? No shit. It’s horrendous. The bullet is in his heart,” Harper snapped. She dropped her chin to her chest and sighed. “I’m sorry. You care about them too. God, you were part of his team. And the others. And they’re all hurt because of me.”
“I understand. Can I have someone bring you something to drink or eat while you’re working?” Kelly asked.
“Iced coffee—black—is always welcome,” Harper said as she headed down the stairs to the ER.
“Mockingbird needs a black iced coffee. Chain of evidence protocol,” Kelly spoke into her comm.
“What’s that?” Harper asked.
“No one puts it down unattended. We don’t want anyone putting something in your drink,” Kelly explained.
A shudder ran through her.
The ER was packed with sick and injured from the storm and day-to-day life. Andrew Coates cleared a treatment area usually reserved for contagious diseases like Ebola for the incoming eight. Tim Holland and Seth Brady stood waiting with Sam Robison, Kevin Harper, and four nurses from the building.
Harper walked in as Seth was giving standing orders. “If they haven’t been stripped, strip them and place the clothing in the paper bags at each bedside. Change your gloves. Oxygen, monitor, full trauma panel plus two extra red tops, speckled tops, a black top and green top on ice, IV NS KVO. Wash them down if they weren’t already and insert a foley,” he said.
