Page 65 of Operation: Valiant Angel

“I can walk,” she said, really not sure if she could.

“I’ve got you,” Wilson said.

Jackson unlocked the door to the two-bedroom suite, holding it open for Wilson to bring her in. Sloan went ahead of them, into the king bedroom, and he pulled the bedcovers back. Wilson followed him in and laid her on the bed, blankets, coat, and all. Then he covered her with the bedcovers.

Reina instantly felt comfortable with her head on the stack of pillows and the mattress below her.

Sloan opened his medical backpack and pulled supplies out. He’d used a wrist cuff to check her blood pressure in the car. He’d use a standard arm cuff now. “I hate to do this, but I need to pull one of your arms out to check your vitals. It’ll be for just a few minutes.”

He reached under the covers and brought out her arm that was closest to him, her left arm. He reran all vitals. Her blood pressure was still low, but not dangerously low. Her oxygen satswere still low as well. But her heart rate and pulse had come up and were closer to the normal range. And of course, her core body temperature had risen and would continue to increase as they warmed her.

“Rae, I want you to take a few really deep breaths. Try to completely fill your lungs,” Sloan said. He watched her do as he’d said. “Yes, like that. I want you to take at least two really deep breaths like that every minute. Your O-two sats are low, but we can get them up pretty quick with deep breathing.”

“You need anything?” Jackson asked Sloan. He and Sherman stood in the doorway.

“Yeah, there’s that Chinese takeout up the road. We all need to eat, but she’ll need warm fluids. Get her a large wonton soup and make sure there’s white and fried rice and some noodles with mildly flavored chicken in the order. That’ll be good for her stomach as well,” Sloan said. Then his gaze shifted to Wilson. “Get a cup of hot water for her to start with.”

Jackson and Sherman left to get the Chinese. Wilson went to the kitchen to get the cup of hot water for her to sip on. Sloan got out the supplies to start an IV to get her fluids. He had a hard time finding a good vein as expected due to the fact that she was both dehydrated and she’d been in the cold for so long. The last thing he wanted to do was put her through multiple needle sticks to find a vein. After cracking a heat pack to activate it, he laid it on her arm where several good veins should be. They showed themselves to him after several minutes and the heat doing its thing on her arm. He easily inserted the canula to deliver the fluids.

Wilson returned to the room as Sloan was taping the tubing in place. “That was fast,” he said, setting the mug onto the nightstand beside Rae.

“I know you want to go back to sleep, but you need to drink that cup of water before you do and when the food gets here, I’ll wake you to eat,” Sloan told her. “And I’ll be checking your vitals every thirty minutes or so until they’re all in the normal range.”

Wilson laid his hand on Sloan’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Let me take a look at your head and which side did you say your shoulder and hip hurt?” Sloan asked.

“Right,” she said. “Though neither hurt that bad now.”

Sloan rolled her so he could examine the wound on her head. It was borderline if stitches were needed or not. Since so much time had passed since the injury occurred, he opted to clean it and apply antibiotic ointment to it. He’d evaluate it again in a few hours to see if stitches were really necessary. He didn’t want to put her through it if he didn’t have to. Then he checked the right shoulder, palpating it and then moving the arm around. She experienced only mild discomfort, as he did. The same for the hip.

“I think you sustained only minor injuries to the shoulder and hip when you landed on them, like deep bruising. Let me know if the pain increases at all at any point.”

“I will,” she promised.

Sloan nodded and then walked towards the door. “I need to call Kaylee. I’ll be back in a few.”

Wilson sat on the edge of the bed, filling the spot vacated by Sloan. He lifted the mug to her lips. “It shouldn’t be too hot to drink.”

Reina had never drunk just plain hot water, but it felt amazing going down her throat. “How did you find me?” she asked after she emptied the cup.

“It took a few days to track that black SUV and for our team to hack into its SatNav system. We located its exact location at that farmhouse earlier this evening. Blake Henning and Stella Adams weren’t there, had taken Lilly. But another man was there, Eddie Van Sloot, and with a little intimidation, he told us where Henning had taken you.”

“Intimidation?” she asked with a small smile.

Wilson smiled. “Okay, maybe the threat of grievous bodily harm.”

Reina laughed softly. “If you hurt him, I’m okay with that. Did he tell you where they took Lilly? She’s still in a lot of danger. In my past life, I’d been around some pretty bad people who you knew were bad. But Blake is different. He’s pure evil, dressed up to look normal.”

Wilson would take her word for it. “He said he didn’t know exactly where, but he gave us the info on the vehicle they're driving.”

“The beige Volvo?” she asked. That was the car that she had been put into its trunk.

“Yes,” he said. “He said they were heading to the Chicago area for a few days before they’ll return to that farmhouse. We have an APB out on the car, and our Digital Team will be looking for it on cameras on every possible route to Chicago and back again. There will also be a couple of Marshals waiting at the farmhouse for them in case they do return. We’re doing everything we can to find them. But all you need to focus on now is rest and recovery. You’ve been through a lot.”

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted.

“Yeah, I know you will be,” he said. “You’re a survivor, Rae.” At his prompting, she drank the rest of the hot water before Sloanre-entered the room to check on her. He rechecked her vital signs and was happy to see the numbers trending better.

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