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CHAPTER TWELVE

WITH CAMI’S JOURNALS hugged tight against her chest, Violet raced toward the living room. “Grant, Rayne, run! Bomb!”

Grant grabbed a box from Rayne and shoved her toward the door. “Go! Noah, where is it?”

“No time to defuse. Out.”

The operatives sprinted from the apartment and down the hall to the stairwell, banging on doors as they went. Rayne tugged the fire alarm, and a siren blared throughout the building.

Rayne opened the stairwell door and held it for Violet. The two of them raced to the first floor and out the back through the laundry room, with Grant and Noah a step behind them.

“Go, go, go!” Noah snapped. They were half a block away from the apartment building when Noah yelled, “Down!”

Violet dropped to the ground, Cami’s precious journals underneath her body. Noah covered her body with his own and wrapped his arms around her head.

A split second later, the night sky turned bright orange and red, and a loud explosion rocked the world around them. Debris fell on the operatives, large and small pieces.

Noah grunted and tightened his hold around Violet. Was he hurt?

“Noah?”

“Stay still.”

Violet frowned. He sounded different. Something was wrong. She clenched her jaw as she waited for him to give the signal to move.

Finally, he said, “Anybody hurt?”

“Bruises,” Rayne said. “Violet?”

“Same. Grant?”

“Not sure yet.”

“Noah?”

Nothing.

She knew it. He’d been hit by flying debris from the building. “Slide off me, babe.”

“Can’t move yet. Give me a minute.”

Alarmed, she said, “Move it, soldier. I need to do triage on you boys.” Her mike bag, though, was in the SUV parked on the next block.

He grunted again and inched his way off her body. Noah hissed. “You sure you’re okay, sweetheart?”

“You covered every inch of me and took the brunt of whatever fell.” Violet scrambled to a crouch.

Noah lay on his stomach. Several pieces of shrapnel were sticking out of his back, and his left thigh had a piece of metal lodged deep in the muscle. Blood oozed from several wounds.

“Don’t move, Noah.” Violet glanced over her shoulder at Rayne. “I need my mike bag.”

Grant groaned as he pulled the key fob from his pocket and handed it to Rayne.

She sprinted down the block.

Violet turned to Grant as residents in the neighborhood left their homes to see what the ruckus was about. She moved to Grant’s side as the operative moved. She laid her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t move yet. You have pieces of shrapnel embedded in your back and legs, like Noah.” Only Noah’s injuries appeared to be worse than the EOD specialist’s.

“I need to get up. You and Noah are still targets.”

“I don’t think the bomber stuck around to see the results of his work.”

He shook his head. “I need to be on my feet, Violet. Do a quick patch job and get us out of here. You can treat everything after we’re safe.”

“He’s right,” Noah murmured. “Do as Grant says.”

“At least wait until Rayne is back, so I have supplies to stop you from bleeding all over the sidewalk,” she snapped.

Noah reached over and squeezed her hand.

Some of the tension wracking her body dissipated.

Rayne returned with the SUV and parked beside the downed operatives. She hurried from the vehicle with Violet’s mike bag. She dropped down beside Grant and handed Violet the bag. “How can I help?”

“Hold a flashlight so I can see what I’m doing.”

Violet assessed Grant’s injuries quickly and breathed easier when she realized most of the shrapnel on his back had lodged in his leather jacket. His legs, however, weren’t as well protected. Blood oozed from multiple rips in the fabric of his cargo pants. He also had a piece of metal sticking out of his right calf.

She blew out a breath. No way to treat all the wounds quickly.

“What’s the verdict?” Grant asked, his voice tight.

“You’ll live. Your jacket, however, will need a decent burial.”

“Oh, man.” He growled. “I love this jacket.”

“At the moment, so do I. The jacket protected your back. Want to find a pair of leather pants to wear?”

He snorted. “Forget it. I can’t imagine anything worse to restrict movement. I need to be on my feet, Violet.”

“Hold your horses, buddy. You have a piece of metal sticking out of your calf.”

“So yank it out and slap a Band-Aid on it. We’re sitting ducks out here.” He grimaced. “Well, laying ducks.”

She grinned. “Give me a minute.”

“Hurry.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what you all say.”

Violet opened her mike bag, tugged on a pair of rubber gloves, and pulled out supplies to patch the worst injury. She ripped the pants to have better access to the wound and scowled. The metal was lodged deep in the muscle. “This is going to hurt.”

“Don’t care. Just do it. I have to be on my feet so I can protect the rest of you.”

She hoped he still felt the same way in a few minutes. Violet readied her supplies and tugged on a pair of rubber gloves. After cleaning around the wound, she tossed aside the soiled wipe, pressed down on his calf, and gripped the metal. “On three. One,” she said and removed the piece of metal sticking out of Grant’s calf.

