"We had no choice. I'm not carrying and he'll give you his sidearm," she answers while looking in my eyes. She's trying to project she needs to follow the rules by me giving up my weapon, but I can see she's concerned about me being unarmed.
I lean down and kiss her forehead and whisper, "I got a couple backups, baby."
"Thank God," she whispers back as she again struggles for breath. I reach her right shoulder to remove the Velcro more on her vest, giving her some room.
"I need to check her. Can you step back?" A female paramedic is trying to move me away from Maya.
"You're going to have to check her with her on my lap right where she is. I'm not letting her go, ma’am. Plus, we don't want to jostle her too much."
"Okay, but with all this blood?—"
"Not mine!"
"Not hers," we both say at the same time, and I smile down at her.
"Can you tell me what's going on, please?"
"Double GSW to the vest, pain with a deep breath. Pain in the left side of my chest and shoulder. I also feel a little trickle of blood going down my side," Maya says very clinically. She whispers the last part so Ana doesn't hear and panic again. It's what I thought, she either has broken or very bruised ribs. The blood bothers me, though.
I look at the bullet implanted in her vest, right over her heart. I could have lost her. The bullet mushroomed, but still looks like it partially broke through the vest.
"Ma'am, she lost consciousness for about two minutes after the hit."
"Okay, I need to check your vitals, officer, and remove your vest if we can."
"I'll help." I carefully pull the sleeves of her sweatshirt off her arms. With my knife, I finish cutting the front of her shirt and the sleeves so it falls off her.
I see the knife in a side pocket of her vest. I also see two more in her boots. The paramedic pulls them and hands them to Ana, along with the side long Bowie under her right arm and the punch knife from the ground. The paramedic starts to pull the Velcro straps on her left side and I watch as she flinches and the blood begins to flow more.
"Ana, take her knives to the truck, okay." I want Ana away when they pull the vest off.
"Hold up, I only have a sports bra on. I also have another knife in my buckle, another punch on my belt, and one hidden deeper in my clothing. Honey, put my hoodie over me."
"It's okay, Officer Aaron. I'll be gentle, and after I confirm there isn't anything serious, we'll get you on a board and gurney then in the ambulance," the paramedic offers.
"I don't want to go to the hospital," Maya says full of determination.
"Sweetheart, please, for me. I'll get Ana in your truck and we'll follow you. Please!" I beg, I need to make sure she's okay before we go any further with helping Ana.
"Okay, but only because you asked nicely." She groans as the paramedic pulls the vest from her chest carefully. My eyes zone in on the indent in her vest and down at her chest, the bullet hit with enough force she's already bruising. But the problem is the Kevlar started to fail with the second shot and there was a partial intrusion into her body. I see the small fragment of bullet and Kevlar that broke off and impacted into her skin. The paramedic rubs across her ribs, watching Maya's face carefully. She places gauze over the fragments so they can be removed at the hospital. She continues to rub along Maya's side.
"Ow, right there!" The paramedic rubbed right under Maya's left breast. I can't see much except the look of pain on her face. The paramedic continues with her assessment, and when she presses on Maya's left shoulder, she groans again.
"Okay, sit tight, I'll be right back," she says as she stands to leave. The paramedic talks to another at the ambulance and Isee them pull the backboard off the gurney. I look at Ana as she walks back up to us. She's as concerned as I am.
"Why is Ana wearing your body armor vest and you the regular one?" I ask, knowing that the vest I bought her is the strongest body armor made.
"Maya told me to put it on," Ana says defensively. It's then I realize why my girl gave my sister her heavy-duty vest and wore her standard issue one.
"Bugger! Maya, I love you, but we will be discussing your severe lack of self-preservation."
"What?" she says innocently, she knows I figured it out. Just then, two cops walk over to her truck to start opening the doors to search it.
"Ana, can you give me my keys?" She pushes the key fob to lock the vehicle.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" one of the cops says.
"Can't have you going through my truck without a warrant, gentleman," she tells them.
