Page 16 of Take Me to the Valley

When the guys move, I see Evan lying on the ground with blood on his shirt and pants. I freeze for just a moment before all mytraining kicks in and I drop to my knees beside him and try to find the bullet hole to stop the bleeding.

Ripping open his vest, I see most of the blood coming from his shoulder, so I work on opening his shirt.

“I need a towel, shirt, or gauze,” I call out as I confirm he’s been shot in his right shoulder.

Another officer runs up, opens a metal box, and starts handing me gauze packs. The other men keep opening them as I pack his wound.

“Evan, can you hear me?” I talk to him, but I can tell he has no idea what's going on. He moans when I speak.

“Ambulance is two minutes out,” Chief says.

“He's going to need to be airlifted to Helena. The hospital here isn't set up for this kind of surgery unless something has changed,” I say.

“The field where we met would allow a safe helicopter landing,” another man says.

“I'm on it,” yet another shouts.

I don't bother looking up to see who is talking. I keep my eyes on Evan.

Increasing my pressure on the wound, I’m attempting to stop as much bleeding as possible.

Evan groans again.

“Stay with me, Evan. Help is on the way. Please stay with me.” My emotions are threatening to take over. I can’t have that happening. I've worked with people I knew before and have been able to keep my emotions at bay. My emotions have never run amok before while on the job.

“Medics are here,” Chief says, and everyone else moves out of the way.

Shaking my emotions off, I focus by giving the medics the information on what I know and on what I did. They have more equipment and can get his wound more stabilized. Once he’s on the stretcher, I start to follow them out to the ambulance when the Chief stops me.

“This is something your brother should hear in person. Help them set up care for Skye and then meet us at the hospital. You would be doing me a huge favor by letting your family know. Give me your number and I will call if I hear anything before you get to the hospital,” Chief says as Kaylee comes running up to me.

“Okay. Umm, is she free to go?” I ask, hugging Kaylee.

“Yes, but other than the hospital, no leaving town. We will have a lot of follow-up questions,” he says.

“I'm not leaving her side, so I’ll be with her for a few days,” Kaylee says.

The Chief nods and walks off.

“Come on. I'll drive you to the distillery. You can talk to Cody in person. Call your parents on the way,” Kaylee orders, taking my car keys from me.

Grateful that she’s taking charge, I follow her to my car. “Are you sure you feel up to driving?” I ask.

“Maybe it’s the adrenaline, but I’m feeling much better,” she says.

I pull out my phone and as we turn off her road, I watch the medevac copter land a few streets over.

Knowing it's better to let Dad tell my mom, I give him a call hoping he’s around.

“Good morning, sweetheart. I was just thinking about checking with you to see if you wanted to grab coffee.”

“Daddy,” I choke out, and there is no hiding that something is wrong.

“Are you okay?” he asks urgently.

“I am. Evan's been shot. They are airlifting him to Helena now. I was there when it happened. They were arresting Kaylee's ex for selling drugs. It was a big drug bust.”

“Do your brothers know?” he asks.

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