Page 76 of The Whispering Girls

“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.”