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Grabbing scissors, Harris cut his shirt and undershirt away.
Riley watched with her stomach turning. Blood was everywhere. God, can a person lose that much and still live?
Harris worked silently though he cursed a time or two.
Walker came in and moved her over. He stood next to the table then he began helping. He pulled out a saline drip and injected Adam’s hand with the needle. He hung the bag up on a stand.
Riley was stunned. These two acted like doctors. Would she ever know what all they could do? One was her brother, the other her lover and they held secret lives, secret training. The way they took out those men coming up the mountain. She watched it all like it was a movie on the small screen. Harris was a crack shot and the way he lunged down the rope and back up while carrying full grown men? She had been impressed.
Then Walker, the way he swung that copter to and fro, dangerous moves. Trained to the hilt both of them. Cold as steel doing it too. No fear, no hesitation.
“Dammit,” Walker swore as he looked over at Riley. “This will help him, but he needs a surgeon Ridge.”
Her eyes rounded. “I-is he going to d-die?”
He shook his head. “I’m gassing up the bird. We gotta fly him out of here to an ER.”
Harris nodded as he staunched the blood then checked Adam’s eyes. “You got maybe 30 minutes, then he…” He looked up at Riley.
Her eyes were full of tears. She may have gotten an innocent man killed.
“I got Faulkner in the ice room,” Walker told him.
Harris nodded.
Riley snapped out of her haze. “Ice? You mean you’re freezing him?”
Walker let out a tight laugh. “No, it’s a phrase, like putting him on ice to hold him.”
“What are you going to do to him?” Her eyes swung up to Harris.
His expression looked blank, no emotion. “I will stitch him up and then get him to talk.”
“How?”
Harris shook his head. “Bastard here, remember? You don’t want to know.”
“Okay, getting the little bird ready,” Walker interjected. “Then bring him in about 6 minutes, Harris.” Her brother left.
Harris said nothing as dressed the wound that looked to be very near Adam’s heart. “You will be going with him.”
Her head rose up. “What?”
“Walker has to fly. You need to keep Groves stable…Press his dressing, change his bandages, watch his IV.” The entire time he spoke, he did not look at her.
“Harris—”
He shook his head. “You have to leave.”
Riley bit at her lip. She did. Adam was in this shape because of her. She needed to see this through. She wanted to say something to Harris but he sure didn’t look like he was in a mood to talk. She’d brought a real mess to his mountain—more chaos to his life.
“He will need you. If he makes it. It will be a week before he can even sit up.”
“If?”
He nodded as he moved around the table and injected something into the IV. “A surgeon or surgeons are going to have a helluva time getting this bullet out. It hit very close to his heart.”
Riley trembled.
“Okay, bundle him Harris and bring him,” Walker’s voice came over the com on the control panel.
“Okay Ridge, do you know how to check for a pulse?”
She nodded. “Yes and standard CPR But—”
“Good,” he cut her off and then went to a wall pressing another button. It slid out with shelves full of blankets, sheets and linens. He bundled Adam up. Then went over to the same wall and pulled out a gurney.
“Wow. A full triage unit,” she noted.
“Yes, we were always prepared.” He set the man on it very gently and stuffed in gauze, dressing and pads around the blankets.
Riley watched how very gentle Harris was being. There were sides to this man she never knew was there. She intended to explore all of those in the future. She opened her mouth to tell him she would be back.
“Come on, we got snow in an hour!” Walker again yelled through the control panel.
Walking back over to the small pharmacy, Harris grabbed a small bottle and a needle. “This.” He held it up. “If he goes into cardiac arrest and CPR presses don’t work. Shoot this into his IV.”
Riley felt really scared now. “Y-you think his heart will stop?”
Shrugging, he tucked that in and swung the gurney around through the door. “Anything can happen.”
Riley followed him. She felt like a huge chasm had just opened up between them. He wouldn’t even make eye contact with her. His expression remained blank. Well, he was distracted with trying to fix Adam up, but—
They made it outside. Riley finally snapped to it when the cold hit her face and quickly grabbed the IV bag walking alongside the gurney.
They got to the copter and Harris got in tugging it over.
