Faith moved away, giving herself another clear shot on Jimmy.Turk started for him, and he flinched, but Walter said, “Heel!”once more.
Turk looked at Faith.Faith wrestled with her decision.Did she ignore Walter and have Turk try to take Jimmy down?If she did that, Jimmy might shoot Walter before Turk could stop him.He might shoot someone else.He might shootTurk.
If she took a shot, then maybe she could stop him before he could kill anyone.But there were civilians behind Jimmy.If she shot him, she risked shooting a civilian too.
With a sinking feeling, she realized the only option that didn’t end with innocent people getting hurt was talking Jimmy down.She shook her head at Turk, and he backed off.
“There’s a man suffering a heart attack in the front row,” Walter told Jimmy.“It will be some minutes before help arrives.I need you to keep him alive until the ambulance gets here.”
“Are youkidding me?”Jimmy cried.“I’m here tokillyou!You liar!You false prophet.You…Bastard!”
“I know you, Jimmy,” Walter said calmly.“You’ve fallen far, but you’re not an evil person.You were called by God to save lives, not end them.”
“Fuck God!”Jimmy snarled.
Predictably, the crowd of worshippers reacted badly to that.Several crossed themselves, and muttered prayers drifted through the assembly.
“Sir, step out of the way and let me take him into custody,” Jessica insisted.
“Please, Jimmy.This man has done nothing to wrong you.He needs your help.”
Jimmy’s hands were shaking now.He glanced at the elderly man, who was now unconscious and breathing harshly on the ground.
“Jimmy—”
“He’s not going to help you, sir!”Jessica shouted.“Will you please get the he—Da—Get out of the way!”
Walter ignored her.“Jimmy, please.Look into your heart.What do you really want to do right now?”
Jimmy’s hands were shaking badly enough that even at point-blank range, it was likely he would miss a shot on the chaplain.That didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill someone else if he fired the weapon though.
But he didn’t.To Faith’s surprise, Jimmy looked back at the dying man, tears falling from his eyes.Then he dropped his arms.“Damn it.Fuck.”
He rushed past Walter, shoving his way past the stunned Jessica and Faith.He dropped his gun next to Faith, and she watched it skitter across the altar and come to a stop in front of the pulpit.
Jimmy Sullivan dropped to the ground next to the dying man, no longer trembling.The confusion was gone from his eyes, and when he spoke, his voice was strong and firm.“Clear a path.We’re taking him outside.”He looked at Faith.“You, help me.”
Faith walked to him, still unsure what had just happened.Jimmy grabbed his arms, and Faith asked, “Shouldn’t we perform CPR?”
“He’s having an ischemic attack,” Jimmy informed her.“Right now, he’s experiencing arrhythmia.CPR won’t help, and it could make it worse.If his heart stops, we’ll perform CPR.Grab his legs.”
Faith grabbed his legs, and the two of them carried the older man out of the auditorium.Halfway there, Faith opened her mouth to ask what had changed.How could a man who had so brutally murdered two people only days ago suddenly fight so hard to save a man’s life?
When they were outside, Jimmy lowered the man gently to the ground, then quickly unbuttoned his coat and shirt.“Undo his belt,” she told Faith.“You don’t need to unbutton his pants, but the belt needs to go.So does his watch.The buttons and medals won’t react with electrical devices, but the belt and watch will.””
Faith removed both objects.The crowd from the auditorium spilled out onto the porch, but when Jimmy called, “We need room, everyone!”they stopped.
Faith heard sirens and turned to see the ambulance approaching.Behind her, she heard Jimmy counting softly to himself as he performed chest compressions on the dying man, whose heart, apparently, had stopped.
The man’s daughter was on her knees, weeping and praying.Jimmy looked up at her and without missing a beat with his chest compressions said, “Don’t worry, ma’am.This is a transient attack.It’s more severe for him because he’s elderly, but the paramedics will have no trouble restarting his heart.”
The MPs on the porch looked at Faith and pointed at him.Faith shrugged.Walter Brennan, standing next to Jessica in the doorway of the chapel, smiled fondly at Jimmy.Faith decided to let it go for now.She was too thrown off to wrap her head around what had just occurred.
The ambulance arrived seconds later.Jimmy kept chest compressions going while calling information to the paramedics.The paramedics followed his instructions, completely unaware that they were talking to a man who only days ago had killed two people and only hours ago tried to kill a third.
The paramedics injected something into the dying man’s chest cavity.He gasped, and his eyes flew open.His daughter cried out and threw herself at him, but Jimmy grabbed her.“Give him space, hon.He’ll be okay but give the paramedics room to work.”
She nodded, unbothered by his touch.Hell, far from unbothered.She clung to his arm like a lifeline until one of the paramedics motioned for her to come into the back of the ambulance and join her father, who was now coherent and mumbling her name.
