AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s losing too much blood!”
She removed her shirt. Then calling upon untapped strength reserves, tore off a large strip, pressing it hard to Colt’s chest.
“Atlas!” Harlow cried out. “Where is my bag? Did you bring it?”
“It’s in the car,” he said. “I didn’t know if you’d need it.”
“I do! Can you go get it?”
Harlow could tell Atlas wasn’t used to being directed around, and the taste of it probably felt bitter in his mouth. But if he’d already given up hope, Harlow didn’t care. Somebody needed to save Colt. This was about life and death, not pack hierarchies.
Atlas nodded. She could see shock overtaking him, but he was the most capable of defending himself. As he climbed up the metal stairs, Harlow addressed Zachary.
“Do you have Gwen’s phone number?” she asked.
“Hell, yes, I do,” Zachary said, as if drawing it into question was ridiculous.
“I need to keep applying pressure,” Harlow said. “It’s the only way we’re going to stop the bleeding. Can you call Gwen?”
“Sure,” Zachary said, “but if we want to get him to a real hospital, we probably ought to get moving now. Don’t you think?”
“No, Zachary,” Harlow said, looking blankly around the room. “There’s no time. We can’t move him. Get Gwen to come here. Explain everything clearly to her so she knows what to bring.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Zachary said.
“And, Zachary? If she doesn’t pick up, keep calling until she does.”
“You got it.”
Whether Harlow could save Colt or not—and she would save him, she reminded herself—mostly depended on whether Vincent had pierced any vital organs. As she watched Colt’s face, its features transitioned from anguish to serenity, alluding to a stillness she both wanted for him and desperately fought. His heart still pumped, but its pace was both restrained and unpredictable. The cloth that Harlow had used to stop the blood had nearly soaked through.
Harlow drew her attention to Vincent’s corpse on the floor. She hated him, but also pitied him, left to die alone with nobody to mourn him.
“She’ll be here soon,” Zachary said. “At first, she seemed real pissed that I was calling so late. But when I told her what happened, she was so quick she forgot to hang up. She just kinda started driving with the phone in the seat.”
Harlow morbidly chuckled because it was the only reaction that fit.
“I still don’t know how any of this stuff is supposed to work,” Atlas said, descending the metal staircase while rifling through the bag. Atlas was still inaccessible, living in a distant land away from the panic and loss. His eyes were glazed over. Thankfully, he had made the trip without any resistance.
But after looking through her bag, Harlow had to agree with him. She had aloe vera to fight inflammation and swelling, comfrey to help the healing process, calendula to fight infection, and turmeric, honey, and garlic. She mixed a few ingredients together and grabbed actual wrapping from her bag, applying the salve to the wound and covering it. The pained grimace Colt made in response reassured Harlow that there was still hope.
“Had a hell of a time finding the place,” a familiar woman’s voice called out.
Harlow’s heart leapt. Gwen rushed down the stairs toward them.
“Thank god,” Harlow said. “Zachary told you what happened?”
“Why do you think I’m here?” Gwen asked.
Harlow went over everything she had tried, and though Gwen complimented her quick judgment under pressure, she also faulted her for not following proper sanitation procedures. At this, Harlow made wide gestures to the room she was forced to work in.
“Shouldn’t we report that to the authorities?” Gwen asked, pointing to the corpse on the ground.
“One thing at a time, I always say,” Zachary said.
At this, Gwen begrudgingly treated Colt in spite of the corpse mere feet away. She insisted that the three of them go get some air. Harlow fought her on this at first, telling her that as her assistant, she needed to help however she could. But Gwen said she needed Harlow at a hundred percent, and that as emotionally compromised as Harlow was, she wasn’t at her best.
The sun had started to rise now. Harlow had lost all track of time, but all she could think about was Colt. Nothing mattered but him being okay. More than ever, she realized how much he and Atlas meant to her.
