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Carrying her in my arms one final time, I take her to the nurses’ quarters and gently slide her into Riah’s cubby. I cover her with his sweatshirt, just in case.

“Help! We need help!” A full, deep voice booms from the main floor of the infirmary. I swallow, take a breath, then go.

You are stronger than you believe.

Violet

Chapter 37

I’m woozy. My stomach drops, and my mouth fills with saliva; my body is threatening to make me throw up. With my hand brushing along the wall, I make my way to the main floor of the infirmary.

“What happened?” Riah asks quickly, his voice filled with panic.

“Someone fucking shot her, is what happened.” The same full, deep voice comes into view as I walk around the corner. Caius stands in the middle of the infirmary, holding Lucy bridal style in his arms.

With an arrow sticking through her shoulder. Her shirt soaked in blood.

“Are you going to help her?!” Caius yells.

“I—uh…” Riah runs his hand roughly through his hair, pulling at the nape of his neck.

“Lay her on the table.” Riah spins around, both men shooting their gaze to mine, both their eyes going wide. “Lay her on the table, on her side. I’ll take care of her.” I take a breath, gathering myself together. Stopping at the sink, I thoroughly soap my hands and arms, rinse, and dry them. Then, leaving the security of the wall, I walk over to the operating table.

“Where have you been? What happened to you?” Riah lowers his head, speaking quietly by my side.

“I can’t let any of that influence this moment.” I look up at him and place my hand on his arm, giving a gentle squeeze. “Right now, we have a job to do.” His Adam’s apple bobs with a swallow, and he nods. “Caius, I’m short-staffed; are you okay to stay?” I ask, turning to him. He’s standing by her head, holding her on her side on the bed.

“Yes.” He nods, his fingers gently brushing her hair over her forehead.

“Good. Who’s that?” I nod over Caius’s shoulder to a man hovering and pacing in the doorway. Caius glances over and turns back, shaking his head.

“Fucking Anton.” He grits out.

“Anton!” He stops pacing, giving me his attention. “Get over here.” I slip the pen out of Riah’s shirt pocket, then grab Anton’s hand when he reaches me. “I need you to go to the clinic and find Melanie. Tell her to prepare two units of this blood from the bank and deliver them to the infirmary.” I write Lucy’s blood label on his hand: IBR-PWR-01-03.1. “Tell her to be prepared for surgery and post-surgery care.”

Dropping the pen on a tray, I turn back to the table and go to assess Lucy. A gentle hand holds my waist, and I look over my shoulder at Riah.

“You’re bleeding, Boss.” He whispers into my ear. Then he removes his coat and ties it around my waist. I’ve certainly soaked through my leggings and my dress.

“Thank you.” I tug on his collar to bring him in closer. “Hey… If I pass out, I need you to focus on controlling her bleeding. Don’t worry about me, okay?”

“That’ll be hard to ignore, Boss.”

“You’ll do it because that’s your job.” Saliva pools in my mouth, and I swallow it down thickly. “Can you get an emesis bag on standby?” He nods and walks away, then I turn back to Lucy. “Has she been speaking?” I ask Caius as I observe her chest, mouth, and nose.

“Only when it happened. This happened five minutes ago up in my office.”

“I’m going to narrate, okay? Take it all in.” I nod at Riah when he steps back to my side. “Respiratory rate is elevated. Twenty-six breaths per minute. Fast but not failing.” I place my index and middle fingers on the inside of her wrist, feeling for her radial pulse. “Pulse is one-ten. Regular rhythm. She’s compensating. Caius, help me adjust her.” Grabbing the blood pressure cuff, we adjust Lucy, and I slip the cuff on the arm opposite the arrow injury. “Pressure’s one-oh-five over seventy. Pressure is holding.” I slide the cuff off, tossing it on the bottom of the tray. “Put her back on her side.”

“Hey,” Caius says as he grabs my arm, “Can you really help her?” His eyes are hardened, his brow wrinkling from the tension.

He’s scared.

“I started performing surgeries with Dr. Frolov four years ago. For the past two years, I have solely been performing them under his supervision. Many of them in the neck, shoulders, and chest. Cain was my second amputation.” I pat his hand that’s gripping my arm, “I promise, I can do this.” Caius releases me, and I kneel in front of Lucy. “Look at me.” Her eyelids flutter. “What is your name?”

“L-Lucy,” she whispers in a breath.

“Good. Stay with me, Lucy. I’m going to take care of you. Can you move your fingers for me?” The movement is faint, but it’s there. “Good job. Finger movement is a good thing. There’s a lot of blood, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s as scary as it looks.” I rise and walk to the opposite side of the table to examine the arrow. “The arrow entered the right anterior shoulder, just below the clavicle, and exited posteriorly near the scapula. We leave it in place until we know what it’s tamponading. The neurovascular structures of the arm are close, so every movement matters.”