Page 94 of Doc

He’s breathing, but it's shallow, and I’m worried about where the bullet ended up, since there’s no exit wound that I can see, and I’m not about to turn him over to check.

“Soren and Donovan are on their way,” Dmitri says. “Sory said he’ll call the Amatos so you don’t have to.”

I don’t bother acknowledging that, I just press the jacket harder into Ash’s ever-bleeding wound.

“Go see if you can find his phone,” I tell him in a strained voice. “It’s probably on his desk. His office is the last door at the end of the hall.”

Dmitri doesn’t argue, he just gets up and races for the office. “Please, Ash,” I beg. “You can’t leave me.”

It seems to take forever for Dmitri to return, but when he does, I glance up at him and see him brandishing Ash’s phone.

“Code is forty-six, seventy-eight,” I tell him. “Call Doctor Aidan Murry. Tell him we need him here, now. Don’t give him room to argue. Use his sister against him if you have to.”

I half listen as Dmitri follows orders and bullies Murry into coming to help. I should probably feel bad for wielding his sister against him, but there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to give Ash a fighting chance.

Murry must agree because I hear Dmitri say, “Good, now get your ass here?—”

I can feel his stare, even as I keep my attention on Ash. Rattling off the address, I swear when I notice my jacket is beginning to soak through. I hate having to move my hands away from keeping pressure on his wound, but I do so long enough to cut my jacket into more manageable pieces that I can wad up and press against the still-bleeding gunshot wound.

“Call Kail,” I tell Dmitri after he hangs up with Murry. “Explain what happened.”

“Anything else?” he asks.

“No, he’ll call Rose and they’ll both come.”

Something catches my attention, and before Dmitri can make the call, he moves in front of me, gun out and pointed at the mouth of the hallway.

Tension has my muscles coiling and I keep one hand on the jacket while the other picks up Ash’s scalpel. When Soren and Donovan come careening around the corner, Dmitri and I both let out sighs of relief.

On their heels are Cristian, Tennant, and Joel, and seeing the three of them makes me relax. It’s as if my body gives up the fight. While Dmitri gives the newcomers a sit-rep, my eyes burn as tears finally fall and I let out a sob when I’m pulled away from Ash, and Soren and Donovan take over.

They ask questions and begin barking orders, but all I can focus on is the way my brother’s arms hold me tight against him as I fall apart.

“We should call an ambulance,” Vonny says as we examine Doc’s wound.

“No,” Cristian replies above us. “He’d hate that.”

“Murry is on his way?” I look up at Dima, who nods in confirmation.

“So is someone named Kail.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, even though I feel anything but relieved. “Let’s get him to the surgery room.”

“Sory,” Vonny tries to say, but I give him a look, and whatever he sees on my face has him grimacing and agreeing.

Tennant and Cristian help us get Doc up and into the room reserved for emergency surgeries. My heart is pounding, and every movement has me worried that we’re doing more harmthan good, but we can’t very well leave him in the middle of the hall.

Once we get him on the examination table, Vonny starts pulling at his clothes. I help, and when Tennant appears with a pair of scissors in hand, the process goes much quicker and smoother.

I don’t like the gray look of his pallor, and quickly gather everything I need to get IVs started. My hands shake, and my fingers are already blood-stained. Vonny stops me before I can move to the sink to scrub in. His fingers dig into my arm and he forces me to look at him.

“You should go wait with Dima for the doctor,” he tells me.

I shake my head. “I know where everything is; I can compartmentalize?—”

His grip tightens. “No, Sory. It’s not a choice. I’ve got this. You can’t be in here.”

“Donovan…”

---