Wilds laughed. “Now I see where you’re coming from. She got hurt before you could get into her pants. You shouldn’t waste your time. She’s an ice princess.”
Ian swung at him. “You son of a bitch.”
Wilds dodged the full weight of the punch, but Ian’s fist connected with his lower jaw. Two agents grappled with them to pull them apart.
A stocky man with curly honey-colored hair and whiskey-colored eyes knocked on the door. “Am I interrupting something?” A gold badge shone on his hip. “I’m Detective Andy Blake, Metropolitan Police. I’m looking for Luke and Rachel Paulsen.”
Ian let go of the hold he maintained on Wilds. “I’m Ian Chase. I can take you to them. I was seated at Cassie’s table.” He extended his hand to the detective.
The veteran cop shifted his eyes between Greg and Ian. “I’m Supervisory Special Agent Greg Wilds, Cassie’s boss.”
Andy Blake mustered a tight-lipped smile. “Good. Don’t go anywhere. You’re next on my list to speak to.”
* * *
Hunter sighed and gestured to the seats. “She’s alive.”
Luke told him it was okay to speak in front of Ian, Declan, and the detective. “When Cassie arrived in the emergency department, she had no heartbeat. Doctors opened the left side of her chest to massage her heart. After receiving four units of blood, she was brought to the operating room, where she went into cardiac arrest two more times on the table. To get to her extensive injuries, we needed to open the right side of her chest too. To give her brain and heart the best chance, I was forced to clamp off her aorta for some time.”
Hunter’s eyes filled with sympathy for the couple holding on to his every word. “Stab wounds tore apart her right lung. She had tears to her diaphragm, liver, small and, large intestine. I was able to repair the structural damage.” Hunter met Ian’s heavy eyes. “The orthopedic surgery fellow did a necessary repair on her right shoulder joint, but it will need more extensive work when she can tolerate it. It appears her assailant did large muscle and tendon damage.
"Dr. Maddox stemmed the bleeding from her left femoral artery and her quadriceps muscle before my arrival. Whoever tied the first tourniquet saved her life.”
Hunter leaned against the wall. “Like I said, we stopped the bleeding, but she’s still in big trouble. We needed to replace her blood volume four times. Her organs were deprived of oxygen for longer than I would like. Infection with any one of these wounds is a huge, risky possibility. With all of them, it’s a certainty. I hope since the emergency room induced hypothermia before she was sent to the operating room, it bought her brain precious extra minutes. We will maintain the cold through tomorrow evening. I’m gonna keep her heavily sedated as well to give her body as much of a chance as possible.
“The immediate concern is potential brain swelling, as well as her kidneys failing. I expect to start dialysis as soon as possible. I hope to get a CT scan of her head before we get her to the ICU. Neurology will perform a detailed evaluation in the unit. I’ve also called a friend who is a hand surgeon and am hoping she can do the finger repairs at her bedside.”
Rachel said, “Will she—”
“Survive?” Hunter filled in the blank.
Ian thought, somewhere, there had to be a book on how to give horrible news to families. He’d done it too many times as a Naval officer.
“It’s very touch and go. I wish I could give you better news. I know this is overwhelming.” Hunter handed them his card. “This is my personal cell phone. Call me anytime—day or night.”
When Luke paced, Rachel stood to wrap her arms around her distraught husband. “Can we see her?”
“I’ll let you see her when we get her settled in the ICU. Afterward, please go home and get some rest. We’ll know better in a few days. I promise to call you if her condition changes.”
* * *
“What made him do this?” Hunter asked Ian later. “She fought hard. She’s covered with defensive wounds everywhere. He hacked at her.”
"I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Sexual assault?” Ian didn’t want the answer.
“No sign of rape, but she was abused. There are handprints on her throat, breast, and inner thigh. I reported my findings to Detective Blake. The animal also bit her.”
Ian restrained his own rage. “I found a white powder in her water glass.”
“We ran a tox screen, but she bled so much I’m not sure if anything remained in her system. After I’m sure she’s settled, I’m gonna catch some sleep. I’m not leaving the hospital. Jack Parker is one of the surgical intensivists in the ICU and will stay on top of her as well.”
Hunter blew out a deep breath. “Ian, this woman is special to you. I don’t know if she will see sunset today. You and the family need to be prepared.”
Ian nodded. “How much was complicated by the other surgeon?”
“It didn’t help. We can talk about it later.”
“Smooth and Bear are here if you need anything. Farmer is wrangling the press. I’m locking it down. I don’t give a damn about the FBI. And, Hunt, thanks.”