Grant grunted. “Lady, you can’t count.”

Violet quickly cleaned the wound and taped it closed. “Didn’t want you to tense up on me.”

The operative glared. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you enjoyed that.”

“I’ll never tell.” A moment later, she shoved the medical detritus into a plastic bag and dumped it into her mike bag to deal with later. “No running a marathon, but you can stand and maneuver at least. It will hurt, though.”

Grant scrambled to his feet, swayed a moment, then steadied himself with a little help from Rayne. He inclined his head toward Noah. “Patch him up fast, Vi. We need to get out of here.”

Violet was already on her knees beside Noah, assessing the injuries to his body. Too many for her to handle on her own. She’d have to deal with the mangled steel sticking out of his thigh in order to move him. The rest would wait until he was in the emergency room at the hospital.

No, he wouldn’t like it, but that was tough. Her man had too many pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body. If she missed a piece, the wound would become infected and cause further damage. That wasn’t happening on her watch.

After ripping the material of his pant leg further, she yanked off her soiled gloves and tugged on a fresh pair. She cleaned the area around the wound, tossed aside the soiled wipe, and laid her hand on his leg. “Ready, Noah?”

He gave a slight nod.

Without giving him a chance to prepare, Violet grasped the piece of metal in Noah’s thigh and tugged it free.

Noah groaned as blood spilled from the wound. Sweat beaded on his pale face.

Violet worked quickly to staunch the blood flow and bandage his thigh. When she finished, she said, “Let’s get him into the SUV. Backseat, face down. Grant, once Noah’s set, you need to lie down in the back on your stomach.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not,” she snapped. “Do it or you’ll be getting a ride to the ER in an ambulance.”

“Grant.” Noah looked at his teammate.

The other man scowled. “Fine, but I’m doing it under protest. I can’t watch for trouble in that position.”

“I’ll keep watch.” Rayne squeezed his hand and released him. “Come on. Let’s get this done so we can leave. Someone is watching us.”

A snort. “Several people are watching us.”

“At least one of them isn’t friendly.”

Enough already. They were wasting time. Violet didn’t want Noah and Grant to be at the back of the line for treatment at the hospital. “Noah, can you get on your hands and knees?”

“Yeah.”

When he did as she asked, she and Grant maneuvered Noah to his feet. He swayed, gritted his teeth and straightened. After staggering the few feet to the SUV, Noah laid on the SUV’s backseat. Violet followed him with her mike bag and Cami’s journals.

Grant hobbled to the cargo area and climbed in with Rayne’s help, and stretched out.

Rayne hurried to the driver’s door and climbed behind the wheel. She twisted in the seat to look at Violet. “Where?”

“Hospital. Now.”

“Violet.” Noah scowled.

“You need a hospital. Go, Rayne.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She put the SUV in gear and drove toward the hospital. Ten minutes later, Rayne parked at the entrance to the emergency room.

Violet exited the vehicle and rushed into the hospital. She returned a moment later with medical personnel and two gurneys. “Put both men in the same exam room,” she ordered.

“That’s not procedure.”

“It is today. Just do it.”

One orderly shrugged and led the way to one of the exam rooms.

Five minutes later, a doctor walked into the room, followed by a nurse. After one look, the doctor scowled. “Looks like you’ve been in a war zone.”

“Close,” Grant said. “We were too close to an apartment that blew up.”

“Gas leak?”

“Nope. Bomb.”

The doctor glanced at his nurse. “Is the triage team ready? We could have a mass casualty event.”

“I’ll pass the word.” She shook her head. “The police department should have alerted us already.” With that, she hurried from the room.

“All right. What do we have?”

“Shrapnel wounds,” Violet said and told the doctor everything she’d done to treat the two men.

“You’re an EMT?”

“Paramedic.”

“Nationally certified?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Scrub up. You’ll be assisting me with these patients. My team will be flooded with new patients soon.”

The next hour passed in a blur as Violet worked side-by-side with the doctor to locate and remove shrapnel.

When they finished, Dr. Wheeler glanced at Violet. “You any good with stitches?”

“Yes, sir.”

He pointed out five wounds on Noah and three on Grant. “Stitches in these. I’ll ask a nurse to assist you.” Wheeler left the exam room.

Soon, a nurse arrived with two stitch kits. “Hi. I’m Josie.”

“Violet.” She pulled a rolling table to her side. “Set one of the stitch kits here. Noah, we’ll take care of you first, then work on Grant.”

“I can wait.”

“You have more serious injuries. Grant can keep watch and respond to an emergency. At the moment, you’d do a face plant.”

He scowled. “I’m not an invalid.”

