Page 73 of Montana Manhunt

Enough already. They were wasting time. Violet didn’t want Noah and Grant to be at the back of the line for treatment at the hospital. “Noah, can you get on your hands and knees?”

“Yeah.”

When he did as she asked, she and Grant maneuvered Noah to his feet. He swayed, gritted his teeth and straightened. After staggering the few feet to the SUV, Noah laid on the SUV’s backseat. Violet followed him with her mike bag and Cami’s journals.

Grant hobbled to the cargo area and climbed in with Rayne’s help, and stretched out.

Rayne hurried to the driver’s door and climbed behind the wheel. She twisted in the seat to look at Violet. “Where?”

“Hospital. Now.”

“Violet.” Noah scowled.

“You need a hospital. Go, Rayne.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She put the SUV in gear and drove toward the hospital. Ten minutes later, Rayne parked at the entrance to the emergency room.

Violet exited the vehicle and rushed into the hospital. She returned a moment later with medical personnel and two gurneys. “Put both men in the same exam room,” she ordered.

“That’s not procedure.”

“It is today. Just do it.”

One orderly shrugged and led the way to one of the exam rooms.

Five minutes later, a doctor walked into the room, followed by a nurse. After one look, the doctor scowled. “Looks like you’ve been in a war zone.”

“Close,” Grant said. “We were too close to an apartment that blew up.”

“Gas leak?”

“Nope. Bomb.”

The doctor glanced at his nurse. “Is the triage team ready? We could have a mass casualty event.”

“I’ll pass the word.” She shook her head. “The police department should have alerted us already.” With that, she hurried from the room.

“All right. What do we have?”

“Shrapnel wounds,” Violet said and told the doctor everything she’d done to treat the two men.

“You’re an EMT?”

“Paramedic.”

“Nationally certified?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Scrub up. You’ll be assisting me with these patients. My team will be flooded with new patients soon.”

The next hour passed in a blur as Violet worked side-by-side with the doctor to locate and remove shrapnel.

When they finished, Dr. Wheeler glanced at Violet. “You any good with stitches?”

“Yes, sir.”

He pointed out five wounds on Noah and three on Grant. “Stitches in these. I’ll ask a nurse to assist you.” Wheeler left the exam room.

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