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Normal assessment would also include looking for confusion, shivering, and lack of coordination, but Fleet was still under the influence of rocuronium, so those determining factors were off the table.
Talia, along with Mike, quickly ran their hands over Fleet’s cold body to ascertain if he had any injuries that meant they had to be careful in moving him, but other than some blood on his IV arm, and scraped marks in various places on his body, it looked like he was good to be lifted.
Mason, along with some of his squad jogged up, their hands full of what they’d need to get Fleet out of the woods. Harvé and Muddy followed, immediately being shown the tarp, after which Muddy took off at a run.
“Keep me posted,” Mason called to Harvé, and got a wave over the man’s shoulder as he chased his dog.
Mason handed a cervical collar to Mike—who was now in the depression with Fleet—and Mike secured the device in place.
Next, Mason handed down a blanket, and more people jumped into the slight hollow, carefully turning Fleet to his side before executing a log-roll to slide the blanket underneath his still unresponsive body before lowering him onto his back. Gently, the rescue party lifted Fleet in a what they called a controlled blanket-carry, until he was out of the ground.
Talia had kept hold of Fleet’s hand during the entire procedure, and had actually detected some movement from his fingers. That was amazing. There were so many people, who in Fleet’s position, would have simply given up. But not him. He’d managed to raise his hand while under the influence of a paralytic. It said a lot for his perseverance…or was it his stubbornness? Talia wanted to laugh. She didn’t care. It had kept him alive, and that’s all that mattered.
Mason had also carried in a thermal blanket which was now tucked around Fleet’s body, and the entire group began the slow trek out of the woods, the mood much lighter than the trip in had been.
Talia began talking to Fleet, because she was sure his acute mind had questions, so she didn’t hesitate to fill him in on everything they knew.
“The night nurse notified me that you’d gone missing, so I called in the team,” she told him. “It became obvious right away that you hadn’t just up and left your room on your own because the surveillance cameras and door alarms had been tampered with.”
She felt a slight squeeze of her hand, so she kept going.
“Our forensics guy, Welker, following a trail of blood that was dripping from your arm where your IV had been taken out, made it out into the parking lot. But then the trail ended. We were devastated to think you’d been driven away, but still, we searched everywhere; in and out of the hospital.”
She took a deep breath, remembering. “Pretty quickly, however, with the help of Mason’s contacts, we ascertained you most likely hadn’t been taken from the hospital grounds by car because no camera footage on the surrounding areas or car searches conducted by the State Police uncovered any suspicious activity. Which left us to believe that the woods were our target.”
Talia took a deep breath. “In the meantime, Welker had your IV bag analyzed, and found it contained a very high concentration of a drug called rocuronium, which is a paralytic used during certain operations.” She wanted to reassure him. “That’s why you can’t move. And in the dosage you received, it should be starting to wear off soon.”
Another contraction of his fingers in hers. She hoped it was relief.
“Whoever did this, it turns out, wrapped you up in a tarp, which we have in our possession. They carried you in it, then when they tired, dragged you further into the woods, eventually putting you into that hole that looks like it had been dug sometime previous to your being left there.”
She wound down with a sigh. “That’s about all we know at this point, but we’ll get to the bottom of it, Fleet. I promise.”
This time there was no hand clasp back, and for a moment Talia thought Fleet might have passed out, but gazing at him, she saw his eyes open, with an undeniable sorrow filling them.
“It’s okay,” she soothed. “We’ll catch whoever did this. And in the meantime, I won’t be leaving your side.”
Had his head just moved a little, negatively, side to side, or was it the unavoidable jostling of the blanket? Talia didn’t know. But there’d be plenty of time for Fleet to try to deny her being his sticker-burr, later. Right now, he needed medical care. Stat.
Mason had radioed ahead, and an emergency team, along with Fleet’s surgeon, had been called in. When they got to the main doors, the medical staff wasted no time whisking Fleet away, and Talia suddenly felt…adrift. As long as she’d been able to touch the man she’d come to adore, she’d been able to reason that he was going to be okay. But the minute he’d been taken out of her hands, worries started to descend.
What if the trauma to Fleet’s body had derailed his recovery? What if his paralyzed state didn’t end up abating? What if one of the medical team now working on him had been the one responsible for his kidnapping?
“Mason. I—”
“No, Talia.” Mason held up his hand. “You need to go home and get some sleep. I have G squad positioned right outside Fleet’s OR to make sure no unauthorized personnel get in. I’ve also got F and A squads guarding all the exterior doors. Believe me, to get into the hospital right now, someone will be scrutinized from asshole to elbow. And I plan on being here for the rest of the night, too.”
For which Talia was eternally thankful.
“I know you’ve got everything covered,” she sighed. “But if you think I’m going to be able to sleep…” She trailed off.
Mason, only a month or so earlier, had suffered similar anguish when Everlee had been held at gunpoint. Therefore, he knew the state of Talia’s nerves, first-hand.
“Listen.” Mase put a hand on Talia’s shoulder. “Just go home for a while, pat your cat, and chill out. You can come back in a few hours and sit at his bedside. Which doesn’t mean I won’t still have people stationed right outside his door. Until our OPD detectives get to the bottom of Fleet’s abduction, we have to assume he’s not safe.”
“My thoughts, exactly,” she agreed. “And as far up his ass as I’m going to stay until this gets solved? He’s not going to be happy.” Talia gave a chuckle, then thought of something else. “Have you heard back yet about Fleet’s juvenile records?” She figured Mason would have pulled in every favor he was owed to get those files opened and sent north.
“Not yet. But I promise I’ll let you know when I do.”