“Suck it up, Noah.” Grant sent his friend a hard glance. “Arguing with our medic won’t win you any points on the boyfriend scoreboard. Besides, if we delay Violet’s work, we’ll be stuck here longer. Wheeler needs us out of here so he can treat more seriously injured patients.”

Noah sighed and gave a curt nod. “Let’s get this done. I don’t want Rayne having to protect all three of us.”

Rayne smiled. “Hurts the ego, huh?”

Violet turned to Josie. “I need Lidocaine.”

“Dr. Wheeler has already signed off on that. I’ll return in a moment.” Josie rushed from the room.

Before the door closed, Violet noted the increased activity and raised voices of medical personnel. Looked like more of the injured had arrived at the hospital.

When Josie returned, she carried a tray with a vial of Lidocaine, syringes, and alcohol wipes. “Will this work?”

“It’s perfect. Look, I know you and your co-workers are busy. I can take care of the stitches on my own if you’re needed elsewhere.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” She’d stitched up her teammates under much worse conditions than these.

Josie looked relieved. “I’ll check on you in a few minutes. If you need anything and can’t find me, just tell the nurse at the desk. She’ll help you.”

“Thanks, Josie.”

After a nod, the nurse left the exam room.

“What do you need me to do?” Rayne asked.

“Scrub up and put on gloves.”

The two women worked quickly. Rayne cleaned each wound and handed Violet the supplies she needed as she injected Lidocaine near each of Noah’s serious wounds. She and Rayne repeated the process for Grant’s injuries.

“How are you?” she asked Noah.

“I feel like a pincushion,” he groused. His eyes twinkled, though.

Violet pinched his thigh. “Feel this?”

“Just pressure.”

Excellent. She tugged on a new pair of gloves and got to work. For the next 30 minutes, she stitched five wounds. By the time she finished, sweat beaded on Noah’s forehead.

Violet changed gloves again and turned to Grant. “Your turn.”

“Do it, Vi. I’m ready to get out of here.”

After checking that he was numb, she said, “I need the second stitch kit, Rayne.”

Her teammate opened the second kit and began handing her supplies.

Fifteen minutes later, Josie knocked on the door and hurried into the exam room. “How’s it going in here?” If the nurse noticed Rayne standing in front of Grant with one hand behind her back, she didn’t react.

Violet finished the last stitch and straightened. “Except for covering the stitches, we’re finished.”

“Great! It’s a madhouse out there, and the victims keep coming in.”

“Anything serious?”

“Surprisingly, no. A few cuts and bruises. Shrapnel wounds, like Grant and Noah. All relatively minor injuries considering the scale of the disaster. One victim said someone pulled the fire alarm. The residents were outside the building when the explosion occurred. That’s why their injuries were like yours. You must have gotten out just in time.”

The nurse turned toward the door. “I’ll let Dr. Wheeler know you’re finished. He’ll do a last check, then you can bandage the wounds and get out of here once you have your discharge papers.”

“Thanks, Josie.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Violet checked cabinets in the room and found packages of gauze and medical tape to cover the wounds after Dr. Wheeler checked Grant and Noah one more time.

While they waited, she and Rayne gathered the medical detritus and tossed it into the disposal bins.

Ten minutes later, Dr. Wheeler walked into the room. He examined the wounds and Violet’s stitches. “Very nice, young lady. Are you sure you don’t want a job? We could use your skills.”

She smiled. “I appreciate that, Doc, but I’m happy with my job.”

“If you change your mind, I’ll be glad to recommend you.” He turned his attention to Noah and Grant. “All right, gentlemen. Josie should be back any minute with your discharge papers and prescriptions. Take the pain medicine as you need it. Take the antibiotics until they’re gone. Violet, monitor them. If they show signs of infection, bring them back to the emergency room or take them to their own doctors.”

“Yes, sir.”

Wheeler shook hands with Noah and Grant. “I’ll be here if you need me.”

As he left the room, Josie returned with the discharge papers. She went through the instructions quickly. “Questions?”

Violet shook her head. “We’ve got it.”

“Great.” She smiled at the men. “Hope you feel better soon.” With that, she hurried out the door.

Violet bandaged Grant and Noah’s wounds with gauze and medical tape, then tugged off the rubber gloves. “You’re all set.”

“Good. Let’s get out of here.” Noah climbed from the exam table and stood. He flinched.

Grant grunted. “Yep. Same here. At least it doesn’t hurt as much as a bullet wound.”

The operatives walked into the hall. Medical personnel and the walking wounded moved about the corridor.

They exited the hospital. “Want me to drive the SUV to the entrance?” Rayne asked.

Before the men could answer, an unwanted and familiar voice said, “Well, there you are.” Fitz Hanson grinned as he and three other officers with him pulled out their handcuffs. “You’re all under arrest.”