Page 85 of No Going Back

“What about the rescue guys? Go ask them. A knife and a pen.”

Sam took off, leaving Mira’s face in view. Her eyes met his, the fear there killing him.

“Stay with me, baby, OK. Stay with me.”

“Ty, we can get the paramedic to guide Sam,” Dex offered, his voice calmer. Tyler understood Dex was looking out for him, but there was no way in hell anyone else was doing this. Meeting Dex’s gaze, he kept his cool.

“No. I need to do this. Let me do this. Please.”

His team leader hesitated for just a second before nodding.

“OK, got a knife, but no pen.” Sam came back into view. “Will this work?” He held up a straw.

“It will have to. You done this before?”

“Nope.”

“Well, I hope you remember your basic medical training because this is not going to be pretty.”

All Navy SEALs had basic medical training, but Sam had been out of active duty quite a while. Damn, Tyler wished he was down there doing this himself. This procedure was hard enough in a sterile environment, let alone in a dust ridden dirty basement with only a knife and straw.

“I’m not that old, Tyler, talk me through it.”

“OK, lift up her top. Which side has the worst bruising?”

He watched him lift her top and compared sides.

“Her right side.” Tyler agreed; the bruising looked much worse there.

“Lift her right arm above her head, then prop the phone so I can see the rib cage. You’re going to need both hands.”

Tyler tuned out everyone and everything around him. He’d done several of these procedures in the field, but never had he talked someone through it before. Right now, he couldn’t focus on this being Mira, or how fucking scared he was. He had to keep his shit together, stay calm, and guide Sam. Or Mira would die.

“How’s that?” Sam adjusted the phone, giving Tyler a clear view of Mira’s right rib cage. Her delicate skin was covered in bruises. Not all of them were caused by the concrete that had fallen on her. Tyler could see some were from internal bleeding, pressure on the inside. She really was living on borrowed time. Zoning back in on the task at hand, he refocused.

“That’s good. Is she conscious?”

“Barely, her lips are turning blue.”

“Alright, we need to move fast. This is going to hurt her. She’ll probably jerk and move. You need to keep her as still as possible, or there’s a chance you could puncture a lung or worse.”

“Jesus Christ, no pressure then.”

“Feel down her side for the fifth and six ribs.” Tyler waited as Sam traced his fingers down Mira’s rib cage.

“Mira, if you can hear me, this is going to hurt. Just for a few seconds. Try and stay still babe. You’ll be able to breathe very soon.” Tyler didn’t wait to find out if she heard him.

“OK, move a little further in toward the sternum, good, take the knife and make a small incision in between the fifth and six ribs.”

“How small?”

“Just enough to get the straw in.”

Tyler watched Sam cut the skin. Blood immediately ran down her side. Mira’s body reacted, jumping.

“Mira, babe, try and stay still. I know it hurts. Just a little longer. Sam, push the knife in, about two to three centimeters. You should feel it slice through soft tissue.”

Blood seeped steadily from the incision. With all the dirt and dust, on top of everything else, there was every chance of a serious infection.

---