Page 32 of The Whispering Girls (Detective Katie Scott #14)

THIRTY

Katie wasn’t sure what was worse: the deafening noise, blinding bright light, or the feeling that her insides had been moved around in her body.

She had been thrown to the floor and she could feel the icy air mixing with the heat from the fire.

It was a strange combination, feeling more like a nightmare than real life.

Smoke filled the air but was quickly siphoned out through the broken front windows.

Katie’s arms and legs seemed cemented to the floor.

She began to move her hands and feet as the feeling in them began to return.

She couldn’t understand why she didn’t hear McGaven and John.

The only thing she heard was the loud pounding of her heart and the throbbing of her head.

Face down, she pushed her body up with her hands and then slowly got her balance with her feet on the ground.

Smoke filtered around the area, and scattered everywhere were broken pieces and shards of what were once useful hospital supplies.

Katie looked down and saw her gun was gone.

There was blood trickling down her arms. Stunned and unable to move right away, she couldn’t see well and her eyes stung.

She raised her hand and gently touched her face.

It was covered in blood. Wiping the blood away from her forehead, her vision began to clear.

She could see an outline of McGaven lying on the floor, not moving.

There was what was left of a rolling cart lying sideways across his chest. Her heart seemed to stop and she couldn’t breathe.

“Gav.” She could barely whisper. Her throat hurt and felt so dry she wasn’t sure if she could speak again.

“Katie? Gav,” said John.

Katie looked up and saw John climbing over shattered pieces of metal and ceramics.

“Katie,” he said, moving toward her. “You okay?”

“I… think so…”

John was immediately at her side. “You saved our lives. If you hadn’t warned us…”

“But it wasn’t in time…” She could barely keep herself together. She pushed past John and dropped to the floor. “Gav…Gav… can you hear me?” She pushed away the cart and examined his body. He had blood on his face and hands. She made sure his neck was okay. “Gav… please talk to me…”

Katie was in shock and didn’t notice John at her side examining McGaven.

“He’s breathing. But we need to get him out of here. It’s too volatile,” he said glancing around.

Katie took hold of McGaven’s hand and squeezed it. There was no response.

“I think he’s knocked out, which means…”

Katie couldn’t stop the tears…and immediately blaming herself. They should not have rushed here when there was such a strong chance that it wasn’t safe…

“Katie, did you hear me?” said John.

She turned to him .

“Katie, pull yourself together. We need to get him out of here. Understand?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“I’m going to see if I can get a gurney I saw at the other entrance. I’ll be right back,” he said.

Katie grabbed his arm. “Please be careful.”

John glanced at her one more time and left through the front entrance. Katie was relieved to see he still had his weapon.

“Hey, partner,” said McGaven weakly.

Katie sucked in a breath. “Gav…you’re okay.”

“It was like getting kicked in the gut in an explosion at the hospital…” He forced a smile and squeezed Katie’s hand. Then he slowly sat up and winced. “Nope, can’t do that.”

Katie kept a watchful eye, making sure they weren’t going to be surprised. The small fires at numerous locations were winding down…but there was a fire gaining momentum toward the back of the building.

“Where’s John?” McGaven asked.

“He went to get a gurney to move you outside,” she said, glancing at the growing fire and the smoke building momentum.

“No, I can get…” McGaven grabbed his chest.

“What?” Katie down and could see blood seeping through his shirt and jacket. Pulling gently at his shirt, she revealed a piece of metal. “Gav,” she said, “you have a shard stuck in your chest.”

“Get it out.”

“No.” She stopped him from touching it. “We don’t know how deep it is, just leave it alone.”

“Then what?”

“A doctor needs to assess it.”

“If you haven’t noticed, they’re all gone.” He was trying to get up.

“Stop. Let me help you.” Katie saw McGaven’s gun and she picked it up and stuck it in her holster. “C’mon. ”

Katie helped pull McGaven to his feet. She wrapped her right arm around his waist as he leaned on her.

They began to move slowly toward the front door.

Katie’s head pounded like a raw migraine and now she could feel every cut on her body stinging and hurting.

Her body felt as if it had gone through a meat grinder.

The sound of screechy wheels neared. There was a creepy vibe until Katie could see John moving toward them.

“What took you?” said McGaven. His voice was weak and he could barely move his legs.

John immediately helped Katie get McGaven on the gurney. He looked almost white as a sheet and he dozed intermittently.

“I tried nine-one-one, but there’s a recording that all circuits are busy,” said John.

“How are we going to get medical attention?”

“I don’t know. The snow is really getting heavy outside. There’s no way we can drive to the nearest hospital. It’s nearly thirty miles away.”

“We can’t take the chance we’d get stranded on the side of the road,” she said. Katie was beside herself. Her partner needed medical attention. He could have internal injuries. She stood at the entrance considering what to do.

“Katie?” said John as he studied her.

“We go back to the lodge. We have a doctor and medical supplies downstairs.”

John looked surprised, but then said, “Jack is a doctor. An animal doctor is a doctor.”

“Let’s go,” she said.

They decided to load McGaven into John’s truck, where there was more room, causing less discomfort. The snowstorm was indeed building force and soon the roads would be completely impassable. There was no way to contact emergency resources in Echo Forest .

The hospital fire was slowing down, though intense smoke escaped every crevice, blown window, and entrance. Katie hoped it wouldn’t spread, but there weren’t any buildings or trees near. The snow would help to smother the fire.

Katie jumped in her Jeep with an anxious Cisco waiting.

The dog kept trying to lick her wounds and sit next to her.

She watched as John pulled his truck out onto the main road with her partner hurt and bleeding in the back seat.

The pain she felt at not being able to get him to a hospital would forever gnaw at her soul.

As she pulled out into the snow, for some reason, an obsessive thought kept running through her mind.

Three down…more to go…