Vance unzipped the first aid kit and set it on the comforter next to a quart bag full of large, old-fashioned ice cubes. “That’s all there is,” he said. “One cracked plastic tray in the freezer.”
“Okay. Run it slowly over her face and forehead, then up and down her arms. Keep her as cool as you can.” That was all I could think of to bring her temperature down, until I could get some medication into her.
I dragged the first aid kit closer and dug in it one-handed until I found a half-full bottle of acetaminophen suspension. “Open that and pour an adult dose,” I said, handing it to Vance.
“Baby Tylenol?”
“It’s for the whole family. Says so right there on front.” I set the ice bag on my sister’s chest and patted her cheeks firmly, first one then the other. “Davey. Hon, I need you to wake up. Just for a minute.” No response, so I patted a little harder. “Davey!”
She groaned, and her eyes fluttered.
“How is she?” Jace asked, and I looked up to see him standing in the doorway.
“Alive,” I said. “For now. How far out is Spencer?”
“Twenty minutes. He’s got IV antibiotics and assorted other goodies, which is why he got started later than Vance. Tucker’s ready to look at your arm.”
“It can wait,” I said, turning back to Davey to see that Vance had poured the little plastic dosing cup full of a thick purple liquid.
“At the very least, you need a bandage and a tourniquet,” Jace said. “You’re too tired already to be losing that much blood.”
“Then send Tucker in. I’m not leaving her side.”
Jace nodded, then disappeared.
I took the dosing cup from Vance. “Sit her up for me.”
He slid one arm behind Davey’s shoulders and lifted her. Her eyes fluttered open again, and for a second, they almost came into focus. “Charley?”
“Yeah. I’m right here. And I need you to drink this. All of it. It’s going to help bring your fever down.”I hope.
She opened her mouth obligingly, like a small child, and I poured the acetaminophen into it, left-handed. “Swallow,” I reminded her as her eyes began to flutter.
She swallowed, and Vance laid her back down.
“Rest now,” I said, but she was already out. I knew from experience that she wouldn’t remember any of this. “Okay, take the scissors and cut her shirt off. Then her pants,” I added as Tucker came into the room. “Then run that bag of ice over her limbs to cool her down.” That was the best we could do, without the resources for an ice bath.
“Scoot down here,” Tucker said as he sank onto the end of the bed, clearly well aware that was as far as I could be dragged from my sister. “How’s Bishop?” I said as he sliced up the side of my blood-soaked sleeve with a pair of scissors from our other first aid kit.
Vance mimicked him, cutting carefully up the center of Davey’s shirt.
“Grouchy, in pain, and glaring daggers at Cam Senet,” Austin said from the doorway, and I leaned around Tucker to see him standing, fully dressed and human, in the doorway.
“Mark me down for those first two, as well,” I said.
“How bad is it?” He kept his distance so Tucker could work, but he looked concerned.
“Through-and-through,” Tucker said. “She needs antibiotics, stitches, and once it starts to heal, a couple of good shifts.” Because as my body put itself together in a new form, it would also begin piecing together torn muscle and skin. “How’s the pain?”
“If Davey weren’t sick, I’d ask you to hit me with a sledgehammer,” I said through clenched teeth. “But for now, I’d chew on a Tylenol, if you have one.”
Vance dug four pills from the first aid kit and gave them to me.
“Sixteen rounds accounted for,” Austin said as I chewed the bitter tablets. “Thirteen still in the magazine. One hit the doorframe and one hit the wall, and that one smells like your blood. The last appears to be lodged in Bishop’s shoulder.”
“Once the bullet’s out, that’s probably nothing some time and a couple of shifts can’t fix,” I said, hoping I sounded confident. “We’ll have Spencer check him out once he’s seen to Davey.”
“What’s the plan?” Tucker said as he trimmed my bisected sleeve from the rest of my shirt. “How long are we staying?”
